Mens Rain Jacket - Stay Dry in the Rain

When you were a child you probably got a big kick out of playing in the rain, getting soaking wet was all part of the fun. While most of us, as adults still like to play in the rain every once in awhile, the idea of having to walk through the rain dressed for work does not exactly sound very appealing. The best way to stay dry when the skies open up is with a good mens rain jacket. There are several ways to go about finding the best mens waterproof jacket for your needs including asking others what they wear, reading online and magazine reviews and doing some comparison shopping.

What to Look For

When you are looking at mens rain jackets there are some features that are a must have if you want a jacket that is going to keep you nice and dry no matter how much rain falls on your shoulders while you are out and about. The first thing you need to consider is what type of activity you are going to be involved in when wearing your mens rain jacket. Just because you are going to be involved in some form of outdoor sport such as hiking or bicycling does not mean that you need to get soaked at the same time.

While the whole purpose of a mens rain jacket is to keep out the rain, it also needs to be able to breathe so that you do not end up soaked with sweat if you have to spend a fair amount of time in it. So, how can a jacket be both waterproof and breathe at the same time you ask? The most common way is for the pores of the material used in making mens rain jackets to be small enough to allow water vapor to pass through, but not big enough for actual rain or water droplets to pass through.

Before Today's Superfabrics

Many of the fabrics produced for waterproof clothing today are specifically engineered to be waterproof and still allow the body to breathe, however this was not always the case. Take for instance the stereotypical British Macintosh mens rain jacket, this particular coat is the quintessential English mens wax jacket. Created by coating the cotton exterior layer of the coat with a very specific waterproofing wax, these jackets are typically worn for going absolutely anywhere in the rain and transcend the classes.

The modern Superfabrics are actually made from more than one layer of fabric with the outer shell being the decorative part and the inner layer being there to help keep you warm and wick away any build up of sweat. It is the layer in the middle of the sandwich that is the most important part of the modern rain jacket. This membranous layer is designed to keep the water out, while still letting the water vapor of your sweat pass through keeping you cooled off.

Being able to stay dry on the inside is just as important as not letting the rain come in and soak you. If your rain jacket does not let the sweat evaporate, your body stays wet as do your undergarments and clothes. This dampness will have a major effect on any insulating value the jacket might have, the end result will be that even though you are wearing a rain jacket you will still end up soaking wet and cold.