[daishi]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

I played claybank in 60mm of rain, numerous other rainstorms, outside in 0 degrees, overnight at 5 degrees, 120km/h winds, etc in my softshell. Without a thermal layer, it's been good from 12-20 degrees. With a thermal layer I've playing in -5 to 11 and been really comfortable.
I've done cold and hot and rainy with my goretex jacket and honestly I'd never think of ever using it again. It just traps your heat in too well. My every experience has been that it kept the rain out perfectly, but I'd just get soaked with sweat anyway, so it really didn't help at all.
The softshell does a significantly better job of regulating heat. The rain cools you down, but the jacket cuts off the chilling effect of any windage.
With the softshell, you can throw it on as the temp starts to drop at night, and take it off when it's convenient in the morning. No risk of quickly overheating if shit hits the fan and all of a sudden you're running 5km in 26 degree heat.
Plus you don't get that annoying crinkly sound every time you move lol

Quite simply, if goretex was the answer, we'd see a lot more goretex gear and a lot less softshell gear!
The 4-way stretch fabric is the best, but very expensive. Supposedly condor makes a decent softshell, you'll have to check reviews.

What soft shell do you use?