In pursuit of my ongoing “terminal gear” quest — that is, taking advantage of the excuse that, after a lifetime of buying mostly the cheapest of everything, I can now justify buying quality because at my age good gear should last longer than I will and I’ll never have to replace it — I have learned a lot from our discussions about wool shirts and pants.
Next on the list is a new rain suit. So far as staying dry and relatively comfy, I’ve always done fine. What I’d like to find now is a rain suit that is simultaneously light and compact enough to carry almost constantly (here in the high Rockies only beginners trust that a blue-sky day will stay that way), and can actually hunt in. The primary problem I’ve encountered is that most rain gear is “hard shell,” that is, has a slick exterior against which rain “splats” so loud you can’t hear anything, and is also noisy when moving through brush. This problem, noise, is what generally forces me to quit hunting in a hard rain, esp. when the hood is up. What “soft shell” rain gear I’ve seen tends to be cloth-like thus heavy and bulky.
So what I’m looking for is, like affordable heavy Merino pants, probably not even available, to wit: rain gear that keeps you dry, that “breathes” so that you don’t sweat yourself wet, that is quiet even with a hard rain pelting on it, yet is not too bulky or heavy to keep permanently in a hunting day pack. Affordability would be nice as well.
Does anyone know if such a beast exists? Thanks, Dave
