Silicone on Dri Ducks?

[nitegaunt]

I got a set of Dri Ducks (jacket and pants) a while back. I only tested the jacket once in a downpour. I seemed to have water on the inside of the jacket as if it was seeping through. Is this normal? It wasn't much but I was wondering if it's common to use a silicone sealant on them?

[ScottP]

in my experience dri-ducks type raingear will eventually soak through in a long storm.

They're great for warmish rains. If you're getting windy rains in the low 40's and below, I think that a real gore-tex jacket is worth the extra weight.

Nothing is perfectly waterproof--once it's raining your sweat isn't going to evaporate through the jacket very efficiently.

[Rocketman]

One of the difficulties is deciding or determining if any moisture inside a "waterproof-breathable" (WPB) garment is from leakage or from condensation of normal body sweat.

I haven't solved that problem.

I can tell you that with virtually every WPB I have ever used, if you are out long enough you will get damp. No, don't know if it is sometimes leakage or some/all times condensation.

Getting a little damp is a heck of a lot better than getting soaked.

If you want, you can try to seal the seams of the Dry Ducks or Frogg Toggs.

There may even be some benefit to applying more silicone Water Repellant spray onto the Dry Ducks. Let us know if you try it. Or if any of the other DWR renewal sprays or treatments help the situation.

[Tinker]

in my experience dri-ducks type raingear will eventually soak through in a long storm.

They're great for warmish rains. If you're getting windy rains in the low 40's and below, I think that a real gore-tex jacket is worth the extra weight.

Nothing is perfectly waterproof--once it's raining your sweat isn't going to evaporate through the jacket very efficiently.

Someone has a handle on the subject. :banana

Nothing, short of a shelter of some sort, is waterproof and breathable. My Gore-tex and eVent garments work best when it's cold and dry, Once things get wet outside, they eventually do inside, too, due to my own sweat. No magic bullet yet :(.
Fwiw: I got some cooking oil on my Drop Stoppers (essentially a lighter version of Dri-ducks), and it soaked right through. It stained badly, but is still mostly waterproof there. I would assume that a silicone spray-on treatment would do the same.

[nitegaunt]

Thanks for the responses. I saw a video from someone's hike on youtube and they were talking about spraying their dri ducks with some sort of treatment so it got me thinking. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with doing that. I know that condensation is pretty much always going to cause a certain amount of moisture. I just didn't want to spray them and then end up making them less breathable in the process.