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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | I just can not bring myself to spend 300-400 or more on rain gear. Or even 200+ for that matter..I have always used junk, and it does suck, you get what you pay for.. Is the materials/technology/performance really deserving of that 400+ price tag? What do you guys wear??? |
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Posts: 358
| i have used the same set of Cabela's guide wear for ten years or so. Been good for me, although its a bit warm for the summer rains. You can get sweaty in it. I have had some E'vent gear at work and that's been good as well.
IF i was to do it again i think I'd like to try some of the newer technology and go with a light weight shell type and layer underneath as there are really good layering garments now days. |
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Posts: 1516
| I have had Cabela’s guide wear for 20 years and had severed me well. That said I don’t use it a lot cause I don’t get out in the rain much. Another reason is that guide wear had the 3xl & tall sizes I don’t see that in other brands. |
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Posts: 386
| I wore a Frabill Cyclone suit for the past 5 years but this year I switched to Blackfish. The price was right, no way would I spend $1,000 on rain gear, and overall it's a big improvement over my cyclone gear. I wear my gear quite a bit so I justify a heaftier price tag but I draw the line well below retail price. |
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Location: 31 | Used okay? I just picked up what looks to be a lightly used very nice Cabela's top and bibs on Ebay... delivered to my door $195.
Goretex Mens Rainsuit | eBay Or, you can continue to use your old junky rain gear if it holds up under light to moderate conditions provided you have a cheap PVC to wear over top of it when the sky opens up. One item I really like is the pair of PVC bib shorts I cut down to wear under my pretty much every morning 15 YO light Gore-Tex rain pants… guaranteed no leaks even while sitting on wet boat seats from over night rains. |
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Posts: 7088
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Rain gear is like reels: you can spend less money and get away with it for a while...but eventually you'll be in the boat with a reel that doesnt work and wish you had spent the money for quality.
I got a pair of the Simms last year, really like them. Only drawback is they're not warm like the Cabelas Guidewear. That being said, Cabela's return policies have gotten worse and worse over the years so I avoid buying any big ticket or branded gear from them. |
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Posts: 356
| Knee length Helly Hanson with their bibs.Won’t ‘breath’ but you will be dry.
If so warm out you sweat,just go au naturel. |
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Posts: 41
Location: Rochester, MN | I have had the 100mph Bass Pro suit for 5 years. It has been great but does get a bit hot like RJ mentioned earlier about his Cabelas Guidewear. Its no fun spending big money on rain gear but i am glad i did it. Plus you will always get a kick out of it whenever a heavy downpour comes rolling through while your fishing buddy who went the cheap route gets soaked. lol. |
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Posts: 754
| Slamr - 7/9/2019 12:57 PM
Rain gear is like reels: you can spend less money and get away with it for a while...but eventually you'll be in the boat with a reel that doesnt work and wish you had spent the money for quality.
Truer words were never spoken.... Do you want to be dry or do you want to save $$. Over the long haul you can't have both.... |
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Posts: 528
| I have a set of Huk and a set of Stormr. Both are not necessarily cheap, but not crazy expensive. The Huk set is lighter and great for summer time when it is warm out. The stormr set is heavier duty and great for early spring, late fall, and mild days of ice fishing where I’m at in northern Minnesota. I wear them both regularly and would not go back to the cheap stuff I used to use. |
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Posts: 275
| I disagree that you can't stay dry without spending a ton of money on rain gear. I have since bought a mid-priced pair that work great but I used Frogg Toggs for years before doing so. I'm not saying that some more expensive gear may not out perform the cheaper stuff but In my opinion the Frogg Toggs kept me plenty dry for a VERY reasonable price.
Jaimy |
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Posts: 416
Location: Madtown, WI | I've had great rain gear from some of the more traditional outdoor brands such as Marmot, North Face, REI, etc... that run ~$200 per set. Nothing I've owned that is goretex branded has kept me dry, it's heavy and I'm wet from the inside and out.
Never understood why quality raingear is so hard. I swear, a $1 poncho is better than 90% of rain gear out there. |
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Posts: 101
| Bought the Bass Pro Bone Dry pants and jacket earlier this year. Was out in a downpour and stayed dry. So far so good and think the price is reasonable. |
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Posts: 866
Location: NE Ohio | say what you want but my old pair of frog toggs (jacket and bibbs) day in and day out are more comfortable and dry and so cheap for the value! |
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Posts: 1000
| paid $320 for a set of simms challenger at Thorne's sale. I picked the challenger because the fit was better than other brands, and it felt better in warm weather. I wear the jacket probably 5-7 times per year, but starting the last week of August the bibs don't come off. They're comfy to the point that I've slept in them on the couch mid-winter. I can always layer up. I can only layer down to a point
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Posts: 32930
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Pat Hoolihan - 7/8/2019 11:16 PM
I wore a Frabill Cyclone suit for the past 5 years but this year I switched to Blackfish. The price was right, no way would I spend $1,000 on rain gear, and overall it's a big improvement over my cyclone gear. I wear my gear quite a bit so I justify a heaftier price tag but I draw the line well below retail price.
This. |
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Location: 31 | sworrall - 7/11/2019 8:02 PM Pat Hoolihan - 7/8/2019 11:16 PM I wore a Frabill Cyclone suit for the past 5 years but this year I switched to Blackfish. The price was right, no way would I spend $1,000 on rain gear, and overall it's a big improvement over my cyclone gear. I wear my gear quite a bit so I justify a heaftier price tag but I draw the line well below retail price. This. I just checked the Blackfish gear; although it looks awesome the bibs and jacket are still $350 each / $700 retail (just slightly over the $200 budget).
I sometimes put on two layers of Gore-Tex with my beater suit underneath and the better suit on top, this works extremely well in cooler weather. In warmer weather with 1 suit it always seems my butt gets damp from sitting, the PVC bib shorts I made to wear underneath are 100% waterproof even sitting in a waterlogged seat all day. Although over budget... my favorite rain gear is still my convertible top though 
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Posts: 1381
| Just couldn't justify the cost of some of the higher end stuff when I needed new rain gear, so went with the Frogg Toggs, hoping I could get 3 to 4 years out of them. Well, this will be year 6, and no issues other than the stitching on a velcro strip for one of the pockets is coming loose. Probably get at least a couple more years out them. Bibs get a lot more wear than the jacket. Not hot at all. |
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Posts: 172
Location: Alexandria, MN | TCESOX - 7/12/2019 9:46 AM
Just couldn't justify the cost of some of the higher end stuff when I needed new rain gear, so went with the Frogg Toggs, hoping I could get 3 to 4 years out of them. Well, this will be year 6, and no issues other than the stitching on a velcro strip for one of the pockets is coming loose. Probably get at least a couple more years out them. Bibs get a lot more wear than the jacket. Not hot at all.
x2 on Frogg Toggs. Love 'em - especially for the price. |
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Posts: 441
| The new Cabela's Guide wear is really light weight! My old set lasted about 5 years before it started to leak. Brought them back, and they gave me a new set. Now, that's customer service! That's why you spend the money! |
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Posts: 633
Location: Madison, WI | tolle141 - 7/11/2019 7:51 PM
paid $320 for a set of simms challenger at Thorne's sale. I picked the challenger because the fit was better than other brands, and it felt better in warm weather. I wear the jacket probably 5-7 times per year, but starting the last week of August the bibs don't come off. They're comfy to the point that I've slept in them on the couch mid-winter. I can always layer up. I can only layer down to a point
The Simms challenger set is very nice and I like it a lot EXCEPT the bibs do NOT have a two way zipper!! That means every time you need to relieve yourself on the boat you have to unzip the jacket to unzip the bibs from the top down which really is a pain! I bought some bibs from Scheels to replace them just for that reason. Really like the jacket though |
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| k way,was using it as a kids in the 80's.really compact.light and affordable .and i stay dry |
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Posts: 32
Location: Rockford, IL USA | For the $$ I think it's hard to beat Frogg Togg's. |
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Posts: 8832
| As an addendum, do consider a proper wash/treatment of your current rain gear before you decide it's done. I had two sets that were not-so-waterproof anymore - water soaking in on the knees, seat, and areas where the butt of the rod hits you. I chalked it up to normal wear, marginal quality, etc. Since both sets were pretty #*^@ dirty after several years of use and I was still okay with being "kind of dry" I decided to try the line of nik wax wash/treatment/spray products.
After doing the wash, the treatment, and the spray on the really bad areas, I was a bit skeptical that all I was doing was wasting money on rain gear that should be stuffed in a boat compartment for someone who forgot theirs.
Next time out in the rain: Well, what do you know?! I wouldn't say my rain gear was "like new" again, but it sure was a whole lot more waterproof than it had been in a long time. Saved me a few seasons of not having to drop $400 for a new set. |
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