Originally Posted by
mikesxpress
I am a 59 year old retired FED LEO and fish/hunt 4+ day a week. I have both the insulated & un-insulated Cabela's guidewear. I rarely use either anymore. The
un-insulated set is to hot for spring/summer/fall here in VA. The insulated set is very warm in winter. If you use either of these regularly (more than once every couple months) they will require regular applications of Repel or a similar product to keep the gear water repellent. The seams, zippers, pockets, etc.. will all leak at times even with repeated treatments. Running at bass boat speeds drives the water into the fabric and they leak even more. Constantly contacting the material against another object (sitting in a rain soaked seat) also saturates them. $400.00+ a set. I thought it was a good idea at the time???
Agreement with another post is that rubber/PVC coated rain gear is the only real waterproof gear available. No it doesn't "breath" but neither does Guidewear or any other GorTex product. Under arm and back flap ventilation is of minimal consequence on rain gear. It's all sales gimmicks.
Grundens has been making fowl weather gear for outdoor/commercial fishing industry for many years (yep you see the guys with Grundens gear on most saltwater sportfishing shows, Deadliest Catch, Wicked Tuna, etc..).
Reason for that is that it does it's job even under adverse conditions and holds up. Never seen any GorTex products worn on any of these shows. Hummm??
I have had a set of Grundens for 3 years now and use them frequently. My choice for saltwater/freshwater fishing is the Petrus HD44 jacket & HD16 bibs. I buy mine oversized to accommodate warm clothing layering in winter.
No pockets. No fly. No zipper. Double flap staggered snap closure on jacket. Simple drawstring hood. Lightweight and packable. Fits into 2/3's of a one gallon zip lock bag. Even at 70 mph no water gets in these. Both jacket and bibs can be had for less than $275. if you shop them.
Downside: You have to disconnet the front of the bibs and drop them to take a leak. I am willing to accommodate that to stay dry.