From: ohrd!jlevine@cs.toronto.edu (Jody Levine)
Subject: Re: Rainsuit
Organization: Ontario Hydro - Research Division
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 19:29:05 GMT

In article <Btnz3K.AMF@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> prange@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Henry Prange) writes:
>The remnants of Andrew demonstrated that my rainsuit is terminally
>afflicted with leaks today. Does anyone have recommendations for a
>rainsuit that will actually keep one dry?

I borrowed a one piece Canadain Tire rainsuit when I first started. Bleach. 
It had one map pocket which fell apart. I eventually returned it to its owner
(who did not like it either and had a Rain Rider two-piece for himself)
and I promised myself that I would never buy a one piece rainsuit as they're 
impossible to get in and out of (when they put the rubber side on the 
inside). When I saw a Rain Rider (not Dry Rider, although I wonder if that's 
their trade name up here) one-piece for $40 so I bought it. It was impossible 
to get in and out of, although the baby powder treatment does help, and had
no pockets whatsoever (well, one really useless one on the sleeve). 
Thankfully, it sprung a leak earlier in the year and I took my employed
self to the nearest bike store and bought the best two-piece rainsuit I could
find.

I am now the proud owner of a Fieldsheer two piece suit. It's absolutely
great. It has a useable pocket on the pants. The pants are the usual light
weight nylon with the fabric side out and the rubber side in. They have
zippers at the boots. The pants stop at the waist (no bib arrangement)
although they did have adjustable elastic suspenders which I promptly
removed. The suspenders were bothersome and not necessary.

The jacket is quite nice. It is made of the usual material but is lined with 
comfy mesh on the inside. It has two large pockets. It looks good enough to wear
as an ordinary raincoat when we walk somewhere for lunch. With a one piece,
you either have an extra raincoat at work or you get wet when you're not
riding. It has some elastic at the cuffs with a velcro strap so you can
tighten them around your gloves. It has the usual corduroy at the neck and
velcro down the front.

So, can a two piece suit, which is much more convenient, with normal pants
that allow you to get something out of the back pocket of your jeans actually
keep you dry? YES! YES! YES! YES! I've done dozens of field tests. High winds,
furious rain, highway and city and never leaked a drop. The suit is mostly a
medium blue, red at elbow level and white on top -- a quite visible 
combination. I'm really happy with it and recommend it wholeheartedly.

If you can stand a one piece (more likely for men than for women), my SO
has the upscale Canadian Tire rainsuit. It is quite thick, has velcro, zippers
and elastics everywhere, but I think it's only got the one pocket. There are
two really great things about it. One is the colour. It is dark grey (read,
never looks dirty) everywhere but the top half of the body, which is 
fluorescent orange. It is extremely visible. The second good thing is that they
put the rubber side out and the nylon side in! The stuff actually slides
well on wet leather! The suit takes up a fair bit of room in the tankbag
because the plastic is quite thick, but my SO is quite happy with it. I
don't know who might sell them outside Canada, but I'm hoping that my 
description may help.

An interesting suit I've seen, but was not available in my size, is a suit
made in New Zealand. They come in one-piece and two-piece and are made of
very thick stretchy rubber of various colours. It was touted as the last
rainsuit you would ever buy, as it is supposed to be indestructible. It
looked it too. I imagine that it would be big and heavy in the tankbag,
though.

>Are there any, Goretex or otherwise, that really breathe enough to make
>a difference?

Two piece suits are cooler. This is good or bad, depending on the whether.
Sailing gear works by having a gortex liner under an impermeable shell
sweat evaporates through the liner and condenses on the inside of the
shell to keep you from feeling clammy, but you stay warm. If you're
wearing a leather jacket underneath, you already have the warm breathable
layer, you just need the waterproof shell. Goretex is not waterproof.

>Lastly, how about a suit that can be put on conveniently and quickly?

If your suit is lined with some kind of fabric, this should not be a problem.
If the rubber is on the inside (this is cheaper because they can seal the 
seams with tape on the inside and it does not show) then do the baby powder
treatment. Turn the suit inside out. Rub some talcum powder onto the rubber
and wash the excess off. This will last for many wearings, maybe with
occasional touchups of the offending areas like shoulders. 

A point about rainsuit removal: After riding for a while in the
rain the bottoms of your pant legs may be very dirty. When you take off the
suit, remove the boot and the pant leg at the same time, still attached.
Then pull the boot the rest of the way out of the pant leg. If you take
your boots off first, the dirt from your rainsuit will dribble all over
your socks and leather pants/jeans. If you take the pants off first, you'll 
dirty the inside of your rainsuit with your boots. Take them off at the same 
time.

Always wear your rainsuit over your boots (no kidding, eh?). The suit/glove 
connection is only good if there is a reasonable seal. If the top layer 
is loose, be it glove or sleeve, you'll get either a sleeve-full or 
glove-full of water.

The best solution I've found for gloves is vinyl, medical type rubber gloves
over my ordinary summer, unlined racing gloves. I find that the glove covers
that come with some gloves are either so leaky as to be useless, so slippery
that my throttle hand goes numb, or impossible to install either over
or under the rainsuit. If anyone has found a good solution for hand covers,
please post.

Your mileage may vary (oh, so that's what that means, say the newbies), 
of course.

I've        bike                      like       | Jody Levine    DoD #275
     got a       you can        if you      -PF  | Jody.P.Levine@hydro.on.ca
                         ride it                 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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