Rain Gear Comparison

[The Hermit]

Industry Leading Outerwear

What's most important to any hunter is how well a garment transmits moisture from the inside of the garment to the outside--this is what keeps you warm and comfortable with less odor. First Lite uses 37.5 Technology in all of its outerwear, an active particle material whose hallmark is just that--moisture evacuation. We have tested this fabric for several years in the field, noting not only how dry it keeps you from the elements but how unbelievably dry it keeps you under the garment as well. We recently sent our SEAK 3.5 Layer Rain Jacket to Vartest, the industry standard in unbiased, third party testing in order to see how First Lite's burliest rain gear stacked up against the competition.

https://www.firstlite.com/media/wysiwyg/VAR.outerwear.results.png

[adriaticum]

Thanks Hermit, good to know

[kennyj]

How does the price compare? Can you post that?
thanks
kenny

[jlirot]

I just looked it up. What I like about your stuff is that it's offered in something other than camo! I just can't run around all the time in camo - sorry - no insult to those who do.

Any place to buy at reasonable prices?

[jlirot]

http://www.firstlite.com/seak-jacket.html?color=13

[The Hermit]

Call or email or pm for pricing... I haven't updated my site with all the new gear this year.

[ditch donkey]

i spent a night waiting on a goat this year waiting for daybreak while it rain/snowed steady. The first lite stormtight jacket i had performed great in combo with the uncompagre jacket. All of the first lite gear i wore on that hunt performed great.

[AgSilver]

I wonder what the practical implication of those numbers is. What I mean by that is essentially "is there really any difference?" (not to challenge you, Hermit...more of a "what does it mean" question).

I know I have a Kuiu Yukon rain jacket (in brown rather than camo!) and it is by far the best jacket I've owned for breathability etc (I haven't owned the other two noted above mind you). Keeps rain out. I don't get sweaty like I do in those Costco rain jackets or many other non-breathable coats that I have.

I wonder what the threshold number is for breathability to show effectiveness? Is it 100% effective at 40k (so anything shy of that is an improvement as you get closer to 40k)? 30k (at which point anything higher is "pointless")? I find water permeability to be a fascinating subject.

[jlirot]

And where is your site? Is it the firstlite site?

[Knute]

And where is your site? Is it the firstlite site?

https://www.facebook.com/vantagepointoutfitters/posts/

[jlirot]

Thank you!

[elknut]

Just a side note ....Watching a hunting show ....Bob Foulkrod hunting up in Alaska and he was talking about rain gear and interior moisture re: sweating from hiking ..He basically said if the clothing you are wearing next to your body and every other layer doesnt allow moisture to escape..You are going to get wet ..So even though these articles of clothing let moisture escape one must also wear the complete package ...His explanation made common sense..But also good outer clothing is important ...He was describing Goretex ...Thoughts !!!!...Dennis

[twoSevenO]

Just a side note ....Watching a hunting show ....Bob Foulkrod hunting up in Alaska and he was talking about rain gear and interior moisture re: sweating from hiking ..He basically said if the clothing you are wearing next to your body and every other layer doesnt allow moisture to escape..You are going to get wet ..So even though these articles of clothing let moisture escape one must also wear the complete package ...His explanation made common sense..But also good outer clothing is important ...He was describing Goretex ...Thoughts !!!!...Dennis

depends on your activity level. If i'm fishing and mostly sitting or standing in place it doesn't matter what i'm wearing underneath i'll still stay dry. if i'm hiking i'm going to get wet no matter what. The problem with gore-tex is that people assume just because its breathable that you can go hiking all day and be dry and that if you're wet inside it is leaking. Gore-tex or any other breathable fabric simply cannot keep up with the amount of vapour that you generate inside when you are hiking. The main reason to wear the appropriate (non-cotton) base layers is that once you stop, you will dry out a lot faster than if you had worn cotton since these fabrics wont absorb as much of the sweat, and since they dry out faster than cotton.

Unless its really cold outside i'd rather be wet from the rain and change as soon as i stop THEN put on the gore-tex, rather than trying to hike in my gore-tex jacket and being overly hot and almost as wet but from sweat. Of course, this only works for early season hunts when its not too cold out.

if you're hiking up a mountain, you're gonna sweat and in the words of Proguide66 "that's all there is to it".

[Camp Cook]

I have bought all kinds of rain gear including Sitka-Kuiu etc I now buy made in Vancouver 3 layer Taiga rain gear works for me plus I'm supporting a local company and if I do need repairs I ship it to them and they either replace it or repair it in house.

No duties to deal with and if I want to drive in to the store I drive in.

[fuzzy]

I was at taiga and I wish there clothes were cut a little slimmer. That's what draws me to other brands. I'm 5'11" and 175. Their garments are cut pretty square and for me and my build there is a lot of excess fabric swishing around.

Fuzzy