have rain jackets gotten radically better in the last 10 years?
living in the desert I don't have a ton of opportunities to spend all day in the rain, but I did that today in a newish rain jacket and I stayed more or less warm and dry the entire time. this was been impossible with every previous rain jacket I've owned.
this is the product (which has sort of a shocking price, I got mine for much less than this)
Oct 10, 2026, 3:18 PM@regehr I don't know, but one thing I did learn was that goretex jackets get less waterproof _and_ less breathable over time. Perhaps this is (partly) reversible by actually caring for them; I have heard various theories.
@regehr I don't know but I can tell you that the jackets I have do not handle heavy rain well.
The only ones that have worked to keep the water out were the ones I used on the farm many years ago, but you are basically putting on a sous vide suit.
@gwozniak that's the thing about this one-- it actually breathes and I didn't turn into a steamed tamale today
@regehr This is sounds like sorcery and as though I must try it out.
Oct 10, 2026, 4:11 PM@regehr heh I was like “well what’s a cutting edge rain jacket cost, like $300?”
I was prepared to be see like $1,000 by your warning
@jason that's the Arcteryx one (probably)
@regehr I never found Gore-Tex to be a good tradeoff, I bias toward waterproofness when I'm inactive and breathability when I'm active, so different jackets.
@regehr I was in Japan in April and looking at Mont-Bell outerwear and decided against getting more... and then my rain jacket decided to delaminate spectacularly in Costa Rica in September. Grrrr.
Anyway, I think technologies have improved.
@plragde this current jacket is totally amazing for real
Oct 10, 2026, 6:18 PM@regehr My understanding is yes.
@regehr You just bought a well specced GoreTex rain jacket, that's all.
@jsjolen I've done this before, is the thing
@regehr my experience is yes, massively. I have rain and exercise clothes for cycling that are not expensive and insanely good. I can be covered in sweat or rain and still be comfortable and it’ll be dry again five minutes later.
@regehr I took a mid level REI rain jacket into Sutherland Falls in New Zealand about twenty years ago and emerged dry as a bone
@regehr yeah, they really have. I had my own brush with that reality today: finally got around to getting myself a new one - needed it for about ten years, put it on my shopping list in 2024, got one this afternoon. Modern materials and seam taping make them just completely different garments than they were when I was younger.
But those prices, _ow_. This jacket better last me a full decade or more. 😭