Celt943

For northeast riding would a jacket with 8,000mm waterproof rating & 5,000 breathability and fully taped seams be enough? And if not is 10,000/10,000 that big of an improvement or Would I need to go to like a 20,000/20,000? I've narrowed my search down to pretty much two jackets, one is 8,000/5,000 with fully taped seams and the other one is 10,000/10,000 with Critically taped seams. So do you think I would see a "real world" difference in the waterproof performance between these two jackets?

johan

i cannot lend you any first hand experience only my opinion so take that for what it's worth (that would be about 9 cents since it's not worth a dime).

again, i'm no expert on this subject but i would not expect a huge difference b/t an 8/5 jacket and a 10/10 jacket no matter how the seams were taped (cannot tell you even if there is a significant difference b/t critical and fully taped seams or if they are just marketing jargon to artificially enhance the product). i would suspect a noticeable difference b/t a 20/20 jacket and a 10/10 jacket but this difference would probably only show up on the wettest of days.

Snowolf

I teach on Mt. Hood and deal with a lot of good old Oregon rain! The main difference is going to come from the taping of the seams; the fully taped seam is going to prevent leakage in rain better than the critically taped seams which really means that only certain seams are tapped. In noraml riding, you will not see much of a difference. If you can see yourself riding in the rain, then yes there will be a little bit of difference and a lot of difference in the 20K rating.

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Celt943

Thanks Snowolf, as usual you give great advice. I decided to go with the 8,000/5,000 fully taped seam jacket because I really liked the cut and pocket arrangement a lot better than the 10/10 jacket. I did however get a great deal on some sessions 20/20 pants on SAC, so I think with 20/20 pants and a 8/5 jacket I should be ok in most normal Vermont weather. Also thanks again for the great board waxing videos, I just finished my first hot wax job and it was super easy following your instructions.

Snowolf

Thanks for the feedback. Of all the outerwear, I like the pants to be the highest rating...nothing quite like sitting on wet chairlift in the rain and having it soak through. I think your setup will work great. Just remember when it comes time to wash your outerwear, do not use liquid detergent. Ideally, if you can afford the Nikwax wash, do that but if not, you can get away with using a powdered detergent; it does not remove the waterproofing like liquid detergent does. After age and washing, the waterproofing wears out; you can regenerate it with Nikwax wash in waterproofing and the make a spray on kind as well. Ask you local shop about the stuff...

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