| +1 Ventile is an exception to the "rule" that "cotton kills" (in the cold). Especially great is for staying dry is double layered ventile, which is now free of flourine chemistry for extra waterproofing (older iterations used PFAS as an extra waterproofing coating.) The cotton breathes, it's more durable than gore-tex or off-brand knockoffs (stressed PTFE), and it doesn't make annoying "swish swish" noises either, which is helpful for bird watchers and other folks that want to move quietly in nature. There are two major disadvantages: cost and weight. A ventile garment is many times the price of a similar ptfe garment, especially now that the original gore-tex patents have expired. And it's also many times the weight. However, let's be honest, if you can afford ventile, you probably can drop 3 pounds of fat through the additional time you will spend outside, lengthen your healthspan and lifetime, and use the garment long enough to pay for the several "waterproof" ptfe garments you would have gone through in the same time. |