All i will say is ive walked for hours and hours in wind driven rain, at about 45 degrees, so not terrible wind. I havnt got wet because of head, hand or trunk holes,  except a small amount of capillary action in the wrists.

So that's some problems at the wrists, now all you have to do is increase the degree to which the wind is forcing things in and/or spend all day out in it  and you've got a wetter you on your hands.

The neck is actually easier to penetrate because even with the hood done up and buttoned down you need your face exposed in order to see out well.  and as soon as you're looking into a driving wind with attendant rain some of it will get in around the edges, because you don't have a formal waterproof seal between your head and the hood.  Again the case that if you add enough wind, water and time you'll be getting wet.

 but thats why you can tighten the wrist cuffs

Your faith in simple seals is touching, but for anyone who paddles or sails it's easy to find that you need better than a velcro tab on a wrist to really keep persistant drips of water out.  Look at the way paddlers' touring cags' wrists are sealed if you don't believe that.

You won't get saturated with this sort of creep, but you will get damp in places near the seals.  The amount you get wet isn't going to cool you significantly so it's a bit of  a non-issue given the basic discomfort of being lashed with wind and rain against your face, and decent mid and base layers can easily deal with it (much like they can cope with the drips you'd get through a pocket drain, orstuff which works its way around storm flaps (even double ones)).

None of this is a real problem.  The idea is to stay dry enough that you'll remain warm enough.  Keeping dry is only a means to an end and minor chinks in the armour aren't the end of the world.  But thinking you'll keep out 100% of the rain just doesn't tie in with the experience of anyone I know with a few years' experience of days in heavy wind, driven rain.

Pete.

Can someone quicly explain to me what is meant by delamination?

And also, talking event fabric: Is the inner fabric supposed to be able to slide over the outer fabric, or are these two fabrics supposed to be stuck together?

Cheers

Delamination...

eVent/Goretex etc. are a sandwich made up of a face fabric and a waterproof membrane (3 layer has a face both sides, 2 layer just on one).  The different layers of the sandwich are laminated together and behave as a single layer of fabric in your hands.

Delamination is what happens if the layers start to come apart.  The tell-tale sign is usually a bubbly appearance in the face fabric.

 And also, talking event fabric: Is the inner fabric supposed to be able to slide over the outer fabric, or are these two fabrics supposed to be stuck together?

The face fabric as laminated to the membrane should not move relative to the membrane, or in a 3 layer construction relative to either the membrane or the opposite face.  However, depending on construction you might have some sort of liner which is entirely separate and that can slide over  anything where it isn't directly stitched.

Pete.

Ok. Thank you!

Smocks give 2 handy options that jackets don't - (1) a single 1/2 length top zip, (2) big side zips for vents. 

1) is seen in some really light waterproofs (Haglofs Oz say). (2) can be especially useful for stuff that you're basically planning to wear all day with vents for temperature control. With luck you can get a good airflow going.

Still it's not massive and jackets do of course dominate. I suppose that they're marginally easier to put on and certainly more casual wear friendly. Shrug.

The only thing I do actively hunt down smocks for is for stuff to wear next to skin as a single layer. Tricky to use the full length of a front zip for them

But OTOH being able to undo the front of a jacket all the way is quite a significant venting option, especially as you let the jacket swing open in a way that's quite impossible with side vents.  Airflow is all very well in those nice wee diagrmas with arrows beloved of marketing departments but in practice I find just unzipping the front of a jacket all the way is far more effective.  Though of course if it's chucking it down it'll be more effective at letting the rain in too...

OTO,OH a smock gives you a less fussy thing when you're wearing it, with uninterrupted space down the front where you want pockets and less seaming and a smaller zip means lighter and usually lower bulk when packed.

Pete.

Yes fully opening the front zip is fine for waterproofs (and side zips much less essential). For stuff like pertex/pile when it's is the only thing I'm wearing though.....

side zips let you open the leeward zip on a smock without getting wet/cold. you can also put your bag belt under the front of the smock (if it has side zips) for added ventilation.

but what you can't do with one is undo the zip, hold the two flaps either side and whizz about making engine noises pretending to be concord (i have the nose for it)

So Mike, you are getting on OK with your bargain Crux Flak Smock? I kicked myself a bit that I didn't buy one - I was still looking for a buyer for my unused Berghaus Trango XCR at the time and couldn't justify (to my other half ) getting YABJ [yet another b***** jacket]. Trango sold for a decent profit... but no more Crux on sale! 

John Burley wrote (see)

So Mike, you are getting on OK with your bargain Crux Flak Smock? I kicked myself a bit that I didn't buy one - I was still looking for a buyer for my unused Berghaus Trango XCR at the time and couldn't justify (to my other half ) getting YABJ [yet another b***** jacket]. Trango sold for a decent profit... but no more Crux on sale! 

Yeah the Crux Flak smock is almost perfect for me. I love it. And it's very exclusive! It was only made on a limited test run.

They are about to release another smock called the Torq. It doesn't have a wired hood, which i think is a major mistake. The hood on the Flak Smock is one of the best i have ever used. The new smock will have similar pockets to the Flak Jacket, not the tunnel pocket of the original smock. It will be made out of a lighter, not as tough fabric. If it's half as good as my smock, it will still be a cracking shell.

Martin Carpenter wrote (see)

For stuff like pertex/pile when it's is the only thing I'm wearing though.....

Offroad Shoe wrote (see)

See for yoursel,f he's in Mike's top right corner. He looks fed up to me. Maybe it's because he's cold.

Surely thats the left corner?

Toilet roll? Just use JB's method