I love the rains. No matter where on the face of earth I am, I love it when it rains. The heavier the better. I know there are many who love to hate it. I just love it. But there is an important caveat here. I don't like getting wet in the rains. If I have to walk in the rain, I would prefer to be comfortably dry under an umbrella or inside a good raincoat.
Since youth I have often been on trekking in the Himalayas. In eastern Himalaya it is unusual for you to trek and not face rains. I have often walked the entire day in rain. And I have hated it. Because I never had proper rain wear. In those days availability of good stuff was almost unheard of. Only a few nerdy and poor Bengalis trekked in the Himalayas. Affluent "Bangalore techies" was an unheard of breed.
But if you have walked in the Himalayas you know that covering the upper part of the body is just half the story. The real need is for you to cover the lower body. After the KTM in end-May this need became all the more important. I started hunting for a suitable solution. There are specialised biking trousers these days. They might even be water proof. But I guess wearing them for a normal hike in the mountains is out of question, because of their weight. I decided to go for this brand called Wildcraft. I bought a pair of
Rain Pro Pants from their store in Mani Square for Rs 2000.
In the meantime, I also saw that
Timberland was on sale on Amazon and found this pair with Goretex lining inside that was going at a bargain. I didn't spend too long procrastinating on whether or not to go for it.
This review is for all three of them.
Marmot Precip
The Marmot Precip I have is an XL. It is fairly large for my frame (5'10" - 68 kg) but not uncomfortably so. I got it in this +1 size because I might need to wear it over a small knapsack. I haven't done it in the rains as yet but I am sure it will be able to accommodate it quite well.
The first thing you notice about the jacket is its weight. It's really light at 370 grams (I quote this from their website and didn't personally weigh it). It packs down inside its own pocket (there are two mesh pockets but pack it in the left pocket that has a hook on both the sides of the zipper making it easy to pull when turned inside out) and converts itself into a small rectangular pillow that makes it really convenient to carry on a hiking trip. One can also use the pillow at night to sleep on.
The jacket has various features that they talk about on the Marmot website and I am not quoting them here. The real life test of all this is a walk in the rain, which I did recently in the thunderous Calcutta monsoon rains. The jacket held out pretty well and I didn't get wet inside, which is what matters. I didn't sweat too much also during a 15 minute walk. I felt a little damp when I came back home but that could well be from my palms and face which were exposed.
After an hour's walk though in Calcutta's July rain, I got pretty sweaty inside. However, I must say that no breathability is enough for the humid Calcutta weather. The real test would have to be in the mountains for which I bought this in the first place.
The jacket comes coated with some Teflon like coating. I don't think it is Teflon (owned by DuPont) but it works like Teflon. Water does not make the jacket soggy or clammy. They fall off the skin of the jacket like water off the leaf of lotus or water lilly. This coating also helps get the jacket to dry out really fast after reaching your destination. But the coating doesn't make the jacket look shiny.
The hood has a special feature. There is a lining of some wire like material on the front that makes it a little stiff at the edge. You can give the edge of the hood a little shape so that your visibility remains high. I think this is a nicely thought out feature that is useful in real life. Good thing is that this stiffness does not come in the way of packing the jacket into its pocket.
I have read reviews that the pockets of the jacket are not really water proof. I would tend to agree with them. I had kept my mobile phone in one of the pockets and it was more than just damp. But it was certainly not completely wet in 15 minutes but in about half an hour it got quite wet. If one really has to carry things in the pocket, one should use a double protection like a zip lock plastic envelop or something.
The armpits of the jacket have two large openings with velcro closures that you can open for added ventilation. I think it should only be done when one really starts sweating after an arduous walk in the rain (which I didn't do).
The Bottomline
It's a good jacket, no doubt. I have to see how durable it is in the long run. The material feels thin and delicate. But having used other high quality imported stuff, I know that all that look and feel delicate may not actually be so. I shall be very confident to walk in the rains in the Himalaya with this jacket. But if I was going with my head down below a thorny bush, I shall be doubly careful.
I shall write about its wind cheating abilities after trying it out in the winter.
Comments After Roopkund Trek (June 17)
I used the Precip during my Roopkund trek and it came out with flying colours. On the D-day when we started the push for Roopkund at 3.45 am in the morning, I wore it over my Marmot down jacket. It kept me sufficiently warm. But that was not the reason why I wore it. Given the previous day's stormy weather, I knew it might rain today. So I started well prepared for it.
Sure enough, by the time we reached Roopkund it started snowing. It was a moderate snowfall that continued for a couple of hours. As we climbed down it became rain rather than snow.
The Precip kept me absolutely bone dry. I am really happy that I bought it. While coming back from Lohajung I wore the jacket despite the heat of Delhi simply because of its two zippered pockets.
Today, just for fun, I went walking in Calcutta's torrential rain. I am once again absolutely bone dry.
I have to get the pants version of this, which will complete my arsenal against rains.
Wildcraft Rainpro Pants
The first thing that you notice about the Wildcraft Rainpro Pants is also its weight. It is a pretty heavy pair of pants. No two ways about that. I will have to think twice about taking it on a hiking trip. It is not only heavy but quite bulky too. It does not self pack into any of its pockets.
The Wildcraft website does not help with size specifications or weight. Although they responded immediately to my query on size (XL means 34 inch waist), I forgot to ask about weight. I took the XL size because I found I was able to squat more comfortably in them than in the size L's.
But does it do the job of keeping your lower body dry? It does. And it does it pretty well. I was wearing a pair of corduroy jeans underneath when I went walking in the monsoon rain of Calcutta. They were absolutely bone dry when I came back home. There is perhaps some coating on the textile but it is not even half as good as on the Marmot. After the walk it took quite a while (relatively speaking) for the pants to dry up. But it didn't feel clammy really. And one must mention, at Rs 2000, it is one fifth the cost of Marmot Precip pants.
Apart from its bulk, the other negative about the pants is the mesh lining inside. It runs only as far as your knees. That makes it very difficult to wear them with your boots on because the legs taper a little around the knees where the foot gets stuck.
The list of negatives continue if you look at the pockets. They don't have zippers on the pockets but velcro. And the pockets are definitely not waterproof. I had my leather wallet and it was pretty clammy after about 15 minutes' walk. I wouldn't keep anything in these pockets that needs protection from the elements.
There are two zippered vents on either sides of the legs near the waist. They are supposed to give you additional ventilation. I didn't need to use them as mine was a relatively short walk in the rain without much sweat.
There are zippers from the ankle up - about eight inches. They are supposed to make it easy for you to wear them with your boots on and then keep the pants tight around your boots. Well they don't. Even with that pulled all the way down, the pant's legs don't sit tight around the ankles. If I really want to make them tight, I would need those cycling clips that older cyclists used to use when we were children.
Another negative about the pants is the amount of noise it makes. If it was not raining I would immediately take these off for the sheer noise that these trousers make. I think it is because of the material which is relatively hard compared to the Precip. But then look at me - for the Precip I said I thought it was a little delicate. For the Wildcraft I am saying it is noisy. You cannot escape my criticism either way :-)
As A Two-wheeler Wear: I went on a long ride in the rains. For about two hours. It didn't rain all the way but did rain quite a few times. Sharp, short downpours. There was no water seepage inside and I didn't sweat at all. The knees felt good and I didn't really feel even once that I was wearing a pair of rain pants. This is a very good biking rainwear, no doubt.
The Bottomline At Rs 2000, I think these are damn good rain pants. They have their limitations but the pants do the basic work of keeping water out on a bad monsoon rainy day pretty well. I wouldn't mind paying a little extra if they could introduce full mesh from waist to ankles and zippered pockets but then the pockets are useless in any case. Perhaps they are meant for only keeping your hands as you walk. For that velcro is good enough.
I would most definitely take them on a biking trip. I shall take them where weight or bulk is not an issue. But if I was trekking, I would probably love the compressible Percip from Marmot. They come zippered from waist to ankle making it easy to wear with your trousers and boots on.
Wildcraft should consider giving more details about the pants on their website. Like waist size, length of the pants, weight etc and not wait for their customers to ask.
Timberland Goretex Dark Brown Men's Hiking Boots That's quite a big name for a pair of sneaker type hiking shoes. I bought them purely on impulse. I had a pair of Quechua that are fine for hikes in slushy conditions (tested on Sandakphu) yet I went for another pair. I think these Timberlands turned up on Amazon as an auto suggestion and I realised the troika of these three big brands - Timberland, Vibram and Goretex - was available together for less than Rs 5000. Immediately went for it. Normally these shoes sell for something like Rs 8000. But I believe these were unsold for about two years and that's why they were sold off in a hurry and at a deep discount. In fact they are now out of stock on Amazon.
These days the quality of glue is such that if you don't use your shoes they come off. But if you wear your shoes often enough, they don't come off.
Granted Timberland is not a big name in hiking. But it's a big name no doubt in the world of fashionable all purpose boots that last forever. Vibrams can be cheap and bad or very good depending on what you are getting. Goretex is generally supposed to be good but makes things warmer (they are used in everything from shoes to jackets to even caps). Yet these names, I thought, should make for a pair of good boots.
My absolute first impression about them was "premium". The suede leather upper looks very rich. I love the dark tan colour. The Vibrams are much better on wet roads than on dry concrete. They are certainly very grippy on wet roads, which I found was pretty funny :-)
A few words about the fit. Size 8 fits me pretty well. But I think there is some problem on the left foot. Will have to check again with a different tension on the laces. These are sneaker type shoes and not high ankle (which my Quechua is). As of now I often wear them to work on weekends.
I am yet to put them to any real use in the mountains. Therefore this review is just a preliminary first cut one. I have walked with them in the Calcutta rains only once (I think I am mollycoddling them a bit) and the insides were absolutely bone dry after the walk. As stated before I realised that the soles perform better on wet roads than on dry. They are certainly more grippy. Have to check their performance on slippery downslope in a trek as well as on dry and loose gravel. That's the real test of soles of boots.
As of now they go pretty well with my jeans on weekends. The toes are short and blunt of course, like all hiking shoes but unlike training sneakers that have more pointed toes. But then that's also a fashion statement to make when you wear them to work.
Bottomline A very good pair of sneakers. Not as comfortable as sneakers but keeps your feet bone dry in rain. At the price I got them, they were a steal. I just hope they last long.
