Rain
Keeping water out, or letting vapour out?
Waterproofing has three failure points. Between these two suits you can see what a complete specification would look like.
| Compared on | Rain suit 15,000 mm | HYDRODRY 2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrostatic head | 15,000 mm | 10,000 mm H2O |
| Breathability | Not published | 600 mm H2O/min |
| Seam sealing | Fully sealed seams | Not published |
| Zip arrangement | External flap, built-in waterproof strip, three-layer sealing | Not published |
| Configuration | Two-piece | Two-piece |
| Leg zip length | Not published | Not published |
A tick means one listing published something the other did not, or published a better figure. It does not mean the product is better, and the column is not a score out of anything: a maker who says less loses lines here without losing a comparison. The two verdicts below are where the page is settled.
The one to buy for sustained rain. It addresses all three failure points — fabric, seams and zip — and nothing else in this family covers more than one.
The one to buy if you work in it. Publishing a breathability figure alongside a waterproofing figure is what separates a suit you can ride in from a bag, and no other listing here gives both.
Both, and they are not interchangeable. A hydrostatic head describes resistance to water pressure; a breathability figure describes vapour leaving. A suit strong on one and silent on the other has told you half.
A seam is a row of needle holes driven through a waterproof fabric. Whether they are taped — and fully rather than critically — decides whether water comes through, and the fabric figure cannot answer it.
15,000 mm · fully sealed seams · three-layer sealing · two-piece
A two-piece rain suit published at 15,000 mm with fully sealed seams, a high-density polyester fabric and a three-layer sealing arrangement at the zip.
Best for: Commuting in sustained rain where the suit goes on every wet morning.
≈ €55
10,000 mm H2O · 600 mm H2O/min breathability · reflective · two-piece
A two-piece waterproof rain suit published at 10,000 mm H2O with a breathability figure of 600 mm H2O/min, with reflective panels for visibility.
Best for: Sustained rain where breathability matters as much as waterproofing.
≈ £46 / €61
Nothing written into the text below is a current price. Where an amount appears in a sentence, it is the reading taken on the day that sentence was written; what a shop is asking at this moment loads beside the product itself, and that is the figure to go by.
