Hiking

. . . . Great For Hiking

Hikers get wet, even “fairweather” hikers get wet, ‘cos you can’t always believe what the weather man tells you!

See what I mean . . . . Who knows why they’re really there?

Hiking in the Rain

Image via Wikipedia

Many designs of “regular” hiking or backpacking pants these days have a water resistant finish and are quick drying, but when you’re out in a real “hum-dinger” of a storm then you need to make sure that you’ve got a pair of “hum-dinger” rain pants to keep you dry. These types of rain pants are the ones you layer up over your regular pants when you see the black clouds circling.

Stuff To Check Before You Buy Hiking Rain Pants

• waterproofability – leaky rain pants do not fit their job description!
• breathability – this is something you really need to check for. Some pairs of hiking rain pants are pretty bad in the breathability stakes, and whilst it’s nice to keep you dry from the outside, it’s far from ideal if you sweat so much that you’re soaking wet on the inside.
• lightweight – hopefully you won’t need to wear your rainpants for the whole of your hike, and we all know how important it is to keep the weight down in our backpacks (and on our legs whilst we are actually wearing rain pants, come to think of it), so rain pants for hiking need to be ultra lightweight.
• packability – yes, I’m getting carried away with the “ability” words today . . . some rain pants come with their own stuff sacks so you can simply stuff ‘em in their sack, stuff the stuff sack into your backpack and leave it there until you need ‘em.
• putonability – okay, I’m really making them up now, but you’ve gotta make sure that you can slip your rain pants over your hiking boots in an emergency situation. You really don’t want to start taking off your hiking boots to get your waterproof rain pants on and off . . . that’s no good at all. 
• movability – your rain pants must not restrict your movements whilst hiking, climbing, backpacking, scrambling over rocks or setting up camp.
• hiking rain pants are available with bibs ‘n suspenders, that’s one way to keep ‘em up while you’re hiking!

You see . . . everybody who’s outside needs rain pants at some point in their lives, not just hikers and backpackers. Golfers, anglers, cyclists, runners, delivery dudes . . . everybody.

Just listen to those rain pants . . . it’s like you’re actually there!