Rain gear.
- Thread starter Dogleg
- Start date
One of the problems that many Gore-Tex owners have is that they don't wash their garments regularly which will result in clogged pores in the membrane. Sweat, dirt, skin cells, and other materials will block up the pores and greatly reduce the breathability. Washing it regularly and treating the outside with a good DWR does wonders to keep the materials functioning properly. I haven't used anything that works as well as Gore-Tex and my Arcteryx stuff is wonderful but it has it's limitations. If you're very active and sweating without a jacket you will perspire a great deal more in a Gore-Tex jacket.
Kuiu is nice but I didn't like the perceived lack of durability in their Chugach rain suit so I returned it unused. Maybe it's better now but I wasn't impressed a few years back.
Also, wearing a good soft shell can often substitute for a rain jacket as long as it's not torrential. They are much more breathable and have more stretch,
Kuiu is nice but I didn't like the perceived lack of durability in their Chugach rain suit so I returned it unused. Maybe it's better now but I wasn't impressed a few years back.
Also, wearing a good soft shell can often substitute for a rain jacket as long as it's not torrential. They are much more breathable and have more stretch,
I spent a lifetime in Kitimat last year. After a beautiful, warm and sunny summer, it started to rain in September...and it was still raining when I left in November. I don't think it stopped for more than a half hour in that entire period. I can put up with cold, but that non-stop rain is the most demoralizing and depressing thing I have ever experienced.
Raingear? For me it seems that any decent quality stuff works for the first year. They all leak after that. I have given up on commercial stuff completely. Gore-Tex Military surplus gear is the only thing that seems to last for me. Even then, if it keeps me dry for three years, I consider myself lucky.
If I were to return to Kitimat, I think I'd get a turn-of-the-last-century diving suit. I might break out the little glass windows in the helmet, but even then I'd have to think twice.
Raingear? For me it seems that any decent quality stuff works for the first year. They all leak after that. I have given up on commercial stuff completely. Gore-Tex Military surplus gear is the only thing that seems to last for me. Even then, if it keeps me dry for three years, I consider myself lucky.
If I were to return to Kitimat, I think I'd get a turn-of-the-last-century diving suit. I might break out the little glass windows in the helmet, but even then I'd have to think twice.
Now, don't go sugar-coating it
I've decided that instead mentally preparing myself for rain; I will instead go into denial and refuse to consider the possibility. No use making myself miserable both before and during.
To further fuel the fantasy I checked the forecast for the first 10 days of September and they are predicting only two days of rain during my 10. They couldn't put it on the internet if it wasn't true, right?
http://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/kitimat/v0j/september-weather/52734
It can get wet but not always. Sometimes it is just misty. Actually when the sun comes out it is amazing place to be. Seasons are changing during your time there so do not forget some cold weather gear. NO engines on the Kitimat so any boating will be drifting, it is a pretty placid river by BC standards, the Skeena is a large powerful river and is a blast to boat on. Go prepared for a wide variety of weather. If this is your first trip into this part of BC you will be suitably impressed.
Often it's most important to know where you will be sleeping, and can you dry out gear overnight.
Going for a goat hunt and you will be in a little tent the whole time? You will be wet or dry, depending on conditions. But no place to dry out, so use fleece and gor-tex as it's light.
I tend to use HH lighter stretchy bibs (Impertech?) And a good quality MEC Gor-tex jacket I've had for years. I open up the vents and I stay pretty dry when exerting myself. If I'm not moving much, I put the HH jacket on.
As always, layering is important, and these days I start with Merino wool, then fleece pants, Stanfields wool shirt, fleece jacket then the rain gear. Obviously this is too much if it's not cold, but it's in layers.
Real coastal wet can defeat any gor-tex boot. Boots can be a challenge. Rubber can sometimes be the most practical as long as you can wear a sock that keeps your foot warm and you aren't hiking too hard That said, I've used my green Baffin rubber boots quite a few times in November blacktail hunting when it gets sloppy, and we are always going up and down hills.
I haven't been real impressed with Sitka. If you opt for that, make sure it's real 100% waterPROOF stuff, not water resistant or 90% gear. I've seen a few of their items blow out in minutes.
I guess the biggest thing is to remember that there is no way around it- if the weather is wet, you will get wet. SO stay warm.
Going for a goat hunt and you will be in a little tent the whole time? You will be wet or dry, depending on conditions. But no place to dry out, so use fleece and gor-tex as it's light.
I tend to use HH lighter stretchy bibs (Impertech?) And a good quality MEC Gor-tex jacket I've had for years. I open up the vents and I stay pretty dry when exerting myself. If I'm not moving much, I put the HH jacket on.
As always, layering is important, and these days I start with Merino wool, then fleece pants, Stanfields wool shirt, fleece jacket then the rain gear. Obviously this is too much if it's not cold, but it's in layers.
Real coastal wet can defeat any gor-tex boot. Boots can be a challenge. Rubber can sometimes be the most practical as long as you can wear a sock that keeps your foot warm and you aren't hiking too hard That said, I've used my green Baffin rubber boots quite a few times in November blacktail hunting when it gets sloppy, and we are always going up and down hills.
I haven't been real impressed with Sitka. If you opt for that, make sure it's real 100% waterPROOF stuff, not water resistant or 90% gear. I've seen a few of their items blow out in minutes.
I guess the biggest thing is to remember that there is no way around it- if the weather is wet, you will get wet. SO stay warm.
My apologies in case any Kitimatians (?) thought I was badmouthing the area. It was magnificent and I loved every relatively dry moment of the experience. Dogleg, you will fall in love with the place. The depression only starts to set in after about the 6th week of continuous rain.
My apologies in case any Kitimatians (?) thought I was badmouthing the area. It was magnificent and I loved every relatively dry moment of the experience. Dogleg, you will fall in love with the place. The depression only starts to set in after about the 6th week of continuous rain.
If I can get my bear you won't be able to wash the grin off my face with 6 weeks of rain.
As a few have stated,I have never been 100% dry while hunting in the rain.What keeps you dry gets you too hot when active and you end up soaking wet from the inside and you end up cold and misearble.The gear that does breathe ends up letting water in and alot of it is very expensive.I have ended up with a long helly hansen impertech coat and a pair of hip waders for my rainy day hunts and I keep movement to a minium to avoid sweating.I have a set of Browning Hydro Fleece that has been ok for lighr rain but I don't think it will be fit for the kind of rain you're looking at.
Ive given up on the whole trying to stay dry thing here, as has already been stated its either gonna make you sweat or it will fail. The devils club and alder around here is tough on gear. These days my muck boots , wool and fleece get it done, you just have to get in the mindset that the rain on your face feels better than a twenty knot wind at minus 40 and from there on its just a bit of water.
Edit.... Bug jacket! don't wanna be without one when the rain stops and the noseeum's start!!
Edit.... Bug jacket! don't wanna be without one when the rain stops and the noseeum's start!!
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I have an Arc'teryx Alpha goretex jacket. As much as I love it, it's a terrible piece of kit for hunting. Very loud material.
The best thing I found for staying dry was to zip-tie one of those little pop-up doghouse blinds to the boat I was sitting in. You know, the little outhouse sized guys that fold up (hopefully) flat the size of a garbage can lid.
Wind was blowing. Rain was here to stay. The boat bobbed and the anchor dragged, but I stayed relatively dry. And I was going to sit point come hell or high water.
I also warmed up a bit by burning a tin can full of cardboard soaked in paraffin wax. Really helped dry out the booger hooks. No chance of asphyxiation, because there was no way that little setup was airtight!
Wind was blowing. Rain was here to stay. The boat bobbed and the anchor dragged, but I stayed relatively dry. And I was going to sit point come hell or high water.
I also warmed up a bit by burning a tin can full of cardboard soaked in paraffin wax. Really helped dry out the booger hooks. No chance of asphyxiation, because there was no way that little setup was airtight!
I have to to do a job above the arctic circle (a shock after 8 years in the tropics) this year so I'm treating myself to a set of new raingear. Since my activity levels will be high I went with 3 ply breathable membrane from Taiga Vancouver. An Alpinist jacket and a pair of Summit pants.
I like Taiga gear as it is good quality, is made in Canada and my geologist buddies harangue me whenever I buy 5hit from the commies at MEC .
https://w w w.taigaworks.ca/Shell-Garments-c11
I like Taiga gear as it is good quality, is made in Canada and my geologist buddies harangue me whenever I buy 5hit from the commies at MEC .
https://w w w.taigaworks.ca/Shell-Garments-c11
Just look at what the west cost loggers and Commercial Fisherman wear
Good set of green helie hanses raingear sum of the Viking stuff is not bad substitute and a pare of insulated jeans Plus a west coast tuxedo ( wool Stansfield shirt over top of a long sleeve shirt pus a Mack Jacket wool socks and gumboots
You probly already have work slicker gear already that will work just fine
It's the Westcoast tuxedo that makes the difference
Good set of green helie hanses raingear sum of the Viking stuff is not bad substitute and a pare of insulated jeans Plus a west coast tuxedo ( wool Stansfield shirt over top of a long sleeve shirt pus a Mack Jacket wool socks and gumboots
You probly already have work slicker gear already that will work just fine
It's the Westcoast tuxedo that makes the difference
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I love working way up north I worked on a core drill on the northern tip of Quebec
Interesting, 3/4s of the guys from home worked the drills but when I get away from that circle of people it seems like few have even heard of them.
I don't work locally at all, I just spend a few months a year looking for far-north or remote jobs that nobody else seems to want (don't usually work oil rigs, I'm an electrician by trade). It's funny how there is a sort of sub-culture of people who work in those places, you meet the same people and see the same faces each year. Even stranger is the fact that so few of them actually have any appreciation for the location...to many folks, every jobsite is the same, just another "God-forsaken hellhole" that they tolerate for the money. Life at a camp is so much more pleasurable if you can look around and say to yourself "Wow...what a place!" with some sense of wonder rather than a tone of disgust. When three grizzlies in B.C. kept a group of us captive in a bus for the better part of an hour, I was enthralled by them...but most of the guys just fell asleep!
When three grizzlies in B.C. kept a group of us captive in a bus for the better part of an hour, I was enthralled by them...but most of the guys just fell asleep!The September forecast that I was looking at got updated from a couple of rainy days out of my 10 to thunder storms for almost all of them. This hunting might just be a sport for lunatics.
Photo of hunter in treestand, with caption stating "There's a fine line between hunting and just sitting there looking stupid".
Damn, I wish they hadn't been sold out of that T-shirt in XL!
