jcm

Wool rules. I would rather be wet and dry quickly than stay wet and clammy.

jcm

I was threatened with being tossed if I didn't stop moving around so much.

jcm

...do not.

Roughstuff

Exactly. The key is to stay warm when wet; not 'dry in the rain,' which is quite impossible.

From my touring experience, the worst possible weather condition is wind driven wet snow when you are climbing. I have literally come close to hypothermia or bring killed in these conditions several times.

Its the worst because the WET snow makes you wet and MELTING snow wicks up body heat with life threatening rapidity. On top of all that you are bundled up against the cold weather so you are piling up sweat faster than in a sauna. When you reach the top of the pass and begin your descent, body heat ceases, evaporation and wind chill soars, and within a few hundred vertical feet you are cold enough to be in serious trouble. This happened to me on Col de la Cayolle in the French Alps. There is a sign at the top of the pass and i almost stripped naked in the lee of the sign to put on dry clothing..what dry clothing had left, anyway...i had almost everything on on the way up.

Barring such extremes, the best idea is the old idea of layers. I start with a long sleeved turtleneck; a short sleeved t-shirt over it; a wool sweater on top if that; a water resistant windbreaker on top of that, and then finally my waterproof jacket. The two top jackets have an assortment of velcro, snaps and zippers so that I can vary the degree to which the wind can penetrate into them.

One clever thing to remember: don't get elastic around your wrists. SOMETIMES ya want the air to be able to run up your arm, over your shoulders and down your back. Other times you do not. So use velcro if you can find it our get it.

When I buy gear i don't look for 'brand names.' I look for features.


roughstuff

Bekologist

i think the idea of nano coatings is a great idea personally, i think encapsulated fabrics work on similar principle.

You'll always need a waterproof coat for touring as the last ditch shell but I've been comfortable touring in quite mixed riding conditions in microfiber encapsulated 'windbreaker' type shells over wool layers versus wearing a WB coat. its much more breathable.

soltour

I have a Montane event waterproof jacket, very lightweight, breathable etc but after years of wearing it I cannot seem to waterproof it anymore to a high standard...even though I do not wash it in any detergent stuff prior to waterproofing as suggested....any suggestions apart from buying a new one

MilitantPotato

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_marketing

Bleh. What's the evap rate in 100%+ humidity for sweat? Zero. When it's raining, what's the humidity at?
Good luck on finding clothes that let sweat evap when it rains.

Roughstuff

Well...a point. Just because its raining doesn't mean the humidity is 100%. It is, by definition, 100% at the point where the condensation is taking place. But the raindrops can easily be falling thru remarkably dry air. The 'virga' people refer to out west occurs when rain falls thru such dry air it evaporates on route to the ground. Very dry air during showers when I lived in Arizona.

What I love ( ) is when the rain falls on a roadway which is still superheated from earlier sunshine, and so the wet roadway starts to steam.

roughstuff