Ladies Rain Gear

[STNDBYnSNDIT]

Howdy,

Guess this is more sent to the ladies out here to help me answer but what do you use for rain gear?

Background;

My better half sense we have moved to western Canada has been more up for backpack hunting and camping then what we used to do in eastern Canada. Until this time she has been using my Kuiu Tenton rain jacket and pants. Been working well except one thing, the pants are waaaaay to long. Now at this time we are solving this via the hair elastic method and has worked for almost two season now. As she has shown more and more interest we have been investing more and more in some SG, First Lite and Kuiu gear for her as she loved the stuff I had but not everything has a woman's line, or the gents sizes just don't work proper specifically in the rain gear it seems. 38-40" hips on a 5'2" frame does not work well to the XL gear as normally would need for them hips!

I know the standard backpacking community has tons of stuff but she doesn't seem to want those "uncharacteristic" hunting colours.

Bonus is if the gear can be found in Canada and I don't have to play the "what's the duty" game.

Let me know ladies, or gents

Pro Patria!

 

[M77Fan]

Sigh, good question. At least these days there is some ladies' gear, but much leaves a lot to be desired in durability and fit. There are still a lot of "downsized" men's designs sold as women's sizes. 5'4"; inseam maybe 28", yes on an XL, men's pants, the crotch is probably halfway to the knees if the pants waist is at the lady's waist. I personally have moved waistbands and shortened pantlegs, used velcro ankle straps (like on jeans to keep the pants hem out of a bicycle sprocket), and various other means to adapt. Shouldn't have to, but that is still often the final answer. Right now I have a black pair of men's large Frogg Togg pants that are not bulky, reasonably quiet, will pull on over my boots, and just bunch at the ankle with the built in velcro strap so I am not walking on the hem. I also have a pair of OD green Helly Hansen fishing rubberized pants, but those do not breathe. I buy stuff over large because I am often already in bulky layers when I need raingear on, so that often adds extra length due to the larger size. Can't get rain paints too tight or you can't bend your knees or walk freely. But mind you it does not rain here a lot so I am not usually hunting in them all day. If it is just residual wet or snowy, I will use gaiters. In the past I have used a longer jacket and rain chaps that could be cut/hemmed to length, tied to the belt. You could also just look at mountaineering gear and get black, which works fine for blending in. Problem with that stuff is the zip-zip of nylon as you walk through wet shrubs. Very noisy for moving, but OK for sitting. Another option might be to get bibs rather than just pants. There is more length-height adjustment possible with suspenders of bibs because they don't have to fit at the waist to stay on. Most often with bibs the size is more generous around the waist and seat. If too voluminous after they are on, you can always belt at the waist like you might with waders. Jackets are easier, and she can probably find a decent one among Sitka, First Lite, Kuiu, Under Armor, or some of the other popular brands. Not sure what is sold in Canada. Good luck!

 

[STNDBYnSNDIT]

Well it's good and bad to see that it's not just us with difficulties and are more then less arriving at the same solutions.

Our other temp solution is a set of Viddo Pro woman's trousers and we have just waxed them until they wouldn't take anymore. Works for a day in the rain'ish and works well for winter with a set of Long Jane's under it it seems.

Her and I love this recreational activity, and I'm willing to fork out the dough on good kit as the more comfortable she is, the more time we can spend out there. Heck I swear there is more for our 1 year old then there is for women!!

May look into the bibs and see.

 

[M77Fan]

Check Amazon for women's Helly Hansen. Got me looking again myself. I have had Helly Hansen several times and they have been good. this jacket has size charts available in the picture which might help with sizing shttps://www.amazon.com/Helly-Hansen-Womens-Jacket-Magenta/dp/B01N64585X/ref=cs_sr_dp_5?dchild=1&keywords=helly%2Bhansen%2Brain%2Bgear%2Bwomens&qid=1605452171&sr=8-10&th=1 There are a number of color choices that would be good hunting colors, pants are just black though as far as I can tell.

Also look at their Frogg Toggs

 

[dogz]

Red Ledge is your huckleberry

 

[M77Fan]

dogz thanks for the tip. Have been looking for side zip pants for both of us for quite a while. Looks like these could be shortened, so would work for spouse, too.

How does the fabric hold up to brush and heavy timber?

 

[dogz]

Been using them for a long time and never had any issues with them tearing up. They pack up quite small, and yet are pretty darn tough. And, I'd guess you could still buy a top and bottom set for easily less than 150 bucks

 

[STNDBYnSNDIT]

Looks like a coast effective option. Sent the other the link to check out. Cheers!

 

[STNDBYnSNDIT]

Has anyone tried the Azrye stuff yet? Spouse was watching the Jill's from Go-Hunt kit list and brought the question up.

Also the Sitka stuff, other then not having pockets...comon Sitka ladies need pockets too.... Any real issues? I have swapped my stuff away from Sitka from 8ish years ago as the rain gear didn't really work well for me. Have they changed?