Every day I either go for a run or for an exercise-style walk, by which I mean I walk for at least 30 minutes at a brisk pace, so the Apple Watch activity app registers the walking as exercise.
Today was a walk day and since we are square in the middle of a system that is endlessly pouring rain, I opted to head out late morning, just to get it over with. Waiting out the rain was not a realistic option.
But knowing it would be very wet and that I might venture to areas with massive puddles, I made a few changes to my usual outdoor wear:
- I wore my nice Scarpa boots, which are waterproof
- I wore my Goretex raincoat, which is theoretically waterproof
Normally I’d wear my old trail running shoes and hoodie, but I felt these would not hold up.
I was half right.
The boots worked very well and kept my feet nice and dry. The only downside is I have to wear regular insoles, or they fit too tight, but for shortish treks, it’s fine.
The jacket was a weird and appalling disappointment.
The pockets got wet. And by that, I mean the indies of the pockets, meaning my hands, phone, mask and AirPods case all got damp. This was bad.
The wrists on the jacket allowed enough water ingress that I had to lock the screen of my watch to keep it from wigging out. And the hood is so big and floppy that it kept bouncing out of position, and any sudden breeze threatened to pull it completely down off my head.
The only good part is my torso stayed mostly dry.
The hoodie, in comparison, does not keep my chest and abdomen as dry when it is pouring out. I’ll end up with some lines of dampness running vertically down my t-shirt, enough that I’ll change when I get out of the rain.
But the hood itself not only keeps my head dry, it actually fits over the brim of my cap, keeping the cap dry and providing a kind of shield to keep the water away from my face. This has the added bonus of reducing rain splattering on my glasses.
And the pockets never get soaked through, so my hands stay warm and dry.
Really, it’s just weird that the jacket works so poorly, almost like the waterproofing has completely broken down.
I felt a bit silly going out as it was. No one voluntarily goes out in weather like this. I went down to Hume Park and didn’t even see some lunatic out with their dog, and there’s always some lunatic out with their dog. I did see two people riding bikes, though.
Mostly, I just want summer back. Yes, even with the occasional heat dome.
