Field test and review
(Valdez for men and Vienna for women)
You might be expecting perfect weather, gentle showers or full-on storms. Regardless of the forecast, particularly in Victoria, I recommend you should always take a waterproof jacket wherever you’re hiking, just in case. Waterproof jackets, or hard shells as they’re also known, are the final protective layer in your layering system, providing a waterproof barrier. The main difference between these waterproof layers is the fabric they’re made from and the level of breathability that gives you.
The level of breathability you need depends on your chosen activity:
- High aerobic activities, like mountain climbing or hill walking, need highly breathable fabrics.
- Less arduous activities, like day-to-day use or lowland walking, can get away with a less breathable garment.
Over the years I’ve carried every kind of jacket in my pack in case of inclement weather. From the old style hard shell plastic waterproof rain jackets, that make you sweat profusely every time you move, to water-resistant insulated shells, hybrid shells, soft shells, and now back to the more modern waterproof hard shells that manage noticeably better breathability than their predecessors.
I should point out that nothing can be completely waterproof and breathable at the same time. To be completely waterproof, a garment would need to be a plastic bag, and you can’t wear one of those without sweat condensing on the inside.
So membranes and coatings have been developed that keep water out while letting water vapour, sweat steam, pass through. The trick is the balance between water resistance and breathability, because the more you have of one, the less you get of the other.
The main reason I’ve had a go at everything on the market was based on price. Who can afford to fork out $800+ on a waterproof, breathable jacket when they’re first starting out hiking? You need to know you’re serious about it before you get to that level.
Up until this year my jacket of choice was a waterproof softshell. For the most part, in light to reasonably heavy rain, I managed to stay dry and warm. My optimism came to a brisk halt though, following a proper downpour that seemed to last the entire day. In fact, I think it did. I returned to my car looking like a drowned rat and feeling about 20 degrees cooler than I should have. (I know that’s not medically possible, or I’d be dead.)
So the search began for a reasonably affordable, lightweight, waterproof, windproof and packable jacket. Yep, that’s a big ask, but with today’s fabric technology there had to be something out there. Right?
As chance would have it, I was talking to Ross from Snowgum one day when he told me about their VaporTEC® Jackets. He was genuinely excited about the fabric, and for a non-fabric enthusiast, he had me curious by the end of the conversation. Ross reckoned this was one of the lightest 3 layer waterproof breathable jackets on the market, equally at home in the snowy Swiss Alps, humid Northern Thailand, or as an everyday jacket at home. I was sent a jacket to field test.
The SNOWGUM Valdez VaporTEC® Ultra 3-layer Jacket is a lightweight waterproof rain jacket made using a 3 Layer Membrane. It has a Waterhead Rating of 9000mm and Breathability Rating of 7500g per m2 per 24 hours.
Worth knowing on those numbers: there are two main internationally recognised test standards, the American ASTM and the Japanese JIS, and they don’t translate directly. An ASTM breathability rating of 5,000 works out to more than 10,000 under the JIS test method, so a jacket’s numbers only mean much once you know which standard produced them. Snowgum uses the ASTM method, the more conservative of the two. Three-layer jackets used to mean extra weight and stiffness compared to two-layer garments, but Snowgum have got around that in the Vaportec Ultra range, it’s as light, soft and comfortable as most 2-layer jackets, and because it’s a genuine membrane rather than a coating, it’s also more durable. The outer shell is a 20 denier nylon, fine but tough, which is part of why the jacket manages to be durable without feeling heavy.
Weighing just 400g in a size large, the jacket is fully featured with all the bells and whistles you’d find on much more expensive jackets. I’ve been wearing mine for four months in a wide range of temperatures.
It’s 100% seam sealed, has an adjustable, packable hood with side cord locks so you can cinch down the opening, along with an extended brim to keep rain off your glasses and forehead. The front zipper has a fold-over rain flap to keep water off the zipper, and it can be zipped up over your chin to keep rain off your face in blowing wind.
There are two pockets on the inside of the jacket, handy for carrying a hat or gloves and electronic devices, complete with headphone access, and it comes with its own stuff sack so you can pack the jacket away when it’s not in use. There are also two large hand-warmer pockets on the outside that work fine while wearing a backpack hip belt, along with a drawcord in the hem and velcro cuffs on the arms to keep the rain out.
I’ve worn this jacket in everything from freezing rain to heavy thunderstorms, and it keeps me warm even hiking in the pouring rain. When water hits the surface, it beads up and rolls off, rather than soaking into the fabric and chilling you. Because the VaporTEC® jacket uses its own 3-layer membrane rather than a DWR coating, you don’t have to worry about that coating wearing off or the jacket wetting out, which is the most common point of failure for waterproof-breathable rain jackets.
This breathability means the jacket doesn’t trap a lot of heat when I’m active, or let it escape too fast in cold weather. I start to sweat once the temperature gets to about 20 degrees or higher, with or without rain, and there’s nothing more uncomfortable than getting wetter inside your clothing from your own heat than from what’s falling outside it.
If you’re like me and tired of waterproof-breathable rain jackets that don’t live up to expectations, I’d suggest giving the SNOWGUM VaporTEC® Jacket a try. It’s found a home on my hiking gear list, and it might restore your faith in more affordable waterproof rain gear too.
Buy direct from Snowgum for $299.95 (club price $199.95)
Tech Specs
- Material: 100% Nylon Outer
- VaporTEC® Ultra 3 Layer Membrane
- Waterhead Rating: 9,000mm
- Breathability Rating: 7,500g per m2 per 24 hours
- Fit: Regular
- Weight: 400g
