Paramo Quito performance

I got a Quito jacket earlier this year intending it for warmer weather use. Yesterday was the first time I'd worn it in very wet weather for about 3 hours and I was disappointed. I was walking in the High Peak. With it I had on Marmot single skin overtrousers, which generally perform well.

Numerous reviews have commented on its shortness. Mine is a medium and I'm 6' tall but relatively short in the upper body. At the finish of the walk my underpants (under lightweight trousers) were wet.

Most of the fabric remained watrerproof and beaded water as it should, but more of a problem was leakage at all the contact points of my rucksack (shoulder straps, sternum strap and waist belt in particular). I inderstand that Paramo jackets are not waterproof in the conventional sense (hydrostatic testing etc) and that pressure points can force water through. Have otther people experienced this and if so is there a remedy. Paramo's reputation is good and the amount of wind and rain was considerable but not out of the ordinary in what passes for British summers

I also have a Alta jacket but that has not been subjected to the same amount of rainfall.

Dave

Apologies for not realising that some of the above is covered in an earlier thread. Having looked through those, the problem of pressure from contact with rucksack seems not to register very highly. I find this surprising as all serious walkers use a rucksack. Perhaps  the Quito would suit non-rucksack wearing cyclists, rather than walkers, in which case the longs sleeves would be useful.

Dave

my shoulders get very wet in my paramo from sweat and certainly not from pressure. however, none of my paramo is the very thin lightweight material. my reservation on this is that it will allow water to be compressed through it.

on the other hand is it actually a real problem in exceptional circumstances...one of life's compromises. how wet would you have been with a membrane jacket on? possibly all over instead of at specific spots?

if you dried out very quickly and wasn't cold then...

Matt C wrote (see)

 Isn't it the same lightweight outer fabric and standard pump liner on all the lightweight Analogy garments?

A friend of mine purchased a Quito.  I own a Velez Adventure Smock.  I compared the two exterior materials on both garments and the Quito material is definitely thinner than the Velez.  Perhaps that may affect the water resistance of the analogy material of the Quito; who knows?  My friend hasn't had the chance to wear the Quito in the rain so I can't comment on the waterproofness overall.

Dan S.

Well there is Cioch

But yes, if is not got any kind of storm flap on the zip, single layer shoulders etc then it just won't really stand up to proper rain.

Although their website now says internal storm flap, so perhaps thats a recent addition?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Sunday's weather was exceptionally bad but I'm sure we all look for kit to be 100% waterproof especially when high up at cooler times of the year.

For most of the surface of the jacket the Paramo system worked well enough, so thinner material is not the issue. The cuffs are a weak point, in addition to the pressure points. There is a small internal storm flap but insufficient in this case to keep out driving rain. Probably, for me, the greatest weakness is the shortness of the jacket combined with it extending to just below my rucksack belt.I did originally consider getting a Velez but they also are short on me unless I go for the large size which is very baggy.

My Alta jacket, worn in cold weather, has never been subjected to the same amount of rain (now that the summer seems to be the wettest seasion of the year) so I'll reserve final judgementuntil I wear that in heavey rain.

Dave

The internal flaps work fine on all my Paramo Smocks (Aspira, Velez, VAL) - it has to be very 'directional' wind-driven rain to get any leakage at all through them. I don't know if the Quito flap is flimsier than those, especially the VAL. But I wonder if the position towards the sides of the garment rather than down the front helps to keep the flaps more correctly aligned, and also usually a bit more protected?

I must say I wouldn't buy a conventional waterproof with only an internal flap on a non-water-resistant zip.

Bump on that warhippo.  Buffalo is still one of my favorites---pretty much down to three companies for me---Buffalo, Paramo and Patagonia.

Dan S.

I take Mr Hoppy's point but Paramo don't say the performance is any less than the heavier weight stuff. In my case I think the main problems are the vey small internal storm flap and its shortness. Though I've not tried it for cycling, I think the Quito would be better suited to this rather than walking.

Dave