Discovered the hard way that my "waterproof" jacket was a lie during a 2 mile walk yesterday

3 comments

3 Comments

Honestly I gotta push back a little here. Waterproof jackets are never truly waterproof forever, you have to maintain them. That Nikwax stuff @cora863 mentioned is exactly what you need to do regularly, not just once. But also, a 2 mile walk in the rain is barely a test for any gear, and your expectations might be too high for an everyday jacket. If you buy a $50 jacket from a department store and call it "waterproof" you're setting yourself up for disappointment because those fabrics just have a coating that wears off fast. Real waterproof gear for actual hiking or backpacking costs $200+ and uses laminated membranes like Gore-Tex, but even that needs seam sealing and proper care to stay dry. People love to blame the jacket but half the time the issue is user error like not washing it properly or using fabric softener that destroys the waterproof coating.

cora86321d ago

Oh man, I felt this in my bones. Last fall I bought a "waterproof" jacket from one of those outdoor stores, paid like $80 for it, and on my first real test during a 3 mile walk in the rain my shoulders were soaked through within 15 minutes. The worst part was the hood - it just funneled water down the back of my neck no matter how tight I pulled the drawstrings. I was already halfway to the park when it started pouring, so I just had to keep going and by the time I got home I looked like I'd jumped in a lake. Now I spray everything with that Nikwax stuff before I even leave the house.

diana_black21d ago

@cora863 you're totally right, that hood funneling water thing happens on so many jackets. It's a design flaw nobody talks about. Here's what I've noticed lately - everything is "waterproof" now but nothing really is. Shoes, backpacks, phone cases, jackets. Companies slap that word on labels and people buy it without thinking. Half the time it's just a coating that wears off after two days. We've all been trained to expect things to fail and just accept it.