Rain Gear

I think I have most of my lightweight gear selected without too much internal debate over which to choose. But for some reason, I've spent a huge amount of time trying to figure out what type of rain gear to get.

I started off with the Marmot Precip jacket and pants as that seemed a pretty common choice amongst other backpacker's gear lists. At a combined weight of 586 grams it looked to be a good (and cheaper!) choice. I'm now leaning towards the Montbell Peak jacket and pants which have a combined weight of 530 grams but appear to have much better ventilation which will be important since I do most my hiking in spring, summer and fall and being on the west coast of Vancouver Island we get a lot of rain!

I had toyed with the idea of using an umbrella and a wind jacket and pants but I don't think I can make that leap just yet. We get too much rain here which can come out of nowhere for me to put my trust in a flimsy jacket and pants and an umbrella. I'm also not sure how I'd grow the third arm to hold my poles and the umbrella.

If money was no object I'd go for the Integral Designs eVent Rain jacket as this seems to have gotten very good test results, both for ventilation and water repellancy. I don't think I can bring myself to drop close to $500 for jacket and pants for something that will hopefully spend a lot of time in the bottom of the bag.