Slithey Toves and such things

Frogg Toggs actually. Earlier this year, I purchased a Frogg Toggs Pro-Action jacket in anticipation of my whirlwind journey through a good chunk of the North-East. I've run it in everything from light rain to a raging thunderstorm complete with hail, and I'll say it's not a bad product. I've even purchased one for my son, and he purchased a pair of pants for himself. That having been said, here's the long story:

Back in May, I needed something to keep the rain off me while I traveled to Massachusetts via central Pennsylvania and the heart of New York State. To be honest, I didn't run into too much rain until late Tuesday, but the rain that afternoon put my jacket to a good test while walking and riding around the small town of Schroon Lake. It was a hard steady rain and my torso stayed dry, except in the places where there was no watertight seal. I think if I put the hood up under my helmet, that would take care of the bulk of the problem with water getting in at the neck, so some of that was my own fault.

Thursday of that week, I ran into more rain as I visited my friend Guy in Connecticut and I found water getting into the sleeves, but this seemed to be due to my gloves being completely sodden and the gloves tucked into the sleeves instead of the other way around. Still, my torso remained fairly dry since I had closed up the jacket's neck as tightly as possible.

Between then and now, I've used the jacket in several small showers, for which a rain jacket was hardly needed, and three thunderstorms. Now, as I've mentioned before, riding in a thunderstorm is not for the faint of heart. It's a dangerous endeavor, and I do not recommend it. That said, in two of the storms, the jacket worked fine, but in the last, it worked until the deluge really started in. There was just so much rain it was coming in at the neck, up the sleeves, in through the bottom, and so on. I don't think it came through the fabric at all since the contents of the pockets remained dry.

My son, who so kindly modeled both garments for me, found both the jacket and pants to work very well for him without a bit of moisture penetrating either garment. This was in light as well as steady rain.

So my verdict is this. I think the Pro-Action line is a good product and would recommend it; however, if you're going into heavy rain, make sure you have the sleeves tightly tucked into your gloves and the hood up under your helmet so rain doesn't go down the back of your neck. In my experience, rain gear is going to have its limits simply based on the severity of the weather, but for my money, I'd buy Frogg Toggs again.

My dog likes them too.