I have an old Warmers brand paddle jacket, urethane coated nylon with urethane seam tape. The seam tape has crumbled as has the urethane coating, and for some reason the urethan coating on the black nylon fabric comes off as black flakes/dust all over whatever I was wearing underneath it.
So looking for a replacement paddle jacket that is windproof and that does not do the same, a GTX or eVent fabric would not have an inside layer of urethane to crumble off, but seam tape may.
Any suggestions for a long lasting paddle jacket appreciated, thanks!
Depends on how long you think is reasonable life. I read your description and am assuming that the one you have is at least 10 years old?
Looking at the various paddle jackets and dry/paddling suits I have and have had, all from major brands like Kokatat, NRS, and Palm, they last fine for 10 or so years, but then start having issues like seam tape coming off and even later material flaking. All with decent usage and minimal care on my part.
Oh it is well over 10 yrs old, but only used 1 time for kayaking in that time. Recently repurposed it for windfoiling to prevent evaporative cooling from my wetsuit and that is when it started crumbling. Maybe I will look at making something with sinylon, that fabric does not seem to breakdown like urethane coated nylon. Thanks for your experience with them.
Here is a paddle jacket from Windrider, PVC coated nylon, should be very durable, but not breathable and I do not care about that. Anyone used one of these?
You’ve done your homework on evaporative cooling. Good thinking. I’ve had problems with old gear crumbling - mostly fancy mesh linings. No idea why because it’s interior fabric, not often used and not exposed to UV. One was from Patagonia, and they stood behind their guarantee and gave me credit for the return. Good company.
I have six old PU coated nylon dry bags from Seattle Sports, for several of them the PU coating on the interior crumbled making a mess of anything stored inside, the rest are still good, Seattle Sports would not do anything. So replaced with cheap PVC coated nylon dry bags from Walmart, they are still good. Whitewater inflatable rafts are made out of PVC too, they last. The only issue with a PVC jacket is it can feel sticky if you start to sweat and do not have a layer on under it, but I will be using in cold weather with a layer so should not be a problem. Will order and let you know how it works out for me.
I remember hiking / backpacking , the days before Gortex. High humidity…sweat…sticky/clammy…as wet from the inside as from the misty rain. No place for the moisture to go even on a break. Pit zips helped a little. When the Goretex came, I became a believer.
Agree, but eVent is way better than Gore Tex, no need for pit zips! But for this application, windfoiling in cold temps with a thin neoprene under-layer, the PVC nylon should work perfect, will block 100% evaporative cooling.
Over the years I have found that any kind of treated nylon will fail you when you need it most. Gore-Tex will turn to dust if you keep it where you might need it.
I admit that I live in Florida and nothing made elsewhere can stand up to our weather, but I went with stretchable PVC raingear a few years ago and it has held up the best. It gets too warm for many summer thunder boomers, but it is always there when I need it.
This is a genuine question because I’m new to paddling.
How well do GoreTex, or eVent or any of those “breathable” jackets work when worn under a properly fitted PFD? Are they able to breathe through or into the PFD, or do you end up only getting the breathability benefits basically in the arms?
Have never worn under PDF since I have a Mustang inflatable PDF. But I have worn my REI eVent jacket under a backpack with 35 lbs in cool rainy weather did not sweat at all, and there are no pit zips!
And really, no comparison between Gore Tex and eVent when it comes to breathability, eVent actually breaths a little too much when I am backpacking at 12 k in the Rockies and sitting around at my campsite, end up feeling cool compared to a Gore Tex jacket.