Sil-nylon rain suit

[Alison]

I'm considering sewing my own rain suit and am wondering if anyone knows of a good pattern--looking for something very simple, as I would like it to be as lightweight as possible. Thanks!

[Hammock Hanger]

Just look for an easy 1 hour sew pattern, with or without hood, elastic style pants. Hammock Hanger

[SGT Rock]

If you are going to actually try and make a sil-nylon rainsuit, put in pit zips and maybe even chest and back vents. You will DIE inside a sil-nylon rains suit. Might as well make it from a plastic sack for breathability.

If you are serious, you might want to try emulating a design called the Paka http://webpages.charter.net/packa/. I've never used one, but I have heard some great things about them.

[walkerat99]

Alison,

Here is a website that has many patterns and I am sure you will find one that is suitable if you wish to purchase it.

http://www.justmakeit.com/patterns/index.html

Also you may purchase a pattern from your local store for a pant suit and alter it to make a rain suit.

Good luck and let us know how you did with the project.

Ed

[DebW]

I've been thinking about a rainsuit design that would be like a cagoule (a longish pullover hooded anorak). Long enough to cover shorts and avoid rainpants in all but the worst weather. Could carry rain chaps to cover the legs when needed but still allow for much better ventillation than rainpants. Seems like a good trick to get ventillation in the torso would be to have your pack hipbelt go through the raincoat rather than over it (I saw this design somewhere once). Velcroed storm flaps could cover the belt slot when not in use. Guess you'd have to ditch the sternum strap to really get top-to-bottom ventillation.

[jlb2012]

Admittedly this is a rain suit and so somewhat unlikely to be exposed to flame BUT isn't sil-nylon a less than perfect material for clothing when one considers that the stuff does burn?

Now I have never burned any sil myself so I may be all wet here but ... I have heard that at least one supplier no longer makes a bug bivy with sil-nylon floor just because of the possible risk of burning and the possible risk of resulting lawsuits.

All that said - I use a sil tarp with my hammock and I am much less concerned about the risk of damage from burning sil than I am about many other things like falling and taking some damage while hiking.

[RagingHampster]

I want to make an extra-long sil-nylon shell which will go down to cover my @$$. I want it to be a pull-over, hooded design. I also plan to make it with no-see-um armpits. No pitzips to worry about. Always open under there and breathing. I may include chestpockets with mesh backings as well, but am leaning away from this. I have a gore-tex shell, and a gore-tex pac-lite shell. Both feel like I'm wearing 1/2" rubber anyways, and weigh a ton.

I'm also looking at making a superlight-weight 800fill down jacket. No zipper in front, just a draft tubed strip of velcro instead. I want it to have draft tubed zip off arms as well. I also plan to make this with sil-nylon. When the arms are off, ventilation will be no problem. Only under the most severe cold would I be wearing the arms and body at the same time. And being warm and wet is different than cold and wet. You may be sticky and uncomfortable, but the sil-nylon still keeps the down dry even under storm conditions, which keeps you insulated (and alive might I add). This jacket/vest would also be under a pound, and compress into a softball that you keep in the bottom of your pack. Not to mention water/wind proof. Sleep with just the vest at night un-velcro'd under your down quilt if your real cold.

By the way. If you want to make something like this, go to walmart and try stuff on. When you find something that fits great, buy it (come-on, this is walmart, land of the $3 tee-shirts, and probably cheaper than a pattern anyways). Then just take it apart and copy it. This mode also gives you a look at how it will go together better. You can hit thrift stores for this too. I'm preparing to make my down quilt now, but the sil-nylon shell is next!

[DebW]

RagingHamster, are you talking about making a down jacket with silnylon on both sides? You really have to have some part of it made with breathable fabric in order to compress it and have it reloft. The air has to get in and out. Besides, 1.1 oz uncoated nylon is the same weight or less than silnylon. You could have small breathable strips on the outer edges if you really want it waterproof. Or inside waterproof, outside breathable (you have a waterproof shell anyway). But considering that you usually wear down jackets on top of other insulating layers, I'd make it completely breathable and put a vapor barrier as close to the skin as possible.

[RagingHampster]

I'll probably put a strip of breatheable nylon somewhere on the inside bottom edge or something. I want it completely waterproof in and out. 90% of the time it will be used as a vest, allowing venting up the back, around the shoulders, and unvelcro-ing the turtleneck portion for even more venting. The 10% I use it with the sleeves, I will just sweat (but stay warm due to the lofts insulation retaining itself). I've worn both a $5 plastic raincoat (the ones on the checkout aisle at Walmart) and My $250 Gore-Tex Pac-Lite "Breatheable" shell. The only difference I noted was that the walmart shell was lighter (I almost shot myself for falling for the breatheability trip).

Maybe I'll put a therm-a-rest valve on my coat lol!

BTW, I'll be able to wear the vest over my sil-nylon rain/wind shell and not worry a bit, even in a freezing downpour!. This would be done in 40* and some 50* rains.

Plus with careful layering, and paceing yourself, you shouldn't even really sweat, except for your body's natural fluid output, in which case unvelcro the front of the coat every once in a awhile for a minute or so. If it's so hot out your sweating (80*F+), just hike in the rain! I have a small thermometer so I can properly judge this. Don't do it in 60*F weather for reasons we all know...

Even then, if you get too cold throw the vest on. It'll warm you up even if your soaked! Hiking in the cold-rain is miserable anyway you slice it. You might as well have gear your confident in will keep you safe.

I'm either going to bring a 1.5lb Gore-Windstopper fleece jacket (not-waterproof), or this down vest/jacket system and a lightweight windproof synthetic shirt to layer over my really light base breatheable shirt. I'm actually leaning towards the down vest/jacket sytem.