Rain Pants

A place to chat about gear and the philosphy of ultralight. Ultralight bushwalking or backpacking focuses on carrying the lightest and simplest kit. There is still a good focus on safety and skill.
Forum rules
Ultralight Bushwalking/backpacking is about more than just gear lists. Ultralight walkers carefully consider gear based on the environment they are entering, the weather forecast, their own skill, other people in the group. Gear and systems are tested and tweaked.
If you are new to this area then welcome - Please remember that although the same ultralight philosophy can be used in all environments that the specific gear and skill required will vary greatly. It is very dangerous to assume that you can just copy someone else's gear list, but you are encouraged to ask questions, learn and start reducing the pack weight and enjoying the freedom that comes.

Common words
Base pack backpacking the mass of the backpack and the gear inside - not including consumables such as food, water and fuel
light backpacking base weight less than 9.1kg
ultralight backpacking base weight less than 4.5kg
super-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 2.3kg
extreme-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 1.4kg

Rain Pants

Postby Aushiker » Fri 29 Sep, 2017 6:07 pm

I am looking for a couple of pairs of waterproof rain pants for myself and my partner and was wondering what the general consensus is on the lightest best option.  This really for a two week walk in the UK and will probably not get a lot of use locally, so we can cope with reduced durability.

My shortlist for me at least and will probably get the women's equivalent for Anne is based on what Ultra Light Outdoors in the UK offer is: 

Inov8 AT/C Ultrapants coming in at 88 grams. Pretty basic, no features other than lightweight;

Montane 2017 Minimus pants at 146g. I have their wind jacket and pretty impressed with it;

Outdoor Research Helium Waterproof Overtrousers at 148 grams.
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby Tortoise » Fri 29 Sep, 2017 7:27 pm

Hi Aushiker. These are the ones I use for on-track walks:
http://rainbirdclothing.com.au/product/adults-gostow-pant/
If I got it right, they're a fair bit cheaper than the ones you mentioned. They are heavier at 185 gms (Men's M), so probably not what you want.
Edit: Oops. The OR ones are also breathable.
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby Aushiker » Sat 30 Sep, 2017 10:29 am

Tortoise wrote:Hi Aushiker. These are the ones I use for on-track walks:
http://rainbirdclothing.com.au/product/adults-gostow-pant/
If I got it right, they're a fair bit cheaper than the ones you mentioned. They are heavier at 185 gms (Men's M), so probably not what you want.
Edit: Oops. The OR ones are also breathable.

Thanks. I will keep an eye out for them locally.
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby rcaffin » Sat 30 Sep, 2017 8:01 pm

My wife Sue still uses some (old) Peter Storm WP overtrousers - lightweight nylon things (135 g) rather than heavy GTX. But I find them condensation traps on my legs.
So I use some (old) GoLite Whims: a tight-weave DWR-treated but no membrane synthetic (109 g). Yes, I can get damp trousers with these in heavy rain, but only DAMP. On the other hand, they dry very fast, and so do my ordinary trousers under them. I would imagine some light 'windproof' overtrousers would be fine.

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Re: Rain Pants

Postby wayno » Sun 01 Oct, 2017 2:17 pm

pertex sell top notch lightweight fabrics, at least as good if not better than gore tex for reliability for comparible weight.
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby Orion » Mon 02 Oct, 2017 4:05 pm

I made a pair of rainpants out of some extra Cuben fabric I had. It was the 17 g/m2 (0.51 oz/yd2) variety that I'd used to make a tarp with. The pants weigh in at 31g and I can easily carry them around in one of the pockets of my shorts. They don't breath at all, of course, except through the bottom where my legs come out. Despite that, the first time I used them I was quite happy with their performance. They were so silky light and pleasant to wear. And the condensation didn't seem any worse than in my WPB rain pants. I wore them while walking for a number of hours.

That said, I wouldn't give them a big thumbs up because of the complete lack of fabric breathability. Depending on how much you perspire, what clothing you are wearing underneath (the less the better), what you're doing physically, and the environmental conditions, they might work just fine as they did for me or they might be a totally horrible moisture trap.

So while they would probably vie for the lightest option, it's debatable whether they'd be "best".
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby Aushiker » Mon 02 Oct, 2017 10:58 pm

wayno wrote:pertex sell top notch lightweight fabrics, at least as good if not better than gore tex for reliability for comparible weight.


So it pretty much comes down to cut/design ... not surprising really. I will probably comprise and go the Montane/Outdoor Research or similar from somewhere else.
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby Aushiker » Mon 02 Oct, 2017 10:59 pm

Orion wrote:I made a pair of rainpants out of some extra Cuben fabric I had.


Interesting experiement. Thanks for sharing your experiene. I am not sure I would be that keen on walking around in cuben fibre but :)
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby wayno » Tue 03 Oct, 2017 4:54 am

i'm looking at RAB downpour pants, reasonable price
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby Neo » Tue 03 Oct, 2017 8:14 am

I still cart around a garbage bag kilt. Makes a good doormat and gear layer-outer.
Looks like the rain is finally coming now so looking at an MLD or Antigravitygear order if they are long enough.
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Re: Rain Pants

Postby wayno » Tue 03 Oct, 2017 9:27 am

I ended up picking up the RAB firewall pants. they were on sale $100 off 300gms but three layer and three quarter length zips as opposed to the 200gms and half length zips and 2.5 layer of the downpour pants, i'll use them a lot so it was worth it for me to pay the extra money for these ones.
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