Wanna stay dry when it's pi[iss[/iing down?

Try four brick walls and a slate roof

To much arsing about with waterproofing, special washing, maintenance, being careful how you hang it - and far to much expense and fashion kudos for my liking on this thread, the one and only time I bought a coat with a brand name and a goretex label I wore it once, put it on the back shelf of the car and had a window smashed and the coat stolen - lesson learned.

Simple solution now is buy a jacket or coat that says "waterproof" on it, not "showerproof" but waterproof, preferably one that doesn't feel the need to splash its manufacturers name all over the front so it won't get nicked ?

Worried about sweating. well at least that means you'll be warm, no-one sweats when they're cold, wear layers and if you're a really sweaty type then maybe find a less strenuous hobby.

As a footnote, I have an old M65 US Army heavy cotton over-jacket with inner removeable quilt, the design has served the US Army well since 1940 and I've never been either cold or wet in it despite it being my main dog walking jacket through the winter - have a look on eBay, you could probably buy three or four of them for what you'll pay for an y "speciality" jacket that you can't screw up and chuck on the back seat of the car - and not have it nicked either.

i think the more strenuous activity you undertake in a jacket the more difficult it is to find a decent product, not from rain protection point of view, but from moisture building up inside. in my sport road cycling waterproofs are usually only donned as a last resort when heavy showers/storms strike or for a sustained period of heavy rain. i will ride without one in light rain for example, or even in heavier rain if i am close to the end of a ride. as bikes have limited carrying space the thin fold up cape is the usual item of choice. fabric is usually not goretex unless you pay very large sums of money. so a lot of the jackets on offer at say the £100 mark are not directly breathable. instead the underarms often have zips or vents to carry away moisture which seem to work well - at speed opening a zip produces a decent wicking effect. i have a craft bike jacket which uses its own make waterproof fabric, its very waterproof and because it is so lightweight with vents never seems to get too clammy on the inside. also i find opening the main zip just a couple of inches makes a big difference. i appreciate that with hiking things are much slower and there is often less breeze to help with the wicking process so jackets with better breathing fabrics become more important. i've had a couple of gore tex walking jackets, my north face one is excellent and never needs much more than a general clean, but i've had no end of wetting out problems with the berghaus.

i guess all products vary in quality. i do have a paramo parameta s fleece which is excellent, and have heard good things about several of their other products. i think one thing to do is look on some of the outdoor gear websites to see what the reviews are like

To try to stay relatively dry and comfortable when, let's say, doing a long distance walk in rain, is an age-old problem. Those who don't naturally sweat much are the lucky ones, but for anyone else, there is always a balance between waterproofing and breathability. No use no rain getting in, if you're just as wet with sweat that can't get out. Hence the need for a fabric that basically has holes in it, but big enough to let water evaporate yet not let water droplets in the other way.

There is a definite limit to how much sweat a garment can cope with but the answer is in using layers of suitable clothing, made from suitable 'wicking' materials, the waterproof but breathable membrane being the last resort.

In my experience (walking rather than biking) any strenuous activity - e.g doing any ascent such as Ingleborough, Scafell or any significant hill climbing, would defeat the breathability of even Gore-tex fabric, and so the better jackets tend to have various "vent" arrangements built in to the design, which [icomplement[/i the breathability of the fabric, as opposed to being the [ionly[/i ventilation in some cheap jackets, like your typical cheap kagoule.

Ultimately trial and error will decide what works for you personally, in whatever activities you personally use the coat for, in what seasons, and what conditions. If you end up wet through then however much or little you paid, it isn't working, and you could do better. If your type of activities get you hot, sweaty and miserable then it sort of defeats the object. And if you go up hills in winter in the wrong gear, you could die.

Would an automatic be safer?