Yes and no (helpful?
). Its highly breathable and like goretex, you have to proof it once in a while with Nikwax TX Direct. It is definitely waterproof from the outside in normal circumstances, but there is this thing that they say which is "water can be pumped away from the inside faster than it can get in". However, it doesnt wholly rely on an inside to out vapour transfer to stop water ingress. If it did, then if you were standing around in the rain it would just go straight through as you're not sweating.
Paramo is a global company, it was launched by the Nikwax guy. Take a look at Paramo.co.uk - it's very popular with hikers as its so warm. As an example you can wear a single layer (thin) thermal top then a paramo lined jacket in all kinds of temperatures and be warm. I've worn mine down to 0F with no issues at all.
The one downside to the clothing is that if you kneel down on wet ground the pressure will force moisture through it. Not so bad if its a kneel, it soon dries out from bodyheat from the inside which then carries the mositure back out again, but if you sit down wearing a pair of paramo trousers you will get a wet behind as it has a low hydrostatic head. Howver, this doesnt mean that you get wet shoulders in heavy rain, it only happens when you put real pressure on it on wet ground/rock etc.
The tops especially are very good. The Velez smock for example is super lightweight and pretty thin. Despite this, with a thin woolpower thermal top under it I didnt need anything else yesterday despite the ambient being about 20F and the wind chill around 10F
The other thing you might find interesting with it is the so called "pump liner". How this works I really don't know, but say you put on a paramo jacket over a soaked through wet top, if you walk for a while your wool top will become dry in about half an hour (depending on body temp, ambient conditions etc). The negative with the gear is that it isnt designed for heavy camp type work ie lots of kneeling down, abrasion, friction and it doesn't like sparks much.
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