How do you keep dry in the rain?

Having moved from a sunny dry climate to the Pacific Northwest, we had a lot to learn about rain. We lived on our land 20 years.

We bought a house on 10 acres. That was in July. When winter came, the back areas of the one-acre yard we had fenced in for the dogs flooded. We had to slog through water to get to the back part of the property where we'd hike trails. Turns our parcel ran through a drainage area where the land was a tad terraced, and our "upper" neighbor also had a pond that would flood and contribute to our water-logged back area.

We spent the next summer, all of it,  trenching in a french drain the whole length of the back area outside the fence.  Lots of work, but that did the trick.

As for how to stay dry in the rain, I got really good at that. FLEECE. I found fleece to work spectacularly. I'd wear a light long-sleeved fleece shirt or very  light jacket with a hood. Then I'd get a roomy non-hooded fleece vest to go over the hooded fleece shirt. I'd pull the hood out from inside the vest. The vests always had high collars that could be zipped up to my neck snugly, and when it was really raining, if I put the hood on and then zipped up the vest, so the collar was lifted up around my neck, no rain ever got in any tiny nooks or slits or openings.

Fleece, although not the most wonderful of fabrics, sheds water, is very non-absorbant, so it takes a lot of work to get fleece wet. Unless you're hanging out for an hour in a downpour, you will stay comfortably dry-ish. Sure, sure, it's not Gore-tex (which is what I'd wear also at times), also kept me super dry, but it's expensive, didn't want to damage it outside working. Still, fleece remained my first choice because with the vest,  I had complete freedom to move and work. The Gore-tex was raincoat-like, swishy, extra fabric, got in the way.

As for my lower regions. I wore tights. Don't know if a man would be comfortable with tights, but again, synthetic fabric thick tights shed water for a long time, and then when wet, they don't get soggy, just moist. If it was really raining, I knew I'd eventually get too wet on my legs, so I'd double up on the tights, and when I started to feel soggy, I'd pull off the top wet pair of tights, and most of the time, the other pair would be dry enough to continue working outside in the rain comfortably.

I'd get men's fleece vests, so they'd be longer on me, so my butt was covered, and I found if my legs got wet, as long as I remained dry from my butt up, I could stay out with wet tights a long time in total comfort. Well...as long as I was working or moving anyway.

Of course, the temps in the PNW are rather mild compared to upstate NY, so maybe you would need some Gore-tex pants. But I stand firm with my fleece-hoodie-vest garb. That worked magnificently and was so easy to maintain...and dry. Fleece when wet dries rapidly.

Oh, yeah,,,,my feet. I had boots lined with Gore-tex, so waterproof. I'd get tights that had a band at the bottom edge and would bring the edge down over the boots as far down as the fabric would stretch. Sometimes if I knew I'd be out a long time and it was really raining,  I'd put on gaiters to ensure no water would get down into my boots. I didn't have to do that often, though. The tights pulled over and down onto my boots usually was enough.

G Freden wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:
Oh I would LOVE to find such a wool skirt! But 'charity shops' here don't have such garments.

Maybe ebay?  I did a search and found quite a few, at least, on the .co.uk version.  I kind of think of them as old lady skirts, but obviously people still buy them (and donate them) here.  I really do treasure mine, and even though one has got a few holes I still love it.

Wool 'old lady skirts' are a UK thing. I think the Dutch 'old ladies' prefer synthetics (at least I remember my grandmother, in the 1970s, mostly in synthetic dresses with flower prints). The English and Scots love their wool and sheep. Dutch sheep are bred for meat, not for wool (except Texel sheep, but most of that wool is duvet filling).

As a continental European working on farms in rainy New Zealand I've  learnt a couple things:

Oilskin in rain is workable - best in the form of a vest. I only used my oilskin overtrousers in downpurs.

Waterproof garment breathability is paramount.  Heavy physical activity = perspiration. One will get soaked in sweat in a couple of minutes even in a 100% waterproof fabric with no proper ventilation. A serious limit for oilskin overtrousers.

An oilskin vest designed for farm work is worth gold. It has a handy extended lower back side a.k.a. drop tail. It keeps your bum dry even bending over.
Choose the vest size for a relative loose fit (even in a woolen jersey). You're not after the looks but practicality. The special fit caters for a) unrestricted mobility, b) proper ventilation: body movements will pump out damp air under your armpits, c) protecting kidneys and lower back from windchill. Speaking of which the upturnable lined collar is fantastic. It can be fixed snugly around the neck with the front zipper being pulled fully up. It gives a great comfort when rain is combined with cold and wind.

Concerning durability: my Norsewear vest has been serving me for over 22 years.

Wool is magic. It is warm even when soaked. A good woolen jersey is a must have.  

I do irrigation so I'm constantly getting sprayed by sprinklers, comes with the trade. I see rain as a free shower brought to you by nature.

When I worked in a landscaping crew a while back, a boss I had would always say, "what are you, made of sugar?", when guys would complain about getting wet, then we'd work through it. Fun times.

In my opinion it is not the rain that is the problem. Getting wet isn't bad, as long as the temperature is not too low.
When you are working (hard), you keep yourself warm from inside. So outside temperatures can be lower.
But too low temperatures, together with the rain getting you wet ... that's why we need clothing to keep us dry. If it's just 1 degree above the freezing point (no matter if it's Celsius or Fahrenheit), you just can not work and get wet from the rain! You need all-over waterproof gear. But it needs to ventilate too, otherwise you'll get wet from transpiration.

Oilcloth poncho is fabulous

https://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/products/oil-cloth-poncho#&gid=1&pid=1

Up to recently my solution has just been secondhand store rain jackets. I work in the woods and they tend to only last a year or two, but I'd not want to spend too much on something that is destined to go through thickets and such.

As others have mentioned, in warm weather the sweat makes one as wet as the rain though, so I've been recently researching and attempting to create a rain jacket from bear guts. Supposedly they let perspiration out but keep rain out as well. Historically they were revered as life saving technology by a variety of indigenous Alaskan tribes. I'll probably experiment with wearing it under something more tear resistant for work with sled dogs and in thick forest.

I have experimented with oil cloth before. It does cut the wind well, but it definitely soaked through faster than I anticipated.

Lynora Stallsmith wrote:... I've been recently researching and attempting to create a rain jacket from bear guts. Supposedly they let perspiration out but keep rain out as well. Historically they were revered as life saving technology by a variety of indigenous Alaskan tribes. I'll probably experiment with wearing it under something more tear resistant for work with sled dogs and in thick forest.
....

Wow, bear guts! Very interesting. I hope you'll tell us about the results of this experiment.
Of course I can never try that. There are no bears here in the Netherlands. The only use of guts I knew are sausages with a 'skin' of pig guts.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:

Lynora Stallsmith wrote:... I've been recently researching and attempting to create a rain jacket from bear guts. Supposedly they let perspiration out but keep rain out as well. Historically they were revered as life saving technology by a variety of indigenous Alaskan tribes. I'll probably experiment with wearing it under something more tear resistant for work with sled dogs and in thick forest.
....

Wow, bear guts! Very interesting. I hope you'll tell us about the results of this experiment.
Of course I can never try that. There are no bears here in the Netherlands. The only use of guts I knew are sausages with a 'skin' of pig guts.

Apparently you can do the same things with pig intestines, and you can buy them pre cleaned for sausages. I found a blog post where someone had done just that. I'm not sure about the relative size or durability. I'll try and remember to post an update when it's done!

Lynora Stallsmith wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:

Lynora Stallsmith wrote:... I've been recently researching and attempting to create a rain jacket from bear guts. Supposedly they let perspiration out but keep rain out as well. Historically they were revered as life saving technology by a variety of indigenous Alaskan tribes. I'll probably experiment with wearing it under something more tear resistant for work with sled dogs and in thick forest.
....

Wow, bear guts! Very interesting. I hope you'll tell us about the results of this experiment.
Of course I can never try that. There are no bears here in the Netherlands. The only use of guts I knew are sausages with a 'skin' of pig guts.

Apparently you can do the same things with pig intestines, and you can buy them pre cleaned for sausages. I found a blog post where someone had done just that. I'm not sure about the relative size or durability. I'll try and remember to post an update when it's done!

It might be possible, But I won't try it. I think it's a lot of work to sew all those long narrow strips together (with water-tight seams)!