Rain gear

[Zack The Ripper]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

Get a poncho in dark green. Ponchos are light weight, roll up into a small pocket or pouch and can also protect your gun from the rain. It's easy to reach underneath and grab a magazine. A very cheap alternative is the $5 ones from Canadian Tire, which you can get clear and therefore will show your CadPat. I personally recommend a product like the OPSEC or similar. If you're looking for something to go under your kit, then a light, tactical rain jacket is best. You'll likely have to settle for solid green as CadPat isn't used a lot impractical gear other than issued gear and crappy replicas.

These saturate after sustained rainfall and don't do anything but lay on you and keep you wet. They work somewhat, but only to a point.

Ultimately having several rain layer options is the best thing. Having Goretex, having a soft shell, having a poncho, and keeping them rolled up in a small pack.

[daishi]

OPSEC ponchos only seem to be available in multicam..... which is considered tan in some games.

Strange they dont make any other colours.

Anyone have any suggestions for soft shells?

[MiniMcNabb]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

I played claybank in 60mm of rain, numerous other rainstorms, outside in 0 degrees, overnight at 5 degrees, 120km/h winds, etc in my softshell. Without a thermal layer, it's been good from 12-20 degrees. With a thermal layer I've playing in -5 to 11 and been really comfortable.
I've done cold and hot and rainy with my goretex jacket and honestly I'd never think of ever using it again. It just traps your heat in too well. My every experience has been that it kept the rain out perfectly, but I'd just get soaked with sweat anyway, so it really didn't help at all.
The softshell does a significantly better job of regulating heat. The rain cools you down, but the jacket cuts off the chilling effect of any windage.
With the softshell, you can throw it on as the temp starts to drop at night, and take it off when it's convenient in the morning. No risk of quickly overheating if shit hits the fan and all of a sudden you're running 5km in 26 degree heat.
Plus you don't get that annoying crinkly sound every time you move lol

Quite simply, if goretex was the answer, we'd see a lot more goretex gear and a lot less softshell gear!
The 4-way stretch fabric is the best, but very expensive. Supposedly condor makes a decent softshell, you'll have to check reviews.

Softshells and goretex are different garments with different purposes. A soft shell replaces the need for a fleece and shell for warmth and protection from wind and drizzle/light rain.
If you are stuck in a downpour for hours you need goretex.

Depending on the situation you might not need goretex. If it is warm or your level of activity is high you do not need goretex. If you are wearing a softshell which is soaked through theres not much point in wearing it at all.

If it is cold and heavy rain you need to stay dry with goretex. If totally static you can use a rain layer that breathes less. If you are moving alot, even in cold the goretex won't breathe fast enough so you may still get wet inside, therefore like any other time you have to regulate layers depending on activity.

Its not as simple as goretex = good or goretex = bad.

Garments are just tools and like any tool they have specific jobs.

[ThunderCactus]

Originally Posted by daishi

What soft shell do you use?

Old propper softshell, don't think they've made it in quite a while though

Goretex is good in frozen sleet, but how often are you out in frozen sleet at an airsoft game? lol

And ponchos....just...just no. This isn't 1995, we have better solutions

[Kungpow]

Originally Posted by pugs144

The issue CF raingear is stiff, heavy, noisy, and likely not even real Goretex. For an airsofter it is not worth it at any price.

If you're static and experiencing heavy rain Goretex is ok. Keep in mind that Goretex works better in cooler temps as it needs that temperature gradient to pump moisture out.

Wearing Goretex in the summer during a rainstorm you're still likely going to get soaked from within though.

I was on Ebay looking for a waterproof jacket when I stumbled upon the CF Rain-jacket. I was interested in the jacket because it said it was made out of Goretex. If you look closer you can notice that its more like a PVC Rain-Suit. (Waterproof but not breathable.)

[daishi]

Hmmmm.

I might actually try getting and OD condor soft shell and treat it with some never wet...

[MiniMcNabb]

So unlined, non-insulated Goretex is too hot and you sweat when it is raining, yet you wear a non-waterproof insulated garment in the same temperature range?

[ThunderCactus]

The propper softshell is not insulated

[Red Dot]

I have a Summit series softshell from Condor in OD, works well in cooler temps as it's fleece lined. That being said as pure rainwear it wouldn't do well, it's designed for light rain not sustained downpours.

I personally have a woodland raincoat and pants by Parklands Canada. No idea what it's made out of but has taped seams and some vents, would hold up better then a softshell in a downpour but you'd need to have some base layer to keep you dry since I highly doubt it's breathable. I think they make some CADPAT gear, the surplus shops should know more. I bought it second hand.

[Hectic]

Thats goretex Red Dot. Does it feel like sindbreaker type stuff? Zippers on the legs at the bottom and the coat packs into the inside pocket?

[Desmodus]

Let's not forget that the woodland ECWCS and Flecktarn goretex sets can found everywhere for relatively cheap. I know its not CADPAT.... but its a hell of a lot better than being wet! I'm looking at scoring a nice set of the ECWCS if I can find a good deal.

[Azathoth]

@thundercactus

You are way out to lunch.


Depends on the amount of rain we are talking about and the role / load out you are running. Sometimes I run a smock, othertimes it's a plate carrier on top of a goretex layer of some kind.

Layering, layering, layering that is the key.

A softshell is used on top of a base layer for colder weather. The gold standard for softshells is the Arcteryx Atom series. They have some insulation and are DWR (Durable water resistant).

If you are in 5-10 degree weather with a rainstorm coming down on you, I would wear a quality baselayer like a fall/spring long sleeve insulating layer, and then your combat tunic, then goretex. Probably could get away without the insulating layer.

You want outside water to stay away from your skin, you want your sweat to wick away from your skin and towards the goretex.


The worst soft shell I have ever used in the rain is a CONDOR summit. It does not wick away moisture like goretex, instead under heavy or prolonged rain/snow the water will leech into the insulating layer, and your jacket will end up weighting into 10-15 lbs when soaked. It will not keep you warm when you are soaked wet./

[Kungpow]

What you should do is put the insulating layer on the outside, and put a waterproof layer closest to your skin/Underarmor/Dri-Fit. Your insulating or durable layer will take the wear and tear, and your Gore-Tex will keep you dry for a long time. If you sweat, you always have some kind of Dry Fit to wick away moisture.

[Amoki]

I have multiple softshell jackets.

As Azatoth said, layering, layering, layering. You wear according to your conditions. Your jacket is the most important. You can freeze your balls off, but if you freeze your body off you'll die of hypothermia.

"Stock" Goretex is meh. It will keep you from the rain, but you'll be wet from your own moisture. That's why there are multiple iterations of Goretex/PU to try to make it breath better e.g. eVent. I have both eVent and Chinese Goretex jacket/pants combo, and they are my "garrison"/defensive kit at best.

(btw, the patent for Goretex expried in 2001 IIRC. Hence, why you get Chinese Arcteryx LEAF Alpha copy that actually uses Goretex rather than than N80px-Goretex. And they *do* work as raingear, just not as ideal as the real stuff I would imagine.)

Fancy tech like Schoeller C_Change and Nextec is actually worth trying out if you can find a second hand one for sale. I own both the TAD Stealth and Stealth LT, as well as a Beyond PCU L5. Something like the Stealth LT can and will resist heavy rain even if the DWR is gone. DWR not last forever so the material that build your softshell is pretty darn important as well.

[Red Dot]

Originally Posted by Hectic

Thats goretex Red Dot. Does it feel like sindbreaker type stuff? Zippers on the legs at the bottom and the coat packs into the inside pocket?

No idea, no zippers on the pants and from what I can tell nothing to roll the jacket up into. Haven't really needed to bust it out since I've bought it so no idea how it really performs but like I said I'd trust it over the Condor in a downpour any day.