Rain suit question...

[onrhodes]

Okay, I know for a fact that this has been discussed about rain gear numerous times, etc. However I was wondering if anyone had any specific experience with the LL Bean Trail Model rain pants. $39 seems like a good deal. I'm a little leary about the breathability of them however.
I'm leaning heavily towards the Frogg Toggs since they are only $50 for a SET. People claim they breathe well and that the durability is pretty good.
I'm looking for rain gear for day hiking with the potential to start some overnights in the near future.
I want it to be able to fit over spring to fall clothing, be light, packable down to pretty small size and preferably inexpensive. This is why I am leaning towards the Frogg Toggs.
Let's just use as an example that you're doing a Presidential Traverse in early June and you want to stay dry an comfortable if it starts to rain. What would you bring?
Let the discussion begin.....
Thanks,
-Pete

 

[percious]

I have a set of Marmot Precips I got on Campmor. Worth every penny.

-percious

 

[jfb]

Let's just use as an example that you're doing a Presidential Traverse in early June and you want to stay dry an comfortable if it starts to rain. What would you bring?

I also would bring Marmot Precip pants. I have the ones with the ankle zips. Underneath, I would wear Smartwool long underwear and bring a pair of REI Muir Woods fleece pants with full side zips. Depending on the temperature and how hard it's raining, I may just wear the long underwear under shorts and carry the rain pants.

 

[ripple]

onrhodes,

I love my frogg toggs!!! They are very light, very breathable, and very waterproof. The pants sizes seem to run big, and the tops some what small. I have the pull over type top, not the full zip jacket. They pack down pretty well, and they make a good outer layer even when not raining, to retain some heat or as a wind breaker. They are not for bushwackers, a bit more on the delicate side, but I have put many miles on they over 3 years and still no sign of them wearing out. I really have nothing negative to say about them except the sizing issue. Just go bigger, it will be easier to layer under. I bought mine directly from the company.. it was a over stock sale.. ugly colors ( bright orange and blue), but price was right. Check out their site.

 

[David Metsky]

Let's just use as an example that you're doing a Presidential Traverse in early June and you want to stay dry an comfortable if it starts to rain. What would you bring?

If it's warm, I'll go in shorts and polypro longjohns. If it's cold, I'll put on my rain/windpants, gaitors, and concentrate on staying warm, not dry. In my experience, if you are exercising hard in the rain you'll get wet either from the rain for from sweat. I just accept that and work on keeping warm.

Having said that, I go for full side zips, abrasion resistant fabrics, and as light weight as I can get away with.

-dave-

 

[michaelb]

I thought I emailed LLbean about the weight of the rain pants, but can't find that. So I must have called them. They were slightly heavier than I wanted them to be, compared to other choices. I went with the red ledge thunderlight full zips, which on my scale weigh 11 oz. I haven't actually ever worn them yet in the past year.

I almost never wear, and often don't carry, rain pants for summer day hikes. For winter use, I really want/need full zips to put on over my skis/snowshoes. If you aren't getting full zips, I would be tempted to go as light as possible, in the sub 8 oz range, maybe down to 5-6 oz, given how much you may carry rain pants vs wear them. If you are on trails and not bushwacking, super light rain pants are the way to go.

For what they are worth, backpackinglight has a full suit called "dropstoppers" on sale for $10 for mens large; supposedly comparable to frog toggs. The pants are 4 oz. I have them on order and should arrive in the next day or so. They were so cheap I thought I would check them out as emergency backup and/or extra pair, etc.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/drop_stoppers_rain_gear.html

 

[blownaway]

frog toggs

They seem to have a pretty good following....popular lightweight gear in the motorcycle world as well.

The advertising and write ups seem too good to be true....waterproof, breathable, windproof all for $69.99 a set.

I noticed no zipper vents under the arms. I just have a gut feeling these would be great for anerobic type activities, but provide less than adequate ventilation in warm rainy weather.

As for a traverse...I doubt you will need to worry about warm, rainy, humid weather causing heavy prespiration..even in June. Probably a cold rain, with high winds causing you to find an escape route down.

I make absolutely sure right up to the end the forcast is for a beautiful day then set out on a traverse (late June time frame). Take only an extra light weight fleece shirt, marmot precip jacket, camel back, sun glasses, thin fleece gloves and hat, black diamond ion headlamp, some powerbars/cliff bars, ibuprofen, and hiking poles. I Wear Lowa hiking shoes, a pair of shorts and something on the lines of a North Face Tekk Tee shirt.

 

[Peaks]

Well, I used to carry a LL Bean rain suit. However, now I use a Marmot PreCip rain jacket, and Frogg Togg rain pants. Frogg Toggs are great unless you are going off trail, like for bagging trailless peaks.

Another good alternate is the Red Ledge rain gear.