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Posted by Scott S on December 29, 2007 at 10:54:36 am EST

OK, this might be a bit extreme, but it begs an important question to me: Is there ANY rain gear out there that both breathes AND is truly 100% waterproof? Are we ultimately choosing between one or the other?

Here was my situation. I was blessed to go trekking in India this summer as part of a college trip led by a great friend of mine. He happens to be a Religious Studies professor at a very supportive East Coast college. Well, I got to go along as an assistant leader. He and I have trekked to India before.

Coming down from Ghangaria to Ghovind Ghat in mid-June, we were assaulted by the infamous Indian monsoon. When I say rain (and I know rain from summers in Minnesota and backpacking trips to the Tetons, Wind River and Glacier National Park), I mean rain. Not ONE person in our group did not "wet out." This was not sweating beneath waterproof layers. Absolutely, everyone was soaked.

I might have been one of the drier people with my Kleenex box looking Frogg Toggs (I was teased unmercifully, but creatively....I think I did look a bit like a frog....) But the group leader had on expensive gear from either North Face or Patagonia. We had almost every "famous" brand of gear represented in our 23 member trekking group. And some of these were $250 rain suits.

Know what the Indian trekkers were wearing? Bright colored ponchos. And they seemed to be drier. Granted, I'm sure they were sweating underneath that.

The smartest person in our group might have been "Ally" She had a small umbrella.

When I go to REI this afternoon, I am going to ask them this question, too.

ANYONE have any success stories with gear in heavy rain?

I will admit - no one had the Marmot Pre-Cip system.

Thanks for your helpful replies to come!

Scott S
Minnesota

PS - India absolutely ROCKS for trekking! WOW!

Replies

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• Re: Rain Gear - missionalsnowman 20:29:09 05/21/2008
• Re: Rain Gear - McBlaster 16:42:33 03/27/2008
• Re: Rain Gear - ministercreek 13:08:54 03/26/2008
• Re: Rain Gear - ministercreek 12:40:53 03/26/2008
• Re: Rain Gear - Bill S 20:13:37 12/29/2007
  • Re: Rain Gear - calamity 18:39:01 12/30/2007

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