daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Jul 15, 2016 12:17:49 GMT -8
I’ve been wanting to try out rain chaps and a rain skirt for a while so this past week I made some to take and experiment with on an upcoming trip. The fabric is some I picked up years ago when Walmart still offered $1.50/yd bargain fabric. It is a diamond ripstop with, (I believe) a PU coating and is about the same weight and has about the same water resistance as 1.1 oz silnylon. It is definitely not silnylon and, I suspect, not nearly as durable. But it lets me make inexpensive prototypes. The total cost of materials for the rain chaps and rain skirt was less than $10. I have a slim build with skinny legs and long feet (size 14). One of my ongoing frustrations is that, except for my full-zip rain pants, I have to take off my footwear to put on my other rain pants. So I made the diameter of the rain chaps large enough to slip on over my shoes. And, of course, a rain skirt avoids that problem altogether. Reduced weight and, hopefully, improved ventilation are an added bonus. Now the question is how well they will work. The pair of rain chaps weighs 2.6 ounces. To hold the tops of the chaps up, I used a quickslip strap keeper in reverse to slip over my waistband and coupled it with a ladder lock buckle and webbing for height adjustment. It’s overkill but what I had on hand.  The rain skirt weighs 1.9 ounces. Velcro and an elastic band secure the waist and allow adjustment. Wearing it over minimal clothing, I get an eight inch overlap at the waist and a four inch overlap at the bottom. There is one plastic snap at the bottom that, if necessary, can be used to keep the overlapping ends together at the cost of some restriction in leg movement. On the end of the skirt that is under the overlap I used a double-turn hem turned outward and sewed it slightly farther from the edge than normal to allow it to flare open a bit. My hope is that it will act as a water bar for rain running between the overlap and channel it downward.  |
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jul 15, 2016 12:43:12 GMT -8
Looks good, but that set up with the chaps will not ride well under the hip belt of your pack. If it can clip to the waist belt of the pack, it'll be a winner. Might not be breathable enough, though. Skirt does solve that problem.
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daveg
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Post by daveg on Jul 15, 2016 13:02:46 GMT -8
that set up with the chaps will not ride well under the hip belt of your pack. Good point. Nothing like overlooking the obvious -- now that you mention it. Will have to come up with a better method for holding the chaps up. |
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jul 15, 2016 13:21:52 GMT -8
If the red webbing is long enough, you could just pass it under your belt, and into the slider to keep them up.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 15, 2016 13:27:16 GMT -8
Suspenders? Yes my biggest issue with some clothes choices tends to be pack hip belt conflicts. Bloody hips are not that good a look on me.
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daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Jul 15, 2016 17:41:51 GMT -8
If the red webbing is long enough, you could just pass it under your belt, and into the slider to keep them up. The shorts I normally wear when hiking are just running shorts -- no belt. My hiking pants have a webbing belt but it is encased in fabric except at the front. My original thought was to attach the chaps to something I could just slip over the waistband of whatever I was wearing, but even something soft might cause too much irritation under my hip belt. Attaching the chaps to my hip belt might work if I was wearing my poncho, but not with my rain jacket -- the chaps would have to be under my jacket; my hip belt would be outside.
I can easily replace the red webbing with webbing of any length or width or with something else entirely. I suppose one solution is to carry a lightweight "belt" made of narrow webbing or small diameter shock cord that I could position around my waist above my hip belt and connect the chaps to that.
Have to ponder suspenders. My initial reaction is that would be a heavy alternative and I'm trying to picture how to use them to hold up something on the side of one's body. Maybe crisscrossing?
Open to suggestions.
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daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Jul 17, 2016 8:58:38 GMT -8
I opted for simplicity which also turned out to be lower weight (down to 2.4 ounces) and very versatile. I shaped a waistband/belt clip out of ABS (I think) plastic and sewed a webbing loop to it. (Hand sewn after drilling 1/16" holes through the plastic.) Sewed a matching webbing loop onto the rain chaps. Connected the two with a knotted cord. All I have to do is put on a rain chap, slide the clip over my waistband, and I'm ready to go.
The setup is low profile and parallel to my hips. Feels fine under my hip belt at home. Will have to see how it feels walking long distances with a loaded pack.
The clip will also slide over a belt. It hooks onto my hip belt webbing where it exits the padding, but that rotates the chaps forward a bit. The cord is long enough I can untie from the clip and tie it around the padded portion of my hip belt. If one has a belt or belt loops, the cord can be tied around them instead of to the clip. I also pondered sewing a small webbing loop on each side at the top of the waistband of the pants/shorts I will be taking. Then I could just tie the cord through that loop and dispense with the clip.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Jul 17, 2016 9:17:33 GMT -8
Very cool. Let us know how it works on extended hikes.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 17, 2016 9:45:08 GMT -8
Even that clip looks a little problematic under a pack belt.
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daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Jul 17, 2016 17:42:20 GMT -8
Even that clip looks a little problematic under a pack belt. Yeah. I'm going to wear the clips under my hip belt on my training hikes this week. Hopefully, any major issues will become apparent. |
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jul 17, 2016 17:59:51 GMT -8
One solution to any problems that kick up with the hip belt is to place a wide pad under the clip, between it and your skin. Disperse the irritation some. Call it a 4 inch square pad, thin enough not to be a bother with the hip pad, but thick enough to protect your skin from the irritation
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 17, 2016 20:20:21 GMT -8
Could just get a garter belt.
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daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Jul 17, 2016 21:20:08 GMT -8
Could just get a garter belt. Nah: too heavy, not durable enough, they look uncomfortable, hard to keep clean and presentable on the trail and, most importantly, wearing one would be a serious fashion faux pas (I ain't no Madonna). |
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daveg
Trail Wise!
Michigan
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Post by daveg on Jul 26, 2016 20:47:40 GMT -8
FWIW -- an update on the waistband clips.
I wore the clips on several training hikes five to six miles in length with a loaded pack. I couldn't feel the clips under my hip belt (even though it was cinched really tight) except when they were located right against my hip bone. Lifting the waistband of my pants/shorts so it was around my waist instead of riding on my hips seemed to solve that problem.
After the first hike I noticed a few red splotches on my skin around the side and bottom edges of the clips. Being an idiot (sometimes), I realized I had rounded the corners of the skin-side face of the clips but had not rounded the edges.
So I rounded the edges and smoothed the skin-side face of the clips. I also took zeke's suggestion and stuck a piece of moleskin on the skin-side face of one of the clips (slightly larger than the face of the clip with the overlap folded onto itself). On the next training hike I wore the clip with the moleskin on my right hand side and wore the other (bare plastic) clip on my left hand side. Neither clip caused any irritation or redness.
On my next training hike I wore the clips on the opposite sides. Again, no irritation or redness was caused by either clip.
Good enough for a field test, I figure. But, just as a precaution, I added moleskin to the bare plastic clip.
I'm heading out this weekend for a 220 mile hike on the AT in New Hampshire and Maine. I suspect the odds are pretty good that I'll get some rain and a chance to try the chaps and rain skirt out.
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