OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI started this journey out of a desire to better understand rain gear and its performance in the field; vs. the hyperbole of marketing and internet biases. This journey has been huge, its exposed to me a behind the scenes peek at the technologies, thought, and processes that it takes to make a high quality, high performing set of rain gear. In reality rain gear performance is both complicated and simple, and the key is to use the gear as it was designed.

I would like to thank the folks at First Lite, KUIU, Sitka Gear, Kryptek, and Rokslide for their time, patience, and expertise.

Below are the summaries of my time and efforts in this arena:
Hard Core Rain Gear Review
Light Weight Rain Gear Shootout

rainjacketsOver the next few months I will post more individual, detailed analysis on the choices I made. This will include why, how, and when I utilize my chosen rain gear. As this has been a on going process for some time I will also be able to post updated durability & performance results.Compression Camparison 02

Additionally I plan to provide additional details on the technologies and fabrics that make our modern day rain gear so spectacular.

If you are a gear junkie like me and desire to better understand what goes into your rain gear, how it performs, and how long it will last, I think you will find these detailed deep dives informative.

To wet your appetite check out the following links:
http://thirtysevenfive.com/technology/overview
http://www.firstlite.com/cocona-technology/
http://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/content/our-fabrics
http://www.sitkagear.com/insight/the-darkroom-sitka-gear-dna
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?2387-Article-on-Rain-Gear
http://blog.kuiu.com/2013/08/21/waterproof-breathable-fabrics-how-they-work/#sthash.t9oAaWXd.dpbs
http://eventfabrics.com/technology/