Comments by "Tx240" (@Texas240) on "MyLifeOutdoors"
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If it's cold and rainy, I'll use a Triple Aught Design ("buy once, cry once" is as real as "confirmation bias") polyester Polar Tec fleece with a cheaper Underarmor lightweight polyester windbreaker type rain jacket.
The rain jacket isn't fancy materials, just polyester with a DWR coating. It'll soak through in about 30 minutes of light to moderate rain and maybe 10 minutes in a heavy rain. However, the fleece is my "gore tex" layer. It's hydrophobic enough and the outer jacket loose enough that the water never soaks through the fleece and has some air flow as I move around.
If it's hot, I just wear the outer later and know that I'll be drying off and changing clothes after I'm done getting rained on.
A note on the TAD products, since they are pricier than most polyester "fleece" jacket or hoodie options, they are the only brand I've found that actually use the Polar Tec fleece. This brings up TWO points that could be claimed "confirmation bias!". I'll grant that.
However, the info on the way the Polar Tec is made says it's wind resistant (or wind proof? Forget their wording). Suffice to say that it IS much more wind resistant than 2 other off brand fleece jackets I've tried (one was made out of a material that was rated as flame resistant and that was horrible for daily cool weather wear, just uncomfortable).
I noticed recently that the people making the Bear skin hoodie were using the phrase "polar fleece" in their earlier advertising and in more recent advertising switched to "bearskin fleece" or some such. I'm guessing they received a "cease and desist".
The military uses a very not wind resistant fleece layer as part of their layering system where it's designed solely for heat insulation.
I have one and that thing is very uncomfortable as a light jacket on a cool, windy day, despite being comfortable material. Wind cuts right through it.
With the Polar Tec jacket (my inner layer in cold weather or single layer in cool weather), it's noticeable how much less wind cuts through. Ironically, the place wind gets in is the arms through the stupid thumb holes if I don't roll the sleeve slightly to cover it.
If you are the type who doesn't mind paying for quality but also doesn't want to get ripped off on something like the gore tex scam, I do recommend the Polar Tec fleece jackets and hoodies from Triple Aught Design. If you want something really warm and water resistant, look for the heavier 10 or 12 oz (forget exactly) fabric versions that Polar Tec discontinued. I live in Texas and it was too warm for cool weather.
Anyway if you like the comfort of fluffy polyester fleece but want something that will stop wind, which most fleece won't, the TAD stuff works as advertised and makes a great inner layer if you prefer layering to wearing something larger and bulkier.
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The part that failed was probably the DWR coating. You saw him show a clip of someone spraying it on a jacket.
You can buy durable water repellant coating and spray it on anything. As he says in the vid, once the DWR coating fails, the water soaks into the material. The DWR just helps keep water beading up on fabrics, like scotchguard on carpet. If the water beads, it will roll off instead of soak the jacket.
But, the DWR, as mentioned in the vid, isn't very durable. And, it's subject to how well it was applied originally and if the wearer reapplied the coating when they noticed water stopped beading up.
If you're wearing anything besides actually waterproof plastic or rubber type raincoats, look into getting some DWR that you can reapply. Of course, if you're environmentally concerned, it's still not healthy stuff.
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