I'm the only one in my group of friends that doesn't own a GTX garment aside from gaiters. I normally just pack what they refer to as a "shite rain jacket," and it doesn't go on unless conditions are at their worst. It has a powder coating instead of one of the more expensive Gore or eVent membranes. When we climbed Stuart last December, we were getting hammered by the snow and I guess I would say it BARELY kept me dry. Breathability did not occur.


I don't understand spending 250+ on a jacket I only wear in special circumstances. I think I could nab a decent used one for <$100 on eBay or something. Any goretex owners or naysayers out there with opinions?

That looks miserable. If you want something completely waterproof, plastic is where it's at. I use a garbage bag, which costs $0.25 or less, but you can buy fancier plastic ponchos for a few dollars at your neighborhood Walmart.

Get a Marmot Precip or similar - they're fairly cheap and waterproof.

I don't notice breathability of the various waterproof/breathable garments I've had, but I run hot.

I don't own a single Gore-Tex piece of clothing. It just doesn't work as advertised. I used a Marmot Precip for many years, available for <$60 at SierraTradingPost.com. I have a jacket that uses similar technology from a different company now, just a bit lighter and more packable. It mostly lives at the bottom of my pack. They keep me just as dry as every Gore-Tex jacket I've owned in the past. Typically I use a wind shirt for everything but heavy rain, in which case I head home. Climbing in the rain is asking for rock fall.

seano wrote: I use a garbage bag, which costs $0.25 or less, but you can buy fancier plastic ponchos for a few dollars at your neighborhood Walmart.

Oops, sorry for not clarifying the intended use. I'm not looking for something to be used for walking the pooch or riding my bicycle to work, I have an umbrella for that.

I agree with ExcitableBoy. When I started hiking/climbing in 1997 or so, the super-expensive "shell" seemed like a mandatory piece of clothing. But it's not!

staringcontest wrote:Oops, sorry for not clarifying the intended use. I'm not looking for something to be used for walking the pooch or riding my bicycle to work, I have an umbrella for that.

My bad for not reading carefully -- If you want something for technical climbing in cold rain, I can't help you (beyond suggesting that you don't do that . In my experience, "waterproof/breathable" fabrics are neither, as they collect sweat and/or soak through fairly quickly. If I'm going to be rained on all day, I want something waterproof and venting. If I'm being snowed on, something water-resistant works if I have enough insulation to keep my body heat from melting the snow.

EB has far more experience than I do in wet, near-freezing conditions, though, so I'd go with his suggestion.

Depends on the conditions I suppose... I don't have much experience with heavy snow or in alpine conditions like EB does, but from 10yrs of AT hiking and east coast climbing in driving miserable rain, Gore Tex Pro shells are the only ones that will not leak through the seams eventually. I've gone through Marmots, TNF, Eddie Bauer, all sorts of seam taped "shells" and most all of them have the breathability of a paper bag in comparison to GTX Pro (gotta be a lightweight hardshell though). It is ungodly wet over here though, insanely high humidity and days of rain are not uncommon. I've had my gore tex wet out plenty of times in high wear areas, especially the shoulders and around my hands where I'm climbing and grabbing stuff, but it has never leaked through. I'll wear a gray base layer underneath it and you can plainly see if it leaked at the seams or anywhere.... I would imagine though, in anything but driving nasty rain, as long as you have a good DWR finish on it, it should bead just fine for you... I bought my hardshell gore tex 3 years ago and it looks like the day I bought it, seriously.