Hi
I've been fussing over the perfect(for me) walking gear set up for ages, for ever it seems, and never completely getting it spot on. I seemingly generate a lot of body heat, so I'm always battling weather resistance with breathability, failing most of the time!
I recently went for the combination (after a loads of umming and ahhing) of a Fjallraven Skogso jacket, Paramo Bentu fleece and Fjallraven Karl trousers.
I'd had the jacket a while and learned it was in no way water proof, not even water resistant, but I'd stuck with it and tried the wax, too much of a chore, so I tried nikwax cotton waterproofing, which seemed to kind of work, a bit, well down to the local shops and back(1km). So I read up some more and sent for a Paramo Pajaro coat, but sent it back due to it's weight and extreme ugliness(sorry style does come into play a tad) and exchanged it for a Bentu fleece to sit under the Skogso jacket, and hopefully form a good combination of outer windproof/water resistance and midlayer water protection/breathability.
Sadly on a recent set of walks along the south west coastal path and over Dartmoor, I found a lot of faults with my plan, the jacket just became saturated, and the fleece trapped heat and I was soaked both inside and out.
The weather wasn't cold but the wind was pretty strong at times, I only had a very thin base layer/iso cool T-shirt, but every little whiff of rain/drizzle just seemed to be absorbed by the jacket and even with as many Zips open as practically possible, the heat just built up and I became soaked through from both directions.
I like the style/feel of the jacket but I'm obviously getting my set up badly wrong, any opinions?