Just in comparison to ProShell I suppose, how breatheable is the Gore Tex Pac lite in your opinion?

MScholes wrote:Just in comparison to ProShell I suppose, how breatheable is the Gore Tex Pac lite in your opinion?

I have only used ProShell a little bit, but I have used the Pac Lite alot. It breaths very very well and I have never had an issue with it. My North Face Serac GTX PacLite may be the best thing that I own. No complaints whatsoever with breathability. I cant really judge which of the two are better though

I'm not too concerned which one is better, I have plenty of Proshell jackets which I find breathe reasonably well considering the amount of moisture in need of movement that my body produces. I just have the option of picking up an Arcteryx Alpha SL pullover at quite a nice price and just curious if I should bother.

I have the heavy duty Alpha SV shell and small houdini 'shell', just thought it'd be fun to have an "inbetweener" considering I can get it for approx $125 (worn once etc, my size and in that sexy sublime colour so why not?)

I suppose you could say that it would be something to keep the wind and rain off of you, while moving the moisture that your body produces away keeping you relativly dry, cool, and not too uncomfortable with the sticky/sweaty feeling.

MScholes wrote:Just in comparison to ProShell I suppose, how breatheable is the Gore Tex Pac lite in your opinion?

In a lab, Paclite is significantly more breathable than Pro Shell. In the field... well, yes it is more breathable, if you are paying attention to it; otherwise you probably wouldn't notice much of a difference. The big advantage of the Alpha SL Pullover vs the Alpha SV would be packability. The pullover is going to pack down significantly smaller and is 7.7 oz lighter.

Mine is not breathable. I don't use GTX

mtngeek wrote:

MScholes wrote:Just in comparison to ProShell I suppose, how breatheable is the Gore Tex Pac lite in your opinion?

In a lab, Paclite is significantly more breathable than Pro Shell. In the field... well, yes it is more breathable, if you are paying attention to it; otherwise you probably wouldn't notice much of a difference. The big advantage of the Alpha SL Pullover vs the Alpha SV would be packability. The pullover is going to pack down significantly smaller and is 7.7 oz lighter.

Thats what I was kind of thinking. Out of the 20+ jackets that I own, none are PacLite and I was wondering why I seemed to have avoided it. Packability really isn't a big deal, more just for having something lighter and not as burly as the SV or the other big ones that I own, but burlier then a Houdini.

FortMental wrote:I don't understand this whole concept of breathability.... maybe someone could help me out here:

The vapor concentration near my skin is nearly 100% when I'm hiking with a pack on. If it's raining, that means the vapor concentration in ambient air is also close to 100%. So, how does vapor leave the space between my skin and the jacket?

It doesn't. Same in fog or any other humid environment. Should work great in the desert, though.

FortMental wrote:I don't understand this whole concept of breathability.... maybe someone could help me out here:

The vapor concentration near my skin is nearly 100% when I'm hiking with a pack on. If it's raining, that means the vapor concentration in ambient air is also close to 100%. So, how does vapor leave the space between my skin and the jacket?

Here in the east it doesn't.

I only use paclite because of it light weight. I hardly sweat at all anyway. I have the perfect layering system for myself. I would just experiment. Maybe borrow a friends or something.

FortMental wrote:I don't understand this whole concept of breathability.... maybe someone could help me out here:

The vapor concentration near my skin is nearly 100% when I'm hiking with a pack on. If it's raining, that means the vapor concentration in ambient air is also close to 100%. So, how does vapor leave the space between my skin and the jacket?

It is much warmer inside the jacket than outside. The temperature gradient helps signifiantly - as long as the DWR is up to snuff so the membrane doesn't wet out. But yeah, it still doesn't breathe much.

I find good membranes to be only marginally better than monolithic raingear here in the NE, when it's raining or muggy. I use light softshells, windshirts, and plastic rainwear for most things, and if I pick up the eVent jacket I'm looking at it will just replace the plastic and soft shell on big trips where I'm dropping pack weight. I find that membranes are definately a "nice to have", and not needed for almost any of my activites (hiking, trad, ice, mountaineering).

Autoxfil wrote:

FortMental wrote:I don't understand this whole concept of breathability.... maybe someone could help me out here:

The vapor concentration near my skin is nearly 100% when I'm hiking with a pack on. If it's raining, that means the vapor concentration in ambient air is also close to 100%. So, how does vapor leave the space between my skin and the jacket?

It is much warmer inside the jacket than outside. The temperature gradient helps signifiantly - as long as the DWR is up to snuff so the membrane doesn't wet out. But yeah, it still doesn't breathe much.

This is my understanding as well. Temperature difference leads to a vapor pressure difference leads to the sweat passing through the membrane where depending on temperature and humidity it condenses and (if the DWR is working) drips right off you.

If it's too warm and humid for the jacket to breathe, leave it at home and bring an umbrella.

But at the membrane interface the humidity is not 100%, because your jacket is warm(ish).

FortMental wrote:%100 humidity means %100 humidity. Regardless of temperature, the ambient atmosphere's capacity to absorb additional water vapor is ZERO.

So the vapor condenses into liquid form, no?

laws of physics courtesy of marketing suits