Topic: The Best Backpacking Rain Jackets of 2023 (Read 42 times)
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Let’s get the tough part out of the way first: If you are headed into conditions that could be described as “torrential,” you should probably leave this one in your closet. But if you’re looking at more typical rain conditions—the light mist of the Pacific Northwest or short-but-intense squalls of the East Coast—then the Montbell Versalite is an excellent choice. It passed the shower test with flying colors and after the twenty-four waterproofing test (and are you really going to be out in the rain for twenty-four hours?) it was only slightly damp underneath, indicating a high degree of water resistance.
This wasn’t quite the lightest rain jacket in my test, but the extra features it incorporated (accounting for that extra ounce of weight) upped its performance for big adventures. The biggest of these is the zipped pit vents, essential for letting you cool off and air out when the sweat starts to pick up. It also has (albeit more minimal that the Arc’teryx Beta LT) velcro cuffs and cinches at the hem as well as the back of the hood and at the neck, which will help to keep out cold gusts when the wind kicks up.
So, as it turns out, creating a perfectly waterproof, windproof rain jacket isn’t exactly the most environmentally friendly process. In recent years, there has been greater awareness around the dangers of some of the chemicals, including PFAS, that are used to waterproof outdoor gear, and co*mitment by some of the more forward-looking brands to start to rectify the problem.
While this is an ongoing issue that none of the backpacking rain jackets I looked at got exactly right, the one that got the closest to hitting the mark was the Patagonia Storm10. In addition to being fair-trade certified (which looks at whether the workers who make the apparel are being paid a sustainable wage), it also contains 87 percent recycled nylon.
Despite being one of the more expensive rain jackets I looked at, the Patagonia Storm10 struggled during the shower test, with some moisture evident on the hiking shirt underneath. Its waterproof fabric, however, easily passed the waterproofing test.
One co*mon piece of advice you hear with backpacking rain jackets is that you’re going to want to size up. That’s because you might have an insulation layer, base layer, and maybe even a fleece underneath that shell. But there are also times where you might want a more minimal approach: like when you’re hoofing it up a hill during a summer squall. So Outdoor Research’s approach to sizing—basically, include every option under the sun—is exactly what I wanted to see. The men’s sizing for the Helium goes all the way to 3X (that’s a 56 inches chest circumference) while the women’s goes all the way out to 4X (59 inches): the largest of any backpacking rain jacket I looked at.
Recording the results of the 24-hour waterproofing test for the Outdoor Research Helium.
Now the downside: This one really isn’t all that water resistant, soaking through during the 24-hour waterproofing test. If you’re expecting sunny skies with only a five percent chance of rain, it’s fine to pack, but if you need to account for multiple days of rain, this one isn’t going to provide the protection that you need.
Dollar for dollar, the Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite Suit provides the best protection of any backpacking rain jacket I looked at. Partly because the Frogg Toggs are extremely cheap, but also partly because these are a pretty good shell layer. While the jacket performed the worst in the shower test (a less robust front zip seems to have been the failure point), there was no leakage during the 24-hour waterproofing test, and they also proved surprisingly wind resistant. It would have challenged the Arc’teryx Beta LT for the top spot in that category if it had included any kind of cinch at the hem (which allowed for a substantial breeze to sneak through).
While the Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite came in at both an eye-poppingly low price and weight, it was the only rain jacket in my test to pick up scrapes during the durability test, specifically when I scraped the jacket with a rock. Do not take this one on your next scrambling trip, or really any place where you anticipate serious blow downs. But thru-hikers on a budget should still consider this one. After all, you could buy three and still pay less than the next closest priced layer (the Montbell Versalite). And you get free rain pants.
Since weight is typically a major concern of backpackers, I only looked at shell layers that weighed less than 10 ounces. If weight is not one of your primary concerns, you’ll be better off with the best hunting rain gear or the best rain gear for fishing. While there are always trade-offs when you start cutting the ounces off of outdoor gear, with rain gear the stakes go up considerably. If you’re interested in cutting weight, but have a certain level of performance that you’ll still need to get out of your rain gear to meet it—keep reading.
There are seemingly endless proprietary waterproofing options out there, but for lightweight rain jackets, most are silnylon, silpolyester, or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), often with an additional durable water resistant (DWR) coating. How well any of these work at actually keeping out rain depends on a number of factors (hence the proprietary aspect), but generally PTFE (which is what GORE-TEX is made out of) will hold off rain for longer than other materials. In this test, we looked at whether each material could resist rain for twenty-four hours without wetting out.
There’s a general sense in the outdoor co*munity that “breathable rain gear” is an oxymoron and, for all intents and purposes, this is true. While breathable rain gear does provide some release of heat and moisture, it’s not going to be enough for individuals that are regularly soaking their raingear from the inside out (conversely, people who don’t sweat much—like this gear reviewer—won’t benefit much from this feature at all). For this story, I did not test for the actual breathability of each fabric, but I did consider other ways each rain jacket could release heat (such as pit vents).
Lightweight rain jackets can be delicate, and sometimes rip or shred when you brush up against various types of foliage. If you know that your rain gear will be subjected to rougher environments—dense foliage, rocky scrambles—then pay attention to how well it does on the durability test.
After putting five top rain jackets through a series of field tests, I’m confident that (assuming money is no object) the Arc’teryx Beta LT is the best backpacking rain jacket you can buy. If weight is your primary concern, the Montbell Versalite is the best lightweight option I looked at, while the Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite Suit provides impressive waterproofing for a surprisingly low price.
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