>>2741354that's just ultralightfaggery. the guy will probably add a chest zip if you ask he used to do stuff like that at least dunno about these days.
i agree but i find closed front to be fine for the outer-most layer so long as there is suitable ventilation (obviously not a problem for the megazip)
it makes sense to have no zip on the front for a silpoly/dcf rain jacket like that since its primary purpose is to not let water in under any circumstance. if it was a membrane jacket i'd think its goofy to not have one.
>>2741323kind of!
i would say its a jacket with poncho-like qualities to it.
because there is so much ventilation it allows the jacket to be made of non breathable non membrane material that doesn't wet out, but without being a sweat box like other non breathable rain shells tend to. very ideal for high rainfall pnw weather that gore tex can't keep up with, or eastern usa climates with the wrong humidity levels for gore tex to work correctly.
if you want something that's closer to a best of both worlds exact middle ground i can highly suggest the packa
http://www.thepacka.com/ i don't have one but i hike with people who do its very popular with boomers in my area. it fixes all the major issues ponchos have (namely wind and performance at high elevation) without really introducing much downside.
