Need some help - I am going on a mountain goat hunt in Sept in BC - will mostly be a backpack hunt.
I am considering investing in some new raingear/outer layer gear.
I have looked at them all online but have a hard time finding a retailer I can try anything on where I live.
Would like an outer shell that is either going to be on or easily packed, good with layers from 0-60degrees and will hold up. Bottom line what we all want:)
Looked at Sitka, Patagonia, Arc'Teryx, Cloudveil, REI, H&H all online and read all reviews just having a hard time deciding.
Any suggestions are much appreciated

Integral Designs is excellent but more or less not available anymore if you hadn't heard. You can still find the eVent Rain Jacket in most sizes, but the Through Hiker is basically extinct. The Westcomb Specter LT and Rab Latok Alpine are favorites of mine as well.

My choice would be the Westcomb Specter LT. eVent is the best WP/B that I have used and Westcomb builds great gear as long as they fit you.

I have the Integral Designs Thru Hiker as SnowMountaineer mentioned and my wife has the Westcomb Specter LT that Ed T suggested....both are great lightweight and actually the most waterproof AND breathable garments I have used for rain gear to date, which includes $500 Marmot and Arcteryx pro-shells as well. For me all my backpack rain gear will be made with eVent material over gore-tex from here on out.

Check out the Kuiu Chugach rain gear.
It is super light and really tough. The breathability is incredible. No more sweating and getting cold and wet. This rain gear breathes better than my Sitka soft shell.
www.Kuiu.com

Thanks for the info thus far.
How important do you feel the coat and pants be camo?
I looked at the Westcomb site - would black or the cinder color be better - wither way they are not camo but curious as to others color choices if they go with brands that do not offer a camo pattern.

Lots of guys (girls?) don't get too concerned about their outermost layer being camo. Natural colors do just fine and plenty of game has been taken with the old red plaid wool coat.

As far as rain gear I recently picked up the ID Thru Hiker.

Guy - Thanks
Thats kind of what I figured. If you're investing that much in good gear it is nice to be able to wear it at other times also.
Leaning towards the Westcomb currently

I believe this site has some of the best members in the world. This level experience and knowledge of gear can be found in very very few other places.

So when guys like Ed T talk I listen

I sold my Columbia winter shell, my marmot hiking shell and I'm selling my Sitka shell and I replaced them all with the westcomb specter lt. I have last year's model in cinder colour, black with a tinge of grey, and I really like the colour. So far the shell has performed perfectly. During trail runs I have yet to get soggy on the inside, so it breathes very well. Wind and rain are shed off excellently as well. And it only weighs 11 ozs

Depending on your size I have an XL specter in cinder colour that is brand new with tags for sale. I purchased it online but it was not the right size. I will sell it for $225 shipping included. Just PM me if your interested.

So long as some sort of medium earth tone is available (grey, brown, red, or green), I wouldn't worry about camo. That goes for any layer.

Bowhunting, on the other hand...

Gamehide. I got it and us it. very lightweight and comfy. Check it out!

Thanks for the offer allheart -
looking at the sizing charts online I think I am a Medium
I'm about ready to pull the trigger on the Westcomb
Any reasons not to go up to the Cruiser instead of the Specter
Both seem light/compressible
The Cruiser is a little heaver material on the wear spots

I've gravitated away from "soft shells" per se for most of my activities. Just too warm when you're moving. In the winter I wear a Patagonia Dimension (not really a soft shell despite it's name) and in the summer I wear a Helly Hansen something or other that's no longer made. It's also called a soft shell but is really more like long underwear with slightly harder face and DWR coating. Both of these layers are essentially stretchy uninsulated wind shells that will repel some water to a limited degree. I still carry a rain coat in addition, but almost never use it. In fact, because it's buried in the pack, I don't use it even when I should.

Question for you event guys (and Kuiu for that matter) -- are these new highly breathable rain shells breathable enough to completely skip a wind shell and go right to a rain shell for 95% of your uses?

I recently purchased a Gore-Tex soft shell with hood for $80 at a GoLite sales event. It is the GoLite Phantasm model in a men's cut and a bright orange color that is slightly red. I believe that this is either last year's model or a sample for the coming year. There were plenty of them left because this is not a popular color. However, I believe that the color meets hunting requirements and think that it is a great value. My recommendation is to call GoLite at 888.546.5483 to see if the sales event is still going on.

Im 5'9" 175 and wear a Medium in the Westcomb Specter LT and a large in their Chimera jacket. The specter has performed great in the short time I have had it. Breaths well and keeps you dry. If I hadnt of just bought the specter I would have probably tried the Kuiu Chugach. Got rid of a North Face and Precip after they failed to breath enough during high exertion hunts and I was soaked on the inside.

Westcomb stuff, while beautifully made, just doesn't fit me. I'm 5'10"/160... Medium is too tight in the shoulders/arms, Large too big.

I use a couple of different Arcteryx Gore-Paclite jackets (Alpha and Besta Sl's)... fit me great and well made.

I'd stick with goretex or event in a rain/wind shell.

I think the best buy out there is the Outdoor Research Foray (paclite) jacket... beautifully made and reasonably priced.

Don't overlook a $60 pair of Impertech Bibs.

H&H Impertech + 1

You need to find out if you'll be hunting in the rainforest, and how saturated things could be.

In saturated terrain, PVC bibs allow you to be way more comfortable than anything else I've tried. If all you'll be doing is hiking in open country, with rain falling, lots of stuff will work. But, when you're climbing through lots of wet brush at steep inclines, wanting to sit down and glass, or laying down to take shots/look through a spotter, you'll want PVC unless somebody really improved on the gore tex stuff.

I'm all ears though if anybody has a gore tex product that will allow you kneel down on saturated ground, and not have water soak your knees and run down into your boots..

I sure haven't. I still use my HH impertech for conditions described above. Just no way to keep the water from getting "forced" through the "waterproof/breathable" materials when busting through thick wet grass and brush. For those situations only PVC will keep you dry from the outside, but then again you gotta deal with the storm within as well. Its a trade off in those situations no doubt.

Swazi

This is just my opinion. I did a 10 day backback goat hunt in the Misty Fjords. Toughest hunt ever. I would rather be wet from the rain than wear HH Impertech. (I use it for less strenous hunts) The sweat from hiking in HH was worse than just getting wet and letting my synthetic clothes dry. (Make sure if you are going with HH to get pants/bids with a zipper on the legs for quick on and off)If I could do it again, I would have used Arcteryx top and bottom over light quick drying layers.

I don't sweat as much as I'd used too, most due to getting in better shape. But, I hear you that it's easy to heat up in the impertech. I've found that just wearing the bibs, with no pvc top, lets the heat come out the top. I don't like my impertech too tight too. I also don't throw the impertech on if I have lots of climbing to do, particularly if I have a good deal of old growth to hike through, as I make my accent. Easy to stay dry in old growth. It goes in the pack and gets pulled back out when I get out of the old growth and have a few hundred yards of scrub to bust through to get to alpine.

Being able to sit, lay, and kneel is pretty nice though, particularly if you are looking to stay low and not spook out everything on the mountain.

Calvin,

Last year was my first year down to your neck of the woods. I opt'd for the HH bibs/Integral Designs Thru Hiker jacket. Keep just nice and dry during 3 days of pouring rain while still hunting through the muskeg. Perfect combo for keep ya dry while still not sweating too much.

Here is a pic of me with the bibs/jacket combo (never mind the truly WHOPPER deer )

Nice. I bet he tasted good.

I just bought 2 pairs of impertec bibs a few days ago. I've worn out a few pairs, to where they leak. They'll be going to kodiak with me here in a few days. Based on the forecast, I might not need them!

Thanks Calvin..Yep my first taste of black \tail deer was on this hunt....That stuff is amazing...just wish get a moose that tasted as good and really fill the freezer with that much meat.

Good luck in Kodiak. I've been there for 3 different hunts and have yet to need my rain gear for anything more than a 30 minute afternoon sprinkle one day, wish you the same weather.

I'd second the KUIU Chugach. It comes in camo or in a Gray color. Mine has worked really well in the time I've had it. Breathes remarkably well for a rain jacket. It is also slightly softer and quieter than my other hard shell jackets. It would work well as a wind layer and I wouldn't use a separate wind layer.

Westcomb makes great stuff as does ID. Either of those in Event would be a great choice.

I also listen to Ed T and he has never led me astray. It's nice to have so many people on here who have "been there, done that" and able to report back to us. Most of the guys have not only used the gear they recommend, they have used the multitude of other choices out there and can give apples to apples comparisons.

Lee

B.C. is a HUGE province! Any info on where your going to go goat hunting will make a HUGE difference on terrain/weather conditions. You could be hunting in areas from deserts to coastal rainforrests and everything else inbetween for goats in B.C. so you realy need to narrow down the area you will be hunting in.
None the least, rain gear is what it is. I will also put my two thumbs up for the HH gear. Its cheap, comfortable, light, and tough. Dont get me wrong, I own plenty of other rain gear that I sometimes favour, but you just cant go wrong with the HH imperetech stuff.
Your outfitter/guide will be able to give you better info on what to truely expect for weather and conditions. Just a heads up, we (B.C.) have some sort of regulations about how much DEET can be used in our bug juice....so pick up a bottle or 5 of the 95% stuff that you can still get in the USA! You will need it, its been a wet year up here so far and the mossies/blackflies can be something furious in the B.C. bush.