Hiking Rain Jacket

Hiking in rain gear sucks no matter what.

Stone glacier, kuiu and first lite all have great stuff that has pit dump zippers so you can vent while hiking. It's ultra expensive, but it does work. Some friends of mine have that stuff and it's amazing.

There's lots of gear out there that's rain resistant and that stuff is spectacular as well. It will not keep you dry for an hour in a driving downpour, but it works fine for most occasions

I have a Columbia hooded weather shell that I got at Academy a few years ago that they still sell. It can be compressed to a small ball and provides good protection. It stays in my fishing dry bag and will probably get used again tomorrow.

Summit Ice are fantastic

Summit Ice Apparel

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Hiking Rain Jacket

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If it's not goretex, I wouldn't buy it for rain.

For hiking, OR Foray. Essentially can turn into a poncho with max ventilation.

Any fabric that can keep rain out will get wet and keep sweat in when you’re in any sort of exertion mode. It may not be rainwater making you wet but you’re wet all the same. You’ve got to have a lot of ventilation unless you’re just hanging out at camp.

Marmot Precip. Have had it for 10 years

For hiking you’ll need a wicking layer next to skin, and GoreTex outer layer for breathing/protection. A hood helps as does tight cuffs too

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Read a ton of reviews and it appears that none actually keep you dry.

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I don’t know who is saying this, but they’re wrong about the Outdoor Research Foray. I probably spend 60+ days a year in the backcountry and I never leave without it. Not only is it great for rain, it’s great for wind.

First, let's get the dirty little secret of GoreTex out of the way. It really isn't that breathable because to work there needs to be a pressure or humidity delta and when it is wet and there is high humidity inside the jacket from sweat the amount of water vapor that moves through the membrane is limited.

Gore-Tex used to be expanded PTFE (ePTFE) and it was patented so all the other manufacturers trying to jump on the waterproof breathable train had to use expanded PE and PU. Well about the time Gore's patent on ePTFE ran out, we figured out PTFE AKA Teflon was very bad for the environment so Gore uses expanded PF and PU now so ironically they are now using what the knockoffs used when they couldn't use ePTFE. The effectiveness of the breathability can be enhanced when these fabrics are wet by applying a DWR (durable water repellant) so water beads off the fabric, all manufacturers use it but it has to be maintained.

All that said I still love a GoreTex jacket because they have to be made to Gore's stringent standards with their seam tape and construction methods. So a GoreTex jacket especially with pit zips will be much better than solid plastic jackets but if you are humping in a 90 degree deluge you are still going to be shifting away from pure comfort quickly.

So none of the waterproof breathable fabrics are going to be miracle workers because they just can't defy physics.


All the crap out of the way my favorite technical rain jackets have always been Marmot. I have a lot of their technical gear that some I have had for nearly 30 years and have been worn alpine climbing all over the globe and most of the pieces still look almost new, it is actually remarkable how well they wear.

IMO the best shell is the Marmot Alpinist. I have two of the earlier iterations of this jacket and they are simply better than anything I have ever worn in the category. If you want a significant step down in price then the Minimalist Pro. It still has pit zips but it is a little less technical looking so you can also wear it more casually and get double duty out of it. You could do this with the Alpinist also but it really looks like a jacket you should be wearing in the great outdoors not out to eat.