First time posting here so apologies for the length of this! in summary: has anyone got any recommendations for mens/womens waterproof jackets, easily purchasable in the UK that is suitable for multi-day walks in rain with heavy-ish backpacks!?
My boyfriend and I are planning to walk the Pennine Way in May 2019. We are starting to do some longer walks and slowly building up pack weight as well over the weekends to try and prep ourselves a bit more.
Over the weekend we had a gentle 13.5 mile amble in the Peak District around Derwent/Howden reservoirs - in the pouring rain. It rained constantly all day so we took it as a good opportunity to test our "waterproofs". We both have a pair of Berghaus Deluge trousers - these were ace and kept our trousers/legs bone dry. After a very soggy trip up Kinder Scout a few years ago, I invested in a rather expensive (at the time) Rab Spark jacket. This has held up ok in general light rain showers before and I have been re-proofing it, but during the walk it failed miserably. I'm not sure if it was made worse because of having a 10+kg backpack on which put pressure on the straps/waist areas so water permeated through, but the entire jacket was soaked through, which soaked to my Icebreaker jacket underneath, which then got wet and made my baselayer and myself damp underneath that. The hood also leaked (which made for an interesting hairstyle!) and my arms were wet so I'm not entirely convinced it's due to any pressure/weight against the jacket. My boyfriend had the exact same problem with his Berghaus Stormcloud jacket, although he wasn't quite as wet.
I have since learnt from other sites that a specific backpacking waterproof is what's needed, due to weight of packpacks etc but trying to find any is a challenge. I've seen a few good reviews of the Marmot Precip Jacket but not sure if it's more a general waterproof or is suitable for backpacking? We're hoping in May that we won't need waterproofs - but it's the UK and Scotland so.....
I've read as much as I can cope with at the moment about Gore-tex and the differences
- is there much in the variations of Active/Paclite/Pro for backpacking? I (think?!) I understand correctly that Pro is the best to get if possible, but if Active/Paclite offers similar protection but with 2 layers instead of 3, would these generally hold up ok with heavy bags as well? A lot of reviews I can find for jackets such as Arc'teryx Beta SL, Mountain Equipment Impellor/Rupal, Montane Spine Jackets seem to be from people using them as more of an ad-hoc/day walk rather than potentially multi-days. I've also seen C-Knit mentioned as well, but is this fairly new as I can't find too many brands/jackets using this type of tech?
Our current jackets are both fairly lightweight and packable which is ideal and I am reluctant to spend £150+ again on another jacket for it to fail. That said, I don't want to buy 1 jacket purely for the Pennine Way, I am hoping it'll last longer and I'll get use out of it throughout the year.
Thanks in advance!!