RxGus
Argyle Warrior
Those of you who have gotten to know me pretty well the last 8 months or so know that Golf is my second love that requires great performance apparel. LONG before I seriously golfed, I backpacked (and still pretend to) and I backpacked a lot. If you think you need goo rain gear on the course- only imagine that the only thing between you and everything you own being soaking wet for the next 4 days is a good pack and a GREAT rain coat.
I was very fortunate to get a limited edition run of the greatest rain coat ever created. The first year model Backcountry Welder Hoodie. It has since changed and lost most of its charm, but in every iteration it was the best price for performance soft-shell rain jacket I have ever owned. I have owned close to 20 different rain jackets. It is VERY light, VERY breathable, absolutely water resistant, and doesn't make that damn swishy noise all other softshell. I can sing the praises of this coat (the sport cut, welded seems, etc) all day- but that isn't the point of this review.
The point of this review is that time takes it toll on everything. That jacket has treked with me close to 2000 miles of backpacking. This past week I was wearing the jacket in a slow, drenching rain. The coat held its ground for a good while but about 40 mins into it I noticed bleed through. By the time I was home and settled in the coat was wet. Drenching, dripping, wet. While still better than most soft-shells would be under those conditions (and much better than any ryder cup apparel) the jacket did not perform in the manner I was accustomed. After immediately trying to find if there was another such jacket left in the world (there is not) I started looking at other options and came across this.
"Breathe new life into your waterproof outerwear"
It has been ordered and I'll update you with some before and after results about how it performs on my favorite waterproof jacket.
"But Gus! I don't have a high performance soft-shell raincoat. Is this product for me?"
Great Question! I don't know. So... to find out I thought I would test something else too. Last week I bought an Ohio State branded (O-H!) Antiqua polyester wind jacket that should offer some elemental protection. From the picture below you can see that it doesn't really respond well to water. So I am going to go through the fabric restoration process on this jacket too and see if that will help the new Antiqua soft shell hold up a little bit better to the rain I know it will see!
The products are on the way and should be here by the end of the week. I am still trying to figure out a repeatable test to run pre and post applications to test whether or not the water resistance improves.
What do you guys do when your soft shells start becoming more like towels than coats? Anyone try this before? Use another product?
Updates to follow!
I was very fortunate to get a limited edition run of the greatest rain coat ever created. The first year model Backcountry Welder Hoodie. It has since changed and lost most of its charm, but in every iteration it was the best price for performance soft-shell rain jacket I have ever owned. I have owned close to 20 different rain jackets. It is VERY light, VERY breathable, absolutely water resistant, and doesn't make that damn swishy noise all other softshell. I can sing the praises of this coat (the sport cut, welded seems, etc) all day- but that isn't the point of this review.
The point of this review is that time takes it toll on everything. That jacket has treked with me close to 2000 miles of backpacking. This past week I was wearing the jacket in a slow, drenching rain. The coat held its ground for a good while but about 40 mins into it I noticed bleed through. By the time I was home and settled in the coat was wet. Drenching, dripping, wet. While still better than most soft-shells would be under those conditions (and much better than any ryder cup apparel) the jacket did not perform in the manner I was accustomed. After immediately trying to find if there was another such jacket left in the world (there is not) I started looking at other options and came across this.
"Breathe new life into your waterproof outerwear"
It has been ordered and I'll update you with some before and after results about how it performs on my favorite waterproof jacket.
"But Gus! I don't have a high performance soft-shell raincoat. Is this product for me?"
Great Question! I don't know. So... to find out I thought I would test something else too. Last week I bought an Ohio State branded (O-H!) Antiqua polyester wind jacket that should offer some elemental protection. From the picture below you can see that it doesn't really respond well to water. So I am going to go through the fabric restoration process on this jacket too and see if that will help the new Antiqua soft shell hold up a little bit better to the rain I know it will see!
The products are on the way and should be here by the end of the week. I am still trying to figure out a repeatable test to run pre and post applications to test whether or not the water resistance improves.
What do you guys do when your soft shells start becoming more like towels than coats? Anyone try this before? Use another product?
Updates to follow!
