The Single Lightest Weight and Most Breathable Fully Waterproof Rain Jacket

The Zpacks Vertice Rain Jacket is the lightest weight and most breathable hard shell currently on the market, and it blows more mainstream competitors out of the water in terms of pure performance. This is a huge cottage industry flex against bigger brands, and we commend Zpacks on exceptional backpacking rain jacket.

Features

The Vertice membrane comes with a whopping 56,000+ g/m2/24hr breathability rating (for reference Gore-Tex is rated to 17,000 g/m2/24hr). And despite that, it maintains a waterproof rating of 20,000 mmH₂O via hydrostatic head testing, which is fairly typical among high performance rain jackets (for reference, Gore-Tex is on the high end and scores a 28,000mmH₂O).

And for even more breathability, you also get pit zips and the entire package weighs only 5.6oz in a men’s medium. This is an exceptional product and the best ultralight performance option available.

Durability and longevity are about what you would expect with a 7D ultralight rain jacket with small adjustment hardware. The ripstop nylon helps, but just like with all ultralight gear, you should handle with some degree of care.

Verdict

Finally, we acknowledge that $300 is on the more expensive end. Nonetheless, this is a very reasonable price and value proposition considering it’s the best in class backpacking rain jacket, and surefire upgrade to any ultralight kit.

• Weight: 5.6 oz
• Price: $299
• Fabric: 3L Vertice Membrane, 7D Ripstop Nylon, Tricot Backer
• Pros: Lightest weight, most breathable. Fully Featured.
• Cons: Slightly delicate.