Good rain gear makes all the difference during winter

N.S. NOKKENTVED

Originally published Tuesday, January 15, 2002

Does the rain ever let up?

Taking down the Christmas lights outside my house recently, I finally had to don my rain suit to get the job done. And even then I got a little wet.

This was the same rain suit that kept me reasonably dry during a foray to Ocean Shores last fall to interview razor clam diggers. That day a 35-mph wind lashed the beach, and wind-driven rain stung like hail.

But the suit held up -- mostly. I was a little damp here and there, but nothing serious.

I bought this rain suit in the mid-1980s while working as a field researcher for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. But most of the time since then it has ridden around in various daypacks and pickup trucks while I lived in Idaho. I don't think I wore it once in all that time.

It doesn't rain much there. Usually when it did rain, it didn't rain for long -- a few minutes at the most. Only occasionally does it rain long enough to get you good and wet. More often, you can just wait out the rain.

People there actually were more concerned about the roads.

A little rain could turn the pervasive desert dust to the stickiest, slickest gumbo. A friend once was on his way home from a river trip, but his Suburban, even with chains and four-wheel drive, barely made it through muddy desert back roads.

Not here. The roads I've encountered so far -- if they weren't threatened by washout or landslide -- handle the torrents pretty well.

Anyway, I was surprised that day in Ocean Shores that the rain suit kept any water out at all, after the way I had treated it. Anything that would keep you even reasonably dry in that kind of weather is worth keeping. I have a new reverence for the outfit, cheap as it was. It's lightweight and fits easily in a backpack or a field bag.

Who needs Gore-Tex?

Seriously, it's great to be out in the rain in good rain gear. It's especially great to be outdoors hiking or paddling and then having your rain gear with you when the downpour starts. It means the difference between continuing to enjoy your outing and a mad and miserable dash for the car.

And in the backcountry, it can make the difference between staying warm in camp and a serious case of hypothermia. A lot of people don't realize that you can die from hypothermia in 50 degree weather -- especially if its windy.

After nearly a year here in Rainville, I've come to realize that in the winter you either keep your rain gear handy or you spend the winter indoors -- except for those two sunny days, and we've had one already.

But about that rain gear. The elastic gave out in the pants -- and it was really awkward trying to keep my pants up while untangling strings of Christmas lights from tangled evergreen branches.

If this rain doesn't quit soon, I may finally be forced to buy new rain gear.

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. His mother never taught him to come in out of the rain. He can be reached at 360-754-5445.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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