Staying dry can come at a value, although: Waterproof jackets are sometimes much less breathable. To unravel this downside, some manufacturers now use a breathable membrane like Gore-Tex, a preferred waterproofing know-how (as a result of, even in the midst of a downpour, nobody needs to really feel swampy). Kirkland Shave, program creator and appearing program director at Mountain Trek, a hiking-centric wellness retreat in British Columbia, Canada, recommends Gore-Tex jackets as a result of they permit air to move and wick sweat away once you’re lively, whereas conserving the rain out.

When purchasing, search for a rain jacket’s waterproof and breathability score—not all manufacturers present it, but when they do, it’ll be listed as two numbers separated by a backslash. The primary quantity (given in millimeters) represents waterproofing, and the second (given in grams) signifies breathability. Each work on scales of 0 to twenty,000+: The upper the numbers, the extra waterproof and breathable the jacket shall be. In relation to waterproofing, “I am not taking any jacket beneath 15,000 millimeters,” says Rubén Perez, co-founder of 5-Aspect Journey and mountaineering information at Kerlingarfjöll Highland Base in Iceland.