>>2416304>How often do you reapply the DWR coating to you fabrics and what product do you use?Whenever it wets out, I just use the nikwax dwr/tech wash 2 pack.
I live in Washington and I've used... not every but most kinds of rain shells out there and here's my opinions.
I've gone back and forth on it for a long time but I use frog toggs ul2 now. They weigh less than a rain shell but more than an emergency shell and they never wet out. They can get clammy, don't have pit zips and can tear easily so be careful with them. They're by far the cheapest rain solution, but I also think they are the best.
The other rain shells I see that are really popular locally are marmot precip and or helium 2. The precip's good to have because its a lot more physically durable and abrasion resistant than frog toggs, and its cheap, but it is a dwr jacket, it will wet out eventually, it will delaminate eventually, its twice as heavy, etc. They do warranty delaminations for $14 for a new jacket though. Nice to have off trail but if I can get away with toggs I prefer them. or helium 2 wets out too quick and is not suitable for the climate here, maybe if it only sprinkles for you. high end hardshells aren't worth it imo but if you want to get one either do rei garage sales or taobao arctyrex replicas.
Rain Pants:
Rain pants suck dick they're only for snow. The two philosophies that actually work well are rain skirts, or simply not wearing anything that holds water on your legs. I prefer to not wear anything that holds water on my legs; rain skirts work great but restrict mobility and take time to don and remove while rain is sporadic here. I wear shorts made from a material that does not hold a drop of water (5ultimate hydro shorts) and i'll just have windbreaker pants over those, if they get wet they don't hold a lot of extra water weight and get uncomfortable like some pants, still retain heat and dry out in 10 mins anyways.
