portage dog wrote on May 14^th, 2012 at 9:47pm:

PJ, If you're interested, the REI sale catalog just arrived.  The Kimtah eVent jacket is on sale from $239 for $179.  Sale is 5/18-28.  They have not posted anything on line yet.  They also have various Marmot and Mountain Hardware jackets and pants on sale too. Or 20% whatever, if you're a member.  Hope you find the right one. pd

Been taking a good hard look at my gear........I had always been mostly pleased with what I had picked up almost a decade ago but never REALLY scrutinized it. My favored raingear set was a Cabelas Gore-tex parka and pants complete with suspenders. They had their own dedicated "weather bag" complete with Seattle Sombrero and fingerless glacier gloves. This combo had always kept me warm and dry but I never took a critical eye to it until this thread. It occurred to me that my system was not only sort of heavy (raingear was fairly large > complete with liners) it was also bulky adding to the overall unwieldiness of my kit.

If my woman ever finds out what I dropped on raingear I will be sleeping with my mutts........"it's all Portage Dogs fault" I will stammer and mumble......(some spittle forming in the corner of my mouth for good measure)

I had never even heard of E vent before this thread (I lead a sheltered life). I decided on a Westcombe hooded shell and Kimtah rainpants. Very nice.......Super impressed with the craftsmanship on the jacket. No frills, or bells or whistles, comes in at 11 oz.........no pit zips, extra pockets etc. Extremely light, extremely packable. My next dedicated weather bag will be 1/2 the size of my current one.

Big and major improvement. Yes rather pricey.......but I have zero vices and have no intentions of retiring so I will just put a few more hours in  :P. Goals? You bet! (My goal is to not crash and burn because I was trying to be 20 again carrying 80+lbs.)