Fri 06-01-2007
I purchased a RainShield O2 Rainwear Hooded Jacket from Calhoun Cycle in 2006, but didn’t get a chance to try it out until very recently.
The jacket is made from a material from 3M called “Propore Microporous Fabric”. It is waterproof, windproof, and breathable, and is quite light – the entire jacket, plus the included stuff sack, weighs just 6 ounces. The material is very soft and flexible, but has a bit of a plasticy sort of feel, and makes a slight rustling sound as it moves.
The water resistance and wind resistance of the material is excellent. Water beads on the material, and can even pool on the surface, but it doesn’t soak through at all. I’m not so sure about the breathability. I don’t have enough experience with the jacket under enough different conditions to make a judgment on that aspect of the product.
The jacket has a hood, which can be worn under the helmet or over the helmet. I tried it both ways, and both work equally well. The fabric is not thick enough to interfere with the helmet sizing (in other words, you don’t have to re-adjust your helmet to wear it over the hood). The jacket also features a storm flap that covers the zipper, which helps to keep water from seeping in through the zipper. The wrists are elasticized; there are no pockets.
The jacket rolls up and stuffs into a fairly small sack, about 8 inches tall by 5 inches wide, and can be compressed further. The jacket fits nicely into my trunk bag. The jacket color is a high-visibility yellow, which is good for being seen in murky rainy conditions. It would have been nice if the jacket had some reflective bits, but it doesn’t. I suppose you can add reflective tape if you feel the need.
The jacket is surprisingly inexpensive: $40 list price, and $25-$30 retail price. If you’ve ever priced cycling rain jackets, which can pus $200 for high-end models, you’ll appreciate just how amazing that is.
RainShield also offers matching rain pants (at about the same price), which I haven’t tried. The jacket and pants are also available as a package (at a lower total price), which is probably the way to go.
Highly recommended.
Just remember to bring along some electrical tape to patch it when it inevitably holes. Gore-tex will last at least 5 times longer, so it’s not “inexpensive”. You’ll be lucky to get an entire season out of it.
That said, it is better than gore-tex: lighter, breathes better and packs a lot smaller.
Comment by Bryan Larsen — June 15, 2007 @ 5:51 pm