ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket
Greetings hikers!
Today I want to share with everybody my initial thoughts of the ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket which I was finally able to talk myself into buying recently and have now had the chance to test out since last week. While a week is not a long enough time to truly test any outdoor product, this is just an initial post on this jacket and I fully intend to write about it in the future as I am able to use it in future bad weather situations.
Yesterday while near the end of a hike it started to rain so I pulled out the jacket and put it on. It performed one hundred percent as expected. It kept me dry and it did not cause me to roast to death inside of it thanks to the truly stellar breathablity of the cuben fiber material. A short while later it started to snow and it handled that just as well. A short while after that it started to hail. At this point I became a little concerned because while the material is made of some rather rugged material (1.42 oz/sqyd) I was just not sure how it would handle the abuse of getting nailed by a million little hail comets raining down on it. After about three or four minutes the hail stopped and the sun came out. I took the opportunity to take off the jacket and give it a look over and it looked to be as in good of shape as it was when I put it on. I was totally and completely dry. I was not hot, and I did not feel clammy. The miracle rain jacket has been found!
I had read on the ZPacks website that the jacket is “breathable enough to sleep” and I will admit I put them to the test on that. The night I got it I put it on before I went to bed. I woke up like I usually do, without a single bit of feeling hot or clammy. The material has a rather soft silky/waxy feeling to it that I really enjoyed wearing. I fully expected I would wake up part of the way through the night all soaking wet, but this crazy material actually did its job. So the next night I went outside and threw up my tarp and bag and such and put on a base layer, a mid layer, a down jacket, and than the ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket to see if it would cause me to roast to death and/or to wake up clammy when I had a four layer clothing system on. It got down to around 34(f) that night and when I woke up the next morning I was once again dry – and I was nice and warm.
I have owned just about every sub ten-ounce rain jacket that exists and I was not expecting anything better from this one than every other one that I have owned. Let me just declare herein that every single other rain jacket I own is now going to be sold, and the ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket is the only rain jacket I plan on keeping in my backpack from henceforth.
The purchase of the ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket was not an easy one. It is an expensive piece of clothing (as most top end clothing it) and it uses a material that I have been able to find zero evidence from any other gear reviewers claiming actually works. My only previous experience with wp/b cf has been with my Black Rock Gear Ultralight Rain Mitts (which I will do a review on once I get a few more hours of use with them) and they have such a small amount of the material that it was rather impossible to know if the material actually does perform. I can now say without a doubt that this material has proven itself to me.
Here is a rather crappy photograph taken the day before it started raining/snowing/hailing. It was such a beautiful location that I just had to stop and take a photography. I was really disappointed that the photograph quality sucked, but here is a link to a rather nice photo (still a crappy iPhone4 photo though) looking the direction that I was looking at in the photo.
As you might be able to see from the photograph (you can click on the photo to see a larger version) the jacket goes a fair bit lower than my waist. I also ordered mine with extra-long arms as I am a long arm guy. I have attached a video that shows me opening the jacket when it showed up, along with some initial impressions, as well as some measurements of the jacket itself.
The total weight on mine, size large, with extra long arms, is: 135 grams (4.76 oz). The previous rain jacket I have been using is the ZPacks Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket (non waterproof breathable version) and it hits the scale at 82 (2.89 ounces) in size large and with the lighter weight material. So that means that this new WB/P CF rain is 53 grams (1.86 ounces) heavier. As somebody who spends a whole lot of money trying to find ways to loose half-an-ounce here and a gram-there, adding 53 grams to my SUL/XUL pack weight might not be something that will make me smile. However – let me say that again… however – there are times when we must realize as SUL/XUL hikers that a few extra grams for the ability to have a piece of gear that can perform above and beyond is something we need to be giving serious consideration too.
For those of you in the UL world 53 grams is not a whole lot of difference, so for you it really only comes down to the price-tag.
For those of us in the SUL/XUL world, here are my thoughts on the addition of 53 grams to my base pack weight – yet in the end I actually am able to reduce 12 grams from my base pack weight!
As I see it this jacket has the ability to perform four duties:
- First, it has the ability to be the finest rain jacket I have ever put on.
- Second, it has the ability to be an additional layer of clothing for when it gets cold at night, put it on over a puffy jacket and it can help trap a bit of heat – I do not yet know how much of a difference it will make, it is breathable after all.
- Third, it can be used as a quasi-beak on your tarp if you find that rain starts coming in at an angle – it is waterproof after all, and is wide enough to cover just about any solo tarp end that is in winter mode.
- Fourth, because of the fact that it breaths so well I will no longer be taking my most beloved MontBell Tachyon Anorak wind jacket which goes with me on every hike – so that right there saves me 65 grams (2.29 ounces) which in the end means I will be saving 12 grams (0.42 ounces) off my total pack weight (65 for Tachyon + 82 for previous rain jacket = 147, than minus 135 for this jacket, results in a savings of 12 grams – thanks to jp for the correction.)
Trust me when I say that I am very happy to be able to save 12 grams from my total pack weight, plus the small difference in overall pack volume, by switching over to have the ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket in my backpack! A half an ounce is a half an ounce, and this jacket is one of those pieces of gear in a backpack that is beyond justifiable in both quality, fulfillment of purpose, and weight saved. For those willing to spend the big bucks on SUL/XUL gear this is one of those purchase that just makes sense.
Long term durability will be the next real test of this jacket – and by that I mean of the material itself – but given that the material is 1.42 oz/sqyd cuben fiber I highly suspect I will have any durability issues at all. The vast majority of gear that I have used for the last two hiking seasons have been 12-denier rip-stop Ballistic Airlight nylon for my pants and 7-denier rip-stop Ballistic Airlight nylon for my wind jacket and .74 oz/sqyd cuben fiber for my previous rain jacket, and given that I am not an abusive person when it comes to my gear – and I do not know of anybody who is a SUL/XUL hiker that is abusive to their gear – it stands to reason that if I am able to be out there hiking with 12d and 7d and 0.74 material, I should have very little to worry with a 1.42/sqyd cuben fiber material when it comes to durability issues. That said, the real test will come when the blackberry bushes start growing again later this year – those things I just hate, because they just so love to catch and try to rip to shreds SUL/XUL hiking gear.
I would really encourage you to check out the video I have posted below to see what this jacket looks like up-close and towards the end of the video I break out my tape measure to provide measurements, and than I put it on and show it off a little bit. As I get a chance in the future to encounter rain/snow and have a camera around I will continue to provide updates on this jacket and how it is performing.
You can find the ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket online at: http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/wpb_jacket.shtml
Thanks,
John B. Abela
Follow-Up Article About This Jacket: http://hikelighter.com/2012/03/03/zpacks-waterproof-breathable-cuben-fiber-rain-jacket-update-1/
(disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money. It was not provided to me for review, t&e or any other reason, I actually did buy it. ZPacks is not one of my hiking sponsors.)
Your numbers don’t add up, it looks like you are saving weight. Precisely 12 grams :-)
jp
January 16, 2012 at 3:01 am
Hey JP, thanks for letting me know. I took a look at the numbers and sure enough I messed things up. I rewrote the article to fix the numbers and change the overall outlook of the chance to using this jacket! Made the switch even sweeter!
John B. Abela
January 16, 2012 at 4:43 am
Nice video…I also have one – with the pit zips and extra length, to go with their rain chaps. Haven’t put it to an outdoor test yet!
Mike
January 17, 2012 at 8:18 am
Hey John,
How’s the jacket holding up with use. Got my tax return and I’m seriously considering this jacket.
My best,
Raul
watermonkeyny
February 10, 2012 at 4:21 am
Hey Raul,
Its been holding up really well. I got a few more miles on it now and wear it around town a lot, slept in it a few more times, and use it around the house as just an extra layer of clothing.
I just noticed yesterday that the white color is starting to fade away on the very back of it (probably from sleeping/sitting with it on) and I need to contact Cuben Tech to see if this is just something that happens to the white material or if it is a deterioration of the material. I remember reading that some of the black CF that is out there right now has been fading, so I suspect its just that. I am going to do a water puddle test on it later today as well and see if it leaks. In the end I think its just color fading, but give me another day to do some testings on this and see if its a fault with the material itself or just color fading. I will add a reply to this comment once I have finished the water puddle test and if I heard back from Cuben Tech.
John B. Abela
February 10, 2012 at 4:33 am
Cool thanks John. Don’t you sleep?! LOL
I will be eagerly awaiting your testing. I plan on purchasing a few items from Zpacks but the big purchase is the jacket so I’ll wait on the purchase until you can offer more insight from your testing. Plan on using the jacket on my 100 mile hike this late spring/early summer.
Raul
watermonkeyny
February 10, 2012 at 5:54 am
Ok after having two different water puddle tests for around 80 minutes, the results are in.
I placed one puddle of water on the hood where I know it has not gotten any rubbing and it resulted in zero noticeable water leaking through.
I place the other puddle of water right in the middle of the darkest spot where it has been rubbing a lot and it resulted in zero noticeable water leaking through.
So based on that alone I conclude that it is simple a matter of the material color rubbing off.
Here is a photograph of what it looks like, hope you are able to see the difference:
http://hikelighter.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/2012-02-10-06-29-29.jpg
I have heard back from a few people on this matter and they are all starting to notice the same issue with their WPBCF products (from jackets to gloves to pants and other gear) and nobody that responded indicated that they had water leakage problems.
So based on that I conclude that it is still simply a matter of the color rubbing off the material.
I will very much be keeping an eye on this issue in the weeks and months ahead as it gets further usage. At this point I wear it around two hours per day, be it inside the house or outside. Trying to get as much time as I can inside of this jacket to see where its weak points are and so far this minor color fading issue is the only one.
John B. Abela
February 10, 2012 at 8:03 am
sweet thanks for the update. Being that I get out about 3-4 times a year with an average of 15-20 days a year (significantly less than your testing of this jacket has been) I think my wear and tear will be much less over a longer period of time.
watermonkeyny
February 11, 2012 at 12:32 am
Hi John, great first look on this material. It seems like a strong version of a DriDucks jacket which is just what we needed. I too am curious about the long term durability of the CF. The 1.43oz regular CF is known to breakdown after about 2600 miles according to ZPacks, and for a premium jacket, I’d want to get a lot more than that out of it. Keep us posted. Thanks.
Jhaura Wachsman
February 13, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Hey Jhaura,
The only true long-term durability issues that face the WPBCF is whether or not it remains to be breathable as it builds up residue from being used and comes in contact with other dirty cloths. But eVENT and GorTex face those same issues – so this is not a fault of the CF but rather the nature of having WPB material. Reading through the post over at BPL on this product can give you further insight into this issue, as I and others addressed it in much more detail in that post.
I really do not have any real answer for how to address/answer the issue that folks claim that CF does not handle “long term durability”. NO material has long term durability if it is not treated correctly. I put less miles on a ULA backpack before its material broke down than what I have on my most used CF backpack. Personally I just do not play that “CF is not durable” game that folks like to play these days. No offense meant by this, I just think that any material of any weight has its limitations, and to many people like to play the “CF is not durable” excuse rather than actually getting out there with it and proving themselves wrong. I have more miles on my original CF backpack than I do on all of my other backpacks that are not CF and it has zero durability issues.
As for saying “I’d want to get a lot more than that out of it”… only one sentence after “DriDucks is just what we needed”. Huh? You do not really want to start comparing the material of DriDucks verses 1.43 cuben fiber, right? I think I will leave that comment alone from my end ;)
Over 90% of hikers do not hike a 500 miles a year. Of the remaining 10% less than half of them do over 2000 miles a year. Those rare few in the 1-5% of hikers that do more the vast majority of them that I have talked to have had very very few items that gotten used for 2000+ miles have durability issues, and typically it is socks and shoes, nothing more, and they are the two things we expect to not last that far. As most tripple crowner can testify too, the use of rain gear on the big-three trails is typically less than 2% of the 8000+ miles. You really going to be wearing your *rain jacket* for 2600 miles? Stop and think about that.
Just to put things in perspective.
John B. Abela
February 13, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Got my jacket and some other Zpacks items over the weekend. Wow really great jacket. Love a lot of the features on it. Will do a review once I get it on the trail the end of march for an overnighter. Plan on using it as a wind breaker/rain jacket. Thanks for the review. OH I have broad shoulders for a medium and this medium fits just fine (in case there are any short stocky guys out in the world)
watermonkeyny
February 28, 2012 at 2:29 pm
That is awesome!!!
I have been holding off doing a follow up review on mine (something I know a lot of people want me to do) because I really want to get some hours logged while wearing it. Think I am up around 18-20 hours so far. Figured I would put together some thoughts around the 25 hour mark and push out an update.
That is far more than what the average weekend hiker (those who spent less than 20 nights a year on-trail) are likely to encounter in a season, and getting up into the thru-hiker level. I recall back in 2010 a PCT thru-hiker said he encountered less than 100 minutes of rain the entire hike and he stopped only once to stand under a tree for a few minutes. So, safe to say that at the 25 hour mark I probably have more than enough usage to be able to share some solid thoughts for a follow-up post. I look forward to hearing what you have to say within your initial post and see how it falls into line with my own present thoughts on the jacket.
Without a doubt the most often asked question I am getting about the jacket is whether it can do double-duty as a wind jacket. It makes perfect sense to do that – if the jacket can pull that off better than the montbell tachyon anorak (probably the finest sul/xul wind jacket out there). I will be addressing this in-depth in my review.
I was rather surprised at the width of the shoulders – and I was very happy about how wide they are! I figured it would be really tight, but thankfully it was not. ZPacks obviously understand that this is a jacket that will at times be used as a 4th or 5th layer jacket and thus need a lot of extra room inside of it for base/mid layers. Ordering mine with extra arm length was also a very smart idea, the more I use it.
Anyway, thanks for the update and totally look forward to hearing/reading your thoughts on this (to me) beyond awesome jacket!
John B. Abela
February 28, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Hi John – Love Joe’s stufff -I have the Hexamid with Bug insert – see my blog at http://www.lightweighttramping.blogspot.com
I have a OR Helium jacket – seriously thinking of getting this on.
Was that the large size you modeled?
I have added your site to my blog
Rob
February 28, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Hey Rob, I have enjoyed reading your blogs over the last year or so!
I am not sure what you are asking by “Was that the large size you modeled?”. Could you expand on your question for me please.
I will just quickly share that I used to own the OR Helium. It was good at keeping me dry from the rain but it performed rather poorly at keeping me dry from body heat condensation. It is what made me seek out a more breathable rain jacket.
John B. Abela
February 29, 2012 at 1:11 am
Thanks John – what I was trying to judge was should I get the large or medium size? If your video was modelling the large size, this looks really big? I only do 3 season hiking down here (NZ) so it doesn’tt need to fit over a down jacket (I have a Bozeman cocoon). I’m about 5.11 and 32/33 waist. Any ideas?
Robin McKay
March 2, 2012 at 1:00 am
Howdie from the Redwoods of California! One of these days I have got to get over to NZ and see the Whakarewarewa Forest!!
Based on looking at your photos over at facebook I would say that the medium should fit you, especially if you do not plan on wearing any puffy jacket under it. I am about the same height as you but sizeably larger around the middle (I claim it is so that I do not have to eat as much my first week on a hike – giggle).
It also looks like you might have longer arms than the rest of folks out there so it might be a good idea to order yours with extra arm length like I did. It should add less than a tenth of an ounce.
Also, I am getting ready to publish an ‘update’ article on this jacket as I am getting close to having 25 hours of rain-wear-time, so I fired off an email to zpacks to see if they have made any updates and they have now added a secondary cord through the wrist that holds the cord lock in place, which should solve the issues you might have seen in my video in regards to getting the wrist area to cinch up easier!!
John B. Abela
March 3, 2012 at 7:09 am
Thanks John – Medium it is. Off next w/e to climb Mt Taranaki. Get your butt down here, you’ll love it. A bit tougher than US trails, but we have a great hut system – check out DOC (Department of Conservation website under tramping).
I don’t mean this lightly, but any lightweight hiker is most welcome to camp at my place and let me show you some of our wonderful country. I can plan a great trip with you – so when you coming???????
Rob McKay
March 3, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Gee John you just cost me some money…but I get to lose the wind shirt! I hope the Med. size is not too big for a lady. If so, I will pretend it is a poncho. Thanks for testing it for us.
SandyofPA
March 1, 2012 at 7:18 am
Hey Sandy!
So you joined the small crowd of zpacks wpbcf rain jacket owners eh!!
I would love to hear your own thoughts on it and any real life usage reports as you use it!!
Thanks,
John.
John B. Abela
March 1, 2012 at 4:28 pm
I got the medium, fits great! Sleeves are real long but to me that is a plus not a minus. With the elastic and the light weight works great. All other layers fit under and I can move my arms freely. Now I need some solid rain to test the jacket and the seam sealing on the Hexamid I bought myself for Christmas! It all started with buying a couple yards of cuben to make a rain skirt and some stuff sacks, now I am a cuben junkie!
SandyofPA
March 4, 2012 at 8:37 am
[...] a comment I made in the original article I made this statement: Over 90% of hikers do not hike a 500 miles a [...]
ZPacks Waterproof Breathable Cuben Fiber Rain Jacket – Update #1 « HikeLighter.Com
March 3, 2012 at 11:15 am