Originally Posted by
erig007
Why do you need waterproof breathable for winter use? Unless where you live your winter is around or above freezing i don't see the point.
What you
need is
windproof and breathable. Materials that have those qualities tend to also be near being waterproof.
So manufacturers tend to make them fully waterproof, for sales and manufacturing reasons. Polartec for example has released materials that are "almost waterproof" that sound like great materials, but they stopped pushing them as they seemed to be hard to market something that's "almost waterproof" (they were a lot less windproof as well good for jackets standing around not necessarily for biking where you create your own wind).
I think for winter use it's best to go for wool against-the-skin as a baselayer, with a windproof breathable outer layer. Waterproof is not necessary, and as I said in my post, I would quickly happily give it up if it meant more breathable. It just happens to be that waterproof, windproof, and breathable happen to be close to each other in material so they often end up all being recommended together.