Rain chaps in light/ moderate/ heavy rain

[TheSaxMan]

Hi everyone,

I have been trying to decide between rain pants and rain chaps. I will be hiking in the Linville Gorge/ Blue Ridge Mountains in about two weeks. I am trying to plan a 100 mile/ easy 4-5 day hike.

Does anybody have experience with how well rain chaps hold up under light/ moderate and heavy rains? Standing still to stay dry and hiking through the rain?

Thanks!

[AaronAlso]

Chaps by definition are little more than pants without a hind end or crotch. Knowing this I would not recommend them for rain protection. They might breath well, but won't offer much protection unless you have a really long poncho and then why would you need the chaps?

Maybe a long poncho and high gaiters?

I use a dri ducks poncho and frogg toggs rain pants and that works well for me. Just a reminder raingear isn't so much to keep you dry but more so to keep you warm when you do eventually get wet.

Good luck on your hike and please update us with a trip report unpon your safe return.

[Tord Hoppe]

I´d second the use of a poncho. It covers your backpack and in my opinion ventilates better than rainclothes. Chaps are a bit easier to get into than pants and also breathes that bit better than pants. Depending on the poncho you can also use it as a tarp/groundcloth.