Waterproof Hardshell
 

Right, so I've bought the last coat from any sporting goods store in the mall, I'm tired of them promising waterproofness, and the first time I use it in wet weather I get soaked.

So basically I'm looking at:

TAD Gear Predator Hardshell

Arc'teryx Alpha Jacket

OTTE Patrol Parka

I'm looking for a jacket, that packs down small, waterproof, and comfortable. It's not going to be in any camo pattern, as this is for civie use.

I've read Military Moron's reviews of all three, but he never compares them, so you never get a feel for how well they stack up against each other.

If anyone has any experience with any of the three I'd be grateful.

Do some digg on Bergans Dermizax. Some consider them to be the best... with a price.

http://www.bergans.no/sider_eng/start.htm

A quick search on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-07-MENS-SPYDE...QQcmdZViewItem

But, from the 3 choice above, I'll go with Arc'teryx.

Cheers

I have the Arc'teryx Alpha. It's an outstanding jacket but you might have trouble acquiring one if you're not Mil/LE. Rangermade and Quantico Arms down in the States do sell it on their websites so you might want to give that a try. Note that the cut is short so it's indeed more like a jacket than a parka.

The TAD Gear Predator, is another excellent choice. The waterpoof/breathable membrane they use apparently has a bit of "stretchiness" to it. How they accomplished this I don't know. I've got their V3.0 Stealth jacket and it's the cat's ass.

I've finger fucked the OTTE parka. Dave's Surplus in Vancouver had the Earth-colored parkas. It's not on their website so you'll have to give them a call. Very similar in cut and construction to Arc'teryx but slightly longer.

These guys are pretty much in the same league and price-point so you can't go wrong with any of the 3 choices. If I were you I'd go with the TAD, Arc'teryx LEAF, then OTTE.

SORD jacket.

Failing that, get a stealth jacket and wear it under your bdu's.

+1

SORD is amazing... However, their customer support/service (or lack there of) is terrible. Not to mention extremely slow shipping.

PLat-a-tac Harry Hardshell?
http://www.platatac.com/www/182/1001...1055788%2ehtml

http://www.platatac.com/www/182/file...cket-khaki.jpg

The old CF issue raingear (OD) is pretty much water proof. It's like a big o' sheet of hard plastic. It's supposedly 'Gore-Tex' But we call it 'Fake-Tex'.

Works wonders, I've been in a 2 day 3 night down poor and stayed dry underneath. But it doesn't breath and gets hot quite fast.

Morb,

he's going to use it for civvie use and he wants waterproof as opposed to water resistant which the Hardface is. Different level of protection.

I don't know about you but after three hours of hard rain my cf issue shit begins to soak through. That or you sweat it out inside of it. I would rather just get wet more often then wear that.

The old OD green army issue raingear is not Goretex, or anything of the like. If you had actual time in, you'd know that. Make sure to check your arcs of fire before spouting off.

The new army raingear just being fielded is goretex/or similar, and the fellows going over from my unit this month on tour tell me it's quite excellent.

Hrrmm... Just checked the tags on both, You're right, It's labeled
"Trousers, Wet Weather"
"Field Type, CF, OG107"

Can't seem to recall why we all called it Gore-Tex though...

bean: For some reason mine NEVER EVER soaks through... like i can use it a a water storage/collection device if i needed. =\ But you're right, it does get hot.

If you want a waterproof jacket that packs up small you can always get a stealth jacket. I have a british stealth jacket and it's a lifesaver in the rain. I've lied in puddles and still kept dry.

Go with Arc'teryx. I have an Arc'teryx hardshell for the rainy days and I love it. Arc'teryx is an amazing brand!

We actually have a large shipment of the TAD Predator Hardshells on the way. Should be here late next week. They are going quite fast though!!!

Thanks for the quick replies everyone.

@ Pugs144 - Any particular reason why TAD is at the top of your list?

@ Morb - I was looking at a getting a soft shell later on, and SORD will probably be the best bet, as I don't need the hood TAD has.

@ ShadowS - I get more wet from sweat in the old OD rain gear then I would if I was just standing in the rain. :wink:

@ Kokanee - Again, the Plat a Tac looks to be a softshell, I'm looking for something more substantial for now.

@ Farmboy - I was wondering if you'd pipe in :razz: , I saw the predator on your site, and if I end up going with TAD, you might just end up seeing an ordering going through...

The stretch waterproof/breathable membrane to me, is just frickin' cool. Aside from that I'd go with Arc'teryx.

Incidentally, field report on the NEW SORD jackets. The stitching came apart in side my pockets already. Not cool man....not cool at all.

Whoah. Not good. Can you provide more details? I've been wearing mine on a pretty regular basis and haven't run into anything yet.

Damn man that's not cool at all...and you already know my opinion on the shitty fucking zippers. Allot of hype surrounds these jackets and while I love mine and wouldn't trade it for anything the qc is generally quite poor and the customer service leaves allot to be desired. Allot of you guy's know the ordeal I had with SORD (so I won't reiterate it again here) but suffice it to say SORD you need to work on a few things.

http://www.lebaron.ca/pdf_files_sp08...misty_axis.pdf

Top left corner, the Axis Rain Jacket, I bought one last year and it's awesome, fully waterproof, breathes well, cheap and comfortable. And you can pack it small in the pocket at the lower back. I got the Moss one (is like a sage colour), but looks like they have a desert colour too.

Same here.. Nothing as of yet. Velcro on the shoulders is holding up too..

Can someone elaborate on the "shitty fucking zippers" ? Mine are actually pretty awesome.

I picked up an Otte parka from Dave's a while back which I'm selling for reasons not related to performance. The times I did wear it I was happy with how it performed. I found I was able to wear it on top of my SORD hardface (both mediums) without any motion restriction.

An interesting note about the three brands is that the OTTE parka is the only one with colour matched zippers. Since all these jackets are marketed as military use equipment, I would expect manufacturers to pay attention to stuff like that (although I suppose it doesn't matter since you are using it for civie activities).

I have a SORD hardshell and a TAD Stealth Hoodie on the way, but if you want something more affordable check these out

http://herculeswear.com/products.asp

Just to update, six boxes from TAD just arrived today :D

I've had my jacket for going on 2 years now and wear it often enough. By about the 3rd time I wore it the Zipper fragged itself and just disintegrated. The Bottom guide tooth tore away from the jacket and the teeth started popping out. It's a poor design. I have also noticed stitching coming loose in the bottom hem. I won't go into the ordeal I had getting the damn thing fixed but I was not very happy in the end. It is a good jacket overall but SORD needs to address some QC issues as well as some design flaws. It seems the jacket when available is hit and miss at best in regards to QC some people get a perfect jacket that is bullet proof...others get a lemon. When something is produced in such small batch lots I would hope that the construction would be very tightly controlled, guess not:(

Here's a question to all the SORD owners then. Were/are all of the hardfaces manufactured in China? I know mine is (just read the label a few days ago) but was there ever a period where they were actually manufactured in Australia? Maybe the first batches?

I know mine was made in Australia because when I sent it back for repairs it was returned to the factory.

Definitely QC issues. Mine came in that last batch from Australia (like Morbs) and I have had no issues at all with it.

I wear it pretty much every day and am no more gentle or rough with it than I am with anything else.

Mine is made in China.

So far, my SORD has held up okay. Mind you, every time I zip it up I think about the zipper issues, and I find myself unusually careful. LOL.

Have two hardface jackets;

Med Tan (Made in AUS): Two years old, and the main zipper has given out on it. I have to hunt around to get it replaced. Otherwise the jacket is fine.

Large Black (Made in China): One year old, so far no problems.

The large amount of QC problems w/ SORD has completely turned me off of the company. I'm just glad that the hardface I bought my dad for xmas last year is still going strong.

the PCU jackets had the same issues with the zippers..always with the waterproof ones....really, its the zipper, not the company, but they do need to address it and avoid the same situation with this batch.

ORC fixed the zipper on the PCU jackets..now designed as the MCU's.

I have the SORD Hardface (New Version).Keeps me warm in the -15* we've been having.Plus I snow *playing* didn't get wet at all in the inside.OK i know that sounded a bit strange.But hey I LOVE IT worth the money.One thing i haven't been able to clear about.Why they made in China?

Source of cheap, oppressed labour :D

Right, thanks for all the good info all.

Still in decision mode what to get, but all the stuff posted here gives me a better idea what to look for.

Also, I was looking over at SORD's Forums and it seems none of those folks have any gripes with the build of the Hardface, or SORD's customer service. Weird.

Just to note, the SORD is a Softshell & is only water-resistant, not waterproof. The name 'Hardface' came from the name of the Polartec Material used in the 1st Gen model. Unfortunately, a lot of people thought it meant the jacket was a Hardshell. It's not the case ...

The TAD Predator, Otte Patrol Parka & Arc-Teryx Alpha are Hardshell's & are completely waterproof.

Right, so I think I've settled on the OTTE Patrol Parka. The price is right, and I understand ,after reading other forums , that OTTE's products are good to go.

I'll make sure to post up a review when I get it.

...Yeah, I just got my hardface I ordered Jan 24. And yes, it was in stock at the time.


And they fucked up of course. I would heartily recommend against ordering from them.

Mine is showing some really weird fraying in areas that aren't usually supposed to fray... Kinda pissed off.

Zipper also jammed on me yesterday...

I swear the kicker was 1.5 weeks ago I was just gonna cancel my order. I phone them up and they told me it shipped so I said "oh well".

...when I got the tracking # 3 days later I saw it did NOT ship that day. Or the day after. Or the one after that.

Right, as I am a horribly indecisive person when it comes to purchases, I went and ordered the TAD Predator from One Shot. I'll post up pictures when it arrives.

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/1576/dscn0828ua7.jpg
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4617/dscn0830ly1.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5153/dscn0831fb8.jpg
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4220/dscn0832ws4.jpg

Right, so due to the quick shipping from One Shot (Thanks again) I received the Predator today, and I gotta say, the construction on this thing feels great. The Jacket is well designed, comfortable, and the pit zips are huge by comparison to any jacket I've owned so far.

I'll be doing a more detailed review later on, and I see we'll be getting some rain tomorrow, so a perfect chance to test it out.:)

Also it was a bit cheaper, which puts more money in the Kifaru Fund.

Good to hear!