So as I've mentioned before, I've been running a few times a week for the past few months. The weather was so nice over the summer, that as long as I got out the door reasonably early it was fairly pleasant to be outdoors. But a couple of weeks ago for the first time I went out in the rain. I had a cheap Wal-mart rain jacket, which kept me dry for about 10 minutes, at which point it soaked through and plastered itself to my body. Truly a miserable experience.

So I decided that I needed a better raincoat. Did some research online and found a good article in Slate.com about raincoats, that explains how exactly that "breathable yet waterproof" stuff works and thoroughly tested a bunch of different jackets. The best bit of info in the article is that Gore-Tex is highly overrated and overpriced. They said Gore-Tex was the best thing going twenty years ago, but now there are plenty of other brands that work just as well or better. Okay, so no Gore-Tex. Check.

From the article I also found out my cheap jacket probably wasn't leaking; it just didn't have breathable fabric so it got all clammy inside after a few minutes of sweating. Whatever the reason, it felt hideous.

Spent some time looking online for my coat and was completely appalled by the cost. Who knew finding a raincoat would be so complicated? I saw jackets for over $200! For that much money it better be lined with heirloom artisan hand-spun lambswool and have reflective strips made of platinum. Finally Georg found one that looked reasonable, on clearance for about $50 including shipping.

Which still seemed like an insane amount of money to spend on a rain jacket, but I paid it. The good news is it arrived sooner than I had expected. In fact, the day before the hurricane. What perfect timing! Went out that morning -- no I did not go running in a hurricane, Isabel was still hours away & it was just a steady rain at that point -- and now I can say that yes, a hundred dollar (the list price) rain jacket honestly is ten times better than a ten dollar rain jacket. It kept me dry, I didn't get clammy, and the hood fit snug around my head so it wasn't so noisy. (Sounds weird, but the hood on the other one kept shifting back and forth and made this really loud noise right in my ears.) So I guess that's why they cost so much.

The only thing I don't like about the jacket is that it's made for a taller person -- duh, like every other article of clothing I've ever bought -- so the bottom sits lower than it's supposed to and is a bit snug on my hips. Which isn't a problem now but may be when I need something warm under it. Guess I could wear some kind of cropped sweater that only comes down to the waist.