Lightest toughest rain jacket to carry climbing multipitch?

My old golite is starting to wear out. It has been trusty, but ultimately not a great piece of climbing garb. Looking for something better.

Need a rain shell, i.e waterproof. Breathability is not necessary.

Not soft shell,

Light weight is essential but also tough, and stuffs into its own pocket with loop to clip and carry climbing. Helmet compatible hood would also be great.

What have you actually used that is light, durable, waterproof and carries easily?

Patagonia Torrentshell nails all your required points. Marmot Precip does too, but significantly less durable. I've owned about 4 over the past 12 years and the interior starts delaminating after about 3 years on every single one.

But if you really don't care about breathability, you could just get a simple coated nylon (same material as a tent fly) jacket - they would be hard to find though. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone making a jacket out of those materials at all... no market for it at all. Might as well wear a garbage bag at that point.

Outdoor Research has some great stuff. I really like my Axiom shell.

I'm currently using one of the Verto jackets from The North Face. They have 2 or 3 different styles. They are a little expensive but they are lightweight and stuffs into its own pocket where you can then clip it to your harness.

Outdoor Research Helium 2

Wow! usually takes some time for good responses, Thanks, this is great!

Re: marmot precip... I have had this model... absolute crap! Not waterproof after several uses.

bmagee13 wrote:I'm currently using one of the Verto jackets from The North Face. They have 2 or 3 different styles. They are a little expensive but they are lightweight and stuffs into its own pocket where you can then clip it to your harness.

Holy crap, 3.2 oz? Is this at all durable? How would it hold up in a chimney or OW?

That comment about the Marmut Precip have me concerned as my wife and I each have one. They are coming up on 3 years old but so far no problems. I was going to recommend them as we climb In then when it rains (rarely except during the monsoon when it is for a few hours every afternoon) and have skied in them 2 trips with nothing but good things to say so far.

mountainhick wrote: Holy crap, 3.2 oz? Is this at all durable? How would it hold up do in a chimney or OW?

Of course not. Lightweight rain shells are not made for that.

The NF Verto is a wind shell with a DWR treatment. It is not a rain shell.

[edit] there is a WP Verto, but it doesn't weight 3 oz.[edit]

When you say light, what do you mean? <16oz or <8oz?

UL fanatics have fueled market innovation in this category so there is an enormous range of jackets to chose from spanning a range of prices and features.

Burliest and lightest is probably the Patagonia M10. At ~8oz it's meant for alpine climbing but costs close to $400 which is ridiculous.

< 16oz is fine. Don't need the super flyweight stuff. Prefer some durability over gossamer/see through attributes.

Ray buddy, re: the OW/chimney comment, I have had regular weight nylon jackets that indeed will hold up to reasonably infrequent emergency use against rock. Not talking about repeated regular OW/chimney climbing. Just don't want something that will shred on contact touching rough rock.

Re: Price, $300 is way out of my price range.

I just found a torrentshell for $75 shipped. At that price I think I think that's it for now.

mountainhick wrote:Ray buddy, re: the OW/chimney comment, I have had regular weight nylon jackets that indeed will hold up to reasonably infrequent emergency use against rock.

My comment wasn't about "regular weight" nylon shells. There is a trade off between weight and durability. An 8oz shell isn't going to hold up well to repeated contact with rough surfaces.

Sure, weight vs durability of any given material is pretty obvious. But the way material technology is constantly advancing, I wouldn't be surprised sometime to hear of a new lighter material that is also super durable and better than old tried and true polyesters and nylon.

Certainly a heavier weight fabric of the same material would be tougher, but a lighter weight of a different tougher material than standard nylon or polyester could potentially offer a burlier lighter weight jacket.

If that exists or becomes available, it would be great to know about it and put it to good use.

mountainhick wrote:Sure, weight vs durability of any given material is pretty obvious. But the way material technology is constantly advancing, I wouldn't be surprised sometime to hear of a new lighter material that is also super durable and better than old tried and true polyesters and nylon. Certainly a heavier weight fabric of the same material would be tougher, but a lighter weight of a different tougher material than standard nylon or polyester could potentially offer a burlier lighter weight jacket. If that exists or becomes available, it would be great to know about it and put it to good use.

ZPacks Cuben (Dyneema)/eVent Jacket

NWAlpine's more expensive Cuben (Dyneema)/eVent jacket

A review with pics from a climber on the ZPacks jacket

In general, I would say "lightweight" and "durable" don't go together.

In general, I agree!

But remain open minded with some healthy skepticism.

Sierra Designs Hurricane, around the same weight as a torrentshell from Patagucci (12.5 vs 12.2!!!).

$40 bucks here: rei.com/product/867142/?cm_…

Brian Abram wrote: ZPacks Cuben (Dyneema)/eVent Jacket NWAlpine's more expensive Cuben (Dyneema)/eVent jacket A review with pics from a climber on the ZPacks jacket

Interesting stuff, thanks

However, $235 and $600 respectively for "The material is thick enough to withstand light brush" is a bit of a hefty investment gamble. I haven;t found any other significant durability info. Will keep looking.

Anyway, didn't dither on this one, the Torrentshell is on the way.

Arc'teryx Tecto FL

Enjoy your Cuben jacket. That stuff is awful in bacpacks, I can't imagine wearing it.

RAB Viper Jacket - eVent Tech, 2.5L, superlight, wire brim, breathable and tapered cuffs...solid all around.