Lightheart Gear Rain Jacket Review

Choose the LightHeart Gear Rain Jacket when conditions are both cold and wet because it is truly 100% waterproof and 0% breathable.

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• Weight: 7.4 oz
• Price: $150
• Fabric: 20d Sil/PU coated ripstop polyester, basically a tent fly
• Pros: Truly waterproof. Ultralight. Affordable. Great value. Pit zips.
  
• Cons: 0% breathability. We repeat, this fabric is not breathable.

Construction & Features

Now here’s an old school ultralight rain jacket. Unlike every other model on the marketplace, LightHeart has designed their shell with what is essentially tent fly fabric, rather than waterproof/breathable membranes like Gore-Tex or Pertex. That means water rolls up and beads off, rather than soaking in and eventually wetting out.

The downside being that is has literally zero breathability. While water cannot penetrate from the outside, warm condensation air and sweat will not escape, building up and eventually soaking wearers from from the inside. As such, this jacket is best suited to conditions that are both cold and wet, and/or low exertion activities. The more likely you are to sweat, the less likely you should be to choose this jacket.

To compensate for the lack of breathability, it does have large pit zips, which you should basically leave open 100% of the time. We also love the full brim hood which offers good face coverage. You also get a pair of hand pockets, two interior pockets, and adjustable wrists and hood. The front zipper is a beautiful toothed construction that never gets stuck.

Verdict

While we don’t recommend it as your daily driver for core hiking season, the LightHeart Gear is an exceptional ultralight rain jacket to add to your quiver for cold rain and sleet.