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Posted by calamity on December 30, 2007 at 6:39:01 pm EST
In reply to Re: Rain Gear posted by Bill S on December 29, 2007 at 8:13:37 pm EST

From AMC Web site:

"A few years ago, the U.S. Army’s Soldier System Center in Natick, Mass., performed breathability tests on some common outdoor fabrics. Leading the pack of tested materials was the eVent laminate which, depending on relative humidity, was between 1.3 and 3 times more breathable than the next best material, Gore-Tex XCR.

"Following this, the results clustered together, with the best-performing materials approximately twice as breathable as the least. In descending order of breathability, the results were: Gore-Tex XCR, Gore-Tex (standard), HydroSeal (The North Face), Membrain (Marmot), Sympatex, Conduit (Mountain Hardwear), and OmniTech (Columbia).
—Matt Heid is Senior Editor of AMC Outdoors."

Actually, the Natick data, available with some Web searching, are somewhat more complex than suggested. But grasping the physics may require a relevant four-year degree, which Heid apparently lacks.

Side note: in truly heavy rain, like in monsoon or in summertime Florida, or tornado weather in midwest, isn't raincoat exterior largely coated by running water impervious to vapor and thus not "breathable????"

Personally I wear raincoats as little as possible, hope they'll keep me somewhat dry in the rain, and use breathable non-waterproof windshirts a lot.

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