FeatherSticks · Gear
Rain Gear: Jackets, Ponchos & Gaiters for Hiking and Bushcraft
Your rain jacket is not leaking. You are. Here is what to do about it.
Quick facts
- Core kit
- Shell jacket, rain trousers, gaiters
- Key habit
- Vent before you sweat
- Near fire
- Waxed cotton or wool outside, synthetics away
- Best for
- Every trip, every season
What you need
- Waterproof breathable jacket with taped seams, peaked hood and pit zips
- Rain trousers with side zips, or rain chaps
- Low or high gaiters
- Shelter-capable poncho (optional)
- Waxed cotton or wool smock for the fire (optional)
- Technical cleaner and DWR reproofer
- Repair tape and seam sealer
Step by step
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1 Choose jacket, poncho or both
A jacket handles wind and brush; a poncho ventilates, covers the pack and becomes a shelter. Many bushcrafters carry a jacket and use a tarp for camp.
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2 Check hood, pit zips and length
The hood should turn with your head and have a stiff peak. Pit zips let steam out, and the hem should cover your seat.
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3 Protect legs and feet
Rain trousers or chaps keep your thighs warm; gaiters stop water, mud and ticks from getting into the boot top.
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4 Vent before you sweat
Open pit zips and the front zip early, take off the mid layer and slow down slightly. Sweat soaks you as fast as rain.
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5 Dry, wash and reproof
Hang gear to dry after every trip, wash it with a technical cleaner and renew the water-repellent finish as the label says.
Common mistakes
- Closing everything up and marching hard until soaked with sweat inside.
- Waiting until you are wet before putting on rain gear.
- Never washing the jacket and blaming a wetted-out face fabric on a leak.
- Sitting close to the fire in a synthetic shell or poncho.
- Wearing gaiters over rain trousers in rain, so water runs into the gaiter.
- Pitching a poncho shelter with the hood still open.
- Relying on an old jacket or surplus poncho without testing it first.