REI Rainier Rain Jacket Overview

Specs at a Look

• Gender: Males’s Match (13 oz dimension L), Ladies’s Match (11.4 oz dimension M)
• Sort: 2.5L Waterproof/Breathable
• Membrane: Peak (REI W/B Proprietary Laminate)
• Heart Again Size: 31″
• Heart, facet pocket, and pit zippers: YKK, all one-way and backed with waterproof zipper flaps
• Hem adjustment: Tes
• Match: Runs a full dimension giant

Waterproof/Breathability

Whereas the Rainier Rain Jacket is made with REI’s proprietary Peak 2.5 layer waterproof/breathable laminate, I wouldn’t get too enthusiastic about that facet of this jacket. Most Gore-tex knock-offs like this have fairly lackluster breathability efficiency. Corporations use them to cut back the price of jackets and since a water-proof/breathable layer is taken into account a check-box characteristic with shoppers, no matter their effectiveness. The necessary factor is that the jacket is waterproof and the entire seams are seam-taped to stop leaking. This doesn’t imply that you just received’t sweat whereas carrying the Rainier or expertise inside condensation which can make your clothes damp, however the jacket isn’t going to let exterior moisture leak in while you put on it within the rain.

Pit Zips

One of many good issues in regards to the Rainier is that it comes with pit zips to assist forestall you from overheating. I want shopping for waterproof/breathable rain jackets and laborious shells that embody pit zips even once they have a breathable membrane as a result of venting physique warmth is such an apparent technique to cut back perspiration.  The entire rain jackets and winter shells I exploit after I’m not testing gear have pit zips or torso-zips for that purpose.

The Rainier’s pit zips have one way-zippers, with storm flaps to stop water from dripping into them. They’re simple to succeed in and unzip whereas carrying the jacket and do a very good job at dumping extra warmth with out letting in extra moisture when it’s raining. I hold my pit zips open the entire time and solely shut them after I get chilled.

Adjustable Hood

The Rainier Rain Jacket has a big and partially adjustable hood with facet neck toggles so you may cut back the dimensions of the face opening and block drafts from coming into. The hood comes with a entrance invoice, but it surely doesn’t have a shapable wire sewn into it like costlier jackets. There’s a velcro tab on the again of the hood that you may alter to boost or decrease the invoice to maintain it out of your eyes, which is beneficial, however there isn’t a quantity adjuster to shrink the amount of the hood to a extra form-fitting dimension. This isn’t a showstopper, however you’re more likely to expertise loud flapping in excessive wind until your head is the dimensions of a bowling ball and fills out the hood (otherwise you’re carrying a climbing or ski helmet.)

When the hood just isn’t wanted, it may be rolled away right into a excessive collar. The inside of the collar is lined across the neck and really snug when fixed tight. There isn’t a storage (a small flap) for the entrance zipper on the prime of the collar, so there’s an opportunity your mustache or hair can get caught in it.

All in all, the Rainier’s hood is kind of workable when worn with a billed hat, however lacks among the options you’d get if you happen to purchased a way more costly jacket.

Hook and Loop Wrist cuffs

The Rainier’s arms have hook-and-loop wrist cuffs that you may cinch closed to stop warmth loss. You’ve loads of blood flowing via the wrist that’s near the floor of your pores and skin, so stopping chilly air from reaching it is a crucial technique to hold your fingers heat. Additionally they forestall chilly rain from dripping down your arm and wetting your mid-layer.

In case you’re overheating, you may undo the wrist cuffs and slide the Rainier’s sleeves all the way in which as much as your elbows earlier than refastening them. The forearms are giant sufficient to allow this and it’s a helpful and efficient temperature regulation approach.

Facet Pockets/Inside Pockets

The Rainier Jacket has two zippered pockets, each lined with mesh. Each pockets are huge and may maintain plenty of gloves, hats, or snacks. They will also be used as a stuff pocket to retailer the jacket when not in use. The facet pockets will not be hip belt appropriate, nonetheless, and shall be coated if you happen to’re carrying a backpack. Costlier jackets have hip belt-compatible facet pockets or an extra chest pocket.

The mesh pocket liners additionally kind inside pockets, however it’s a must to be VERY cautious in how you utilize them as a result of there are gaps on the backside the place meals bars, cell telephones, glasses, and small objects can fall out. That is simple to neglect. In case you do use these inside pockets, I’d restrict their use to moist hats or cumbersome insulated gloves. I don’t perceive why REI didn’t sew these gaps shut and it’s my least favourite a part of this jacket. I doubt these “pockets” had been included with this use in thoughts…however they’re a design oversight.

Materials/DWR Coating

The Rainier Jacket is made with recycled ripstop nylon. REI is mum in regards to the denier thickness of the material that they use within the Rainier, but it surely feels barely heavier than the 40 denier recycled ripstop denier used within the Marmot Precip ECO Rain Jacket, which I’m additionally within the means of reviewing. (The 2 jackets are nearly equivalent.)

The Rainier has a regular DWR coating to assist bead rainwater when it hits the jacket so it is going to roll off and never soak the outside cloth. Many new rain jackets (together with the Marmot Precip ECO) are starting to make use of PFC-free DWR coatings: PFC is a poisonous chemical that bioaccumulates in animals and crops and has well being unwanted effects. REI doesn’t present any details about their DWR-coating, so it is best to assume it’s old-fashioned and never PFC-free. Understanding the Co-op, I’m positive they’ll swap over to PFC-free DWR coatings as quickly as they’re extra extensively accessible. Nonetheless, if you happen to really feel strongly about carrying a rain jacket with PFC-free DWR, I counsel wanting on the Marmot Precip ECO. Whereas the Precip ECO retails for $100, it’s normally on sale for $60-70 {dollars}.

Be suggested, if you happen to’re a hiker and backpacker, all DWR coatings rub off rapidly in areas of excessive abrasion, significantly below shoulder straps and hip belts. That doesn’t make them any much less waterproof, but it surely reduces their breathability, which is already fairly poor in jackets just like the Rainier or the Marmot Precip ECO.

Really helpful Backpacking Rain Jackets

Suggestion

The REI Rainier Rain Jacket is a cushty waterproof rain jacket that may serve double responsibility as a winter shell. It’s inexpensive than many comparable jackets as a result of it makes use of REI’s proprietary waterproof/breathable membrane and isn’t as richly featured as a premium jacket. I do like the truth that it has pit-zips that are good for releasing extra physique warmth and arm sleeves with velcro cuffs which might be giant sufficient that you may push them up your arms for extra temperature regulation. The hood is serviceable so long as you put on a billed cap with it and keep away from utilizing the again of the facet mesh pockets to retailer something small or invaluable.

Whereas the REI Rainier Jacket will get the job accomplished, I nonetheless want the Marmot Precip ECO which is made with barely lighter weight cloth and is true to dimension in comparison with the REI Rainier, which runs virtually a full dimension giant.

Disclosure:  The creator bought this product.

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