Best Tropical Rain Gear

[Pelagic]

As another Typhoon lashes the Philippines and I wring out my shorts after checking the lines, I was wondering…….

What light weight rain gear, that breathes yet can handle downpours (with attitude) and doesn’t go mouldy… would you recommend for a tropical sailor?

[delmarrey]

My wife being Filipina and having been there more times then I can count, I would say a cotton shirt. They dry out fairly fast while sailing. Otherwise, bare skin is my favorite.

Do what the locals do! Hide under what ever you can find until it stops.

[Alan Wheeler]

Breathable means you have the choice of Musto, Gill, Henri Loyd. I can't remember the other two, but I believe there are only 5 that have been allowed to use the Gortex material in their jackets. But none of them are cheap. There are "breathable" jackets, but they are not Gortex. Gortex is the only semi permeable membrane.

[Pblais]

We have used the Gill better quality gear with good results when it's wet and cold. The low end products they make are not really for ocean use.

If it is hot and wet there isn't much out there that breathes well enough that you don't sweat from the inside. I've used Gortex products since they were invented and they always work exceptionally well when it is a little bit cooler outside the jacket than inside. The temperature difference helps drive the moisture.

It does matter a great deal on what the quality of the fabric being bonded to the Gortex laminate really is. Gortex alone is not a fabric. Most of the light weight fabrics with Gortex I've tried over the years eventually gave out quickly mostly because the fabric gave out and then the Gortex was damaged.

[lannen]

frogg toggs® Outerwear


Search for the style that suits your needs... pretty good material and I think it will 'suit' your needs... get it suit...'suit'

(sometimes I just crack me up)

[donradcliffe]

In the tropics, 'rain gear' means a $2 collapsible umbrella, but most people don't bother.

[waterworldly]

Colombia Sportsware makes shirts that dry in minutes.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

In the tropics, 'rain gear' means a $2 collapsible umbrella, but most people don't bother.

Or a t-shirt & shorts; and perhaps swimming goggles for the really torrential rains (I'm NOT kidding).
I'd rather be rain-soaked than sweat-soaked.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by waterworldly

Colombia Sportsware makes shirts that dry in minutes.

This is the way I do it. If staying warm isn't a factor, your main thing is really to keep cool.

I use board shorts (made of that quick drying nylon) and a similar shirt. This way, you get wet, but don't *stay* wet for more than 10 mins after the rain ends.

(this assumes you want to be cool and don't mind being wet)

[Maren]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

This is the way I do it. If staying warm isn't a factor, your main thing is really to keep cool.

I use board shorts (made of that quick drying nylon) and a similar shirt. This way, you get wet, but don't *stay* wet for more than 10 mins after the rain ends.

(this assumes you want to be cool and don't mind being wet)

Pretty much the same here.

Torrential stinging (but warm) rain -- Baseball hat, goggles, long sleeve (usually cotton) shirt and board shorts.

Temperate hard rain -- Baseball hat, goggles, driclime shirt, nylon shorts.

Warmish rain -- Same as torrential rain but t-shirt and the usual sunglasses.

Coolish rain – Like the temperate, only with a second layer and the usual sunglasses

[Vasco]

skin and a pair of goggles.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Vasco

skin and a pair of goggles.

and the theme song in the background, courtesy of Ray Stephens

Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
Look at that, look at that
Fastest thing on two feet
Look at that, look at that
He's just as proud as he can be
Of his anatomy
He goin' give us a peek

Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
Look at that, look at that
He likes to show off his physique
Look at that, look at that
If there's an audience to be found
He'll be streakin' around
Invitin' public critique

[Ex-Calif]

Cotton sweats up and takes forever to dry.

I wear nothing but dryfit stuff on the boat. My partner makes a line of gear and shirts but i also find that a lot of tennis gear is also being made from dryfit.

I have Nike shorts that dry in minutes. They are more like the stuff board shorts are made from. The shirts also dry in minutes. Cotton gets wet and baggy.

Now I will warn that thunderstorms drop cold water. It's weird to have 70 degree water coming over the deck and 50 degree water falling from the sky. You can actually get quite cold, even here at 1 degree. I have a rainjacket on board. No lining, just a good quality jacket. i don't wear it much but there has been a couple of times I loaned it to someone.

[Pelagic]

Thanks All for the ideas. The storm wiped out my wi-fi antenna so only back on line yesterday.

Dan is right about the temp of the Thunderstorm rains and if on a long passage, it is nice to wear something soft underneath but keep in dry when it pours.

Maren's dryclime shirt looks pretty good

[Delta46]

Hello, I am from the Philippines and I am familiar with the problem of the rain and the heat.

For shorts, I would suggest buy the stuff the local campers/ mt. climbers use. The brands are Pittman and Bombproof. They are locally made so they cost 1/4 the price of a Northface. If you burn easily get the long pants, they come with zippers so you can remove the legs and turn them into shorts. They dry really fast and are light yet very durable.

For the t-shirts, I also use Nike or addidas dri-fit stuff. They dry really quick.

For rainwear, off the boat- I use an umbrella. On the boat short trip- goretex jacket. Its small, light, breathes. I also have the heavier Gill and Westmarine yellow jackets but they are cumbersome and too hot usually. With the Goretex jacket look at the zippers. That is usually the place where they will break because of the new flat seamless zippers. I would buy a quality light Goretex jacket with a hood and pay special attention to the zipper seams.