Chat with a retired courier made me rethink my whole gear setup

I was swapping stories with a guy named Pete at the Tim Hortons in Thunder Bay last Tuesday. He told me he's been riding for 30 years and still uses the same $200 rain suit he bought in 1995 because he says layers beat expensive gear every time. Has anyone else found that cheap rain gear actually holds up better than the high-end stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason.mark3d ago

My buddy Frank rode from Vancouver to St. John's last summer on a 20 year old Honda and he swore by his basic yellow Frogg Toggs he got at Canadian Tire for 40 bucks. He said the expensive Gore-Tex stuff his riding partner had started leaking after a week of steady rain on the Prairies, but his cheap suit never let a drop through. Came back looking like a giant banana the whole trip, but he was bone dry every time they stopped.

miles7983d ago

That bit about @mason.mark's buddy on the old Honda is exactly what I've been seeing. Cheap rain gear has one big advantage nobody talks about - if it gets a tear you just tape it up and keep going. The expensive stuff when it fails, you're basically screwed because patching a $500 jacket feels wrong and the warranty process takes forever. Pete from the Tim Hortons story is right about one thing: layers do the real work, the rain suit is just a shell. And honestly, a $40 yellow suit that looks ridiculous but keeps you dry for a whole cross-Canada trip is worth way more than some fancy brand that leaks on day eight of a steady drizzle. It's the kind of gear you don't baby, you just use it and abuse it until it falls apart.