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Rain Gear

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Tazman2

Tazman2

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Currently have "frogg toggs" that I bought in desperation @ cycle gear while in Florida on Vacation and they breath so its nice but the pants are ripping already. Had PVC like ones before cheaper ones they were okay but hot. Suggestions!? :giveup:
 
My favorite pair of rain pants are Columbia Omni-tech overpants. They are multi-layer with a water-proof breathable layer. They are 'packable' which means that can be compressed into a small pack. The trick is they are not heat resistant so they must be kept away from hot parts, but that is likely across the board for most any rain pants. When my original pair finally wore out (the Omni-tech membrane started to disintegrate), I sent them back to Columbia and they replaced them with a new pair.

Any additional layers will be warmer. PVC rainpants with some kind of mesh liner will help alleviate the clammy feel when your perspiration condenses on the inside.
 
I was on a trip when the rain started coming down in buckets and the temperature dropped 25 degrees. We pulled off and into a Harley Davidson dealer and I bought a rain suit from them which, while expensive, is top quality, solidly built and worked great.
 
Honestly, unless you spring for something premium like a goretex type suit, those are the only two valid options IMHO. And if you look at economics, you can get 10 sets of frogtoggs for the price of a good goretex suit, so that is your call.

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I also heard that Harley ones ironically are the best my friend bought just the pants. I believe for like $180 or so down in Georgia!? When you say Goretex suit you mean one piece no? I can't see doing 1 piece looking for something quick on and quick off and yeah I guess not too expensive! :doh:
 
You can do single piece or set. Just watch fitment on a set as they can leak if the pants are too low or the jacket too high. Think waders

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My twenty year old, bright yellow, one piece Dry Rider still keeps out the H2o. I didn't know plastic could shrink though.
 
I need to invest in some actual rain gear soon. After riding in the rain to work this morning just wearing my Old Navy puffy coat and Wal-Mart "wind pants" over my jeans, I looked like I had peed myself! :lol2:
 
shipman said:
I need to invest in some actual rain gear soon. After riding in the rain to work this morning just wearing my Old Navy puffy coat and Wal-Mart "wind pants" over my jeans, I looked like I had peed myself! :lol2:
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Omg I just laughed so hard I think I just did!

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I use the Tourmaster Defender (~$90, two-piece). It has been "field tested" many, many times, the worst of which was a 5-hour downpour from south of Memphis, TN to St. Louis, MO. Stayed nice and dry, and it's breathable.
 
Scubadvr: Very nice and decent price!!! How does the sizing run? I'm about 6' and 190 give or take my fat *** lol
 
ya'll are making me want to upgrade my nelson rigg AX-1. Must resist.. :rofl:
 
I second the recommendation for First Gear. Works good, lasts a long time. The only other advice I have is this; buy good gear once. Cheap gear is not cheap when you have to replace it everytime you use it.
 
Tazman2 said:
Scubadvr: Very nice and decent price!!! How does the sizing run? I'm about 6' and 190 give or take my fat *** lol
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I'm 5'10, 190, and have the large, which is a bit snug when worn over full gear. I'll replace it with an XL whenever I need to. XL should be fine for you.
 
Something else about FirstGear. Whatever size jacket you wear, the same size rain gear fits over it just fine thank you very much. Pants? I wear a 40 tall pant and the 2XL works too just fine.
 
Scubadvr said:
I'm 5'10, 190, and have the large, which is a bit snug when worn over full gear. I'll replace it with an XL whenever I need to. XL should be fine for you.
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What do you consider "full gear"? In the summer I'm not much of a leather kind of guy as much as I should be as I run hot in general myself! :trust: In the summer I usually wear jeans/textile jacket of sorts max so would I really need a XL!? ;-)
 
Tazman2 said:
What do you consider "full gear"? In the summer I'm not much of a leather kind of guy as much as I should be as I run hot in general myself! :trust: In the summer I usually wear jeans/textile jacket of sorts max so would I really need a XL!? ;-)
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Full textile/mesh gear. Olympia Air Glide jacket and overpants in the summer, Tourmaster Transitions II jacket and Caliber overpants in the winter. Large fits fine, just snug over the full gear. A little looser would just make it much easier to don/doff. I wear a large on all of that stuff.

The Defender also has a rain hood you can wear underneath the helmet (to keep rain from going down your neck/back), and neoprene wrist cuffs to keep water from running up the sleeves at speed. The seams are all sealed with heat-tape. I've had mine for three seasons now, and they still look brand-new and have never leaked, though I've worn them in many storms. I'll buy them again, if they're still avalable when this set wears out.
 
I've gone from trash bags to 2 piece to 1 piece and now back to a 2 different piece set. The one piece was not bad. It had full length zippers from the chest to the bottom of each leg. You put it on like a jacket and then zip each leg up. Worked great every time except once where I was soaked and still don't know why.

But many times I wanted to wear just the jacket. One reason was that I got an expensive Summer jacket that I wanted a wind breaker type jacket to make it a 3 season jacket. I first got a rain jacket at Academy that worked ok but then replaced it with a TourMaster Sentinel jacket. For rain pants I use the liner of the Olympia Airglide Summer pants. Both these items pack rather small compared to my old heavy plastic rain suits.

tsp
Blog: www.swriding.blogspot.com
 
Just purchased the Tour Master Defender. I'm 5' 6" 150Lb and bought the XL. I could have probably gone Large but the shop didn't have any. The XL fits over all my gear with plenty of room to move.

Haven't "tested" it yet. Summer trips are coming though. Purchase was prompted by a 9 hour rain ride in February that overwhelmed my regular gear. Olympia GT Air Transitions jacket and Air Glide pants. Got seepage down the collar, in the crotch. Not fun. Also had boots (Alpinestar Ridge) leak for the first time. Since treated them with Nik Wax but again, not "tested" yet.

Keep the shiny side up,

Chuck
 
So how do you keep your hands dry?

One problem with mesh gear that has an internal liner is that it puts the rain INSIDE the gauntlet style gloves at the wrist. Then the water is just wicked right into the rest of the glove. No good.

At one time, I had a Tourmaster rain suit that went over regular gear. It had pretty good elastic at the wrists to hold the sleeves closed. They would slip over the gauntlet and worked pretty well at keeping water from blowing back up into the sleeve.

I have thought about just keeping some of those rubber surgical type gloves in my pocket. When it rains, slip them on and put the regular gloves over them. That keeps the skin from doing the raisin thing and shriveling, but it doesn't help with the cold on those COLD wet rides.
 
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