Back in 2001 when we got our first Heritage, we went to a bike rally and saw some Frogg Toggs. We went home and thought we'd order some from their website since we were so impressed. My husband wanted black, because he thought it looked best, but I thought I would rather be seen than look best so I talked him into ordering the orange ones.

Well, picture it, we went and rode the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it started to rain, so we donned our handy dandy bright orange Frogg Toggs. Well, I have to tell ya, we got the strangest looks we have ever gotten!! I mean folks literally almost fell off their bikes looking at us and I could see them laughing. We were appalled and started feeling like two orange sherbet Push Ups going down the road! Now, I will say this, we are not always swayed by what other people think of us, but we couldn't wait til it stopped raining and when we got home those orange Frogg Toggs hit ebay!

So then we got some cooler looking, but cheap plastic type rain suits and though they looked better, they were hot as heck and so hard to get on. So, we went back to Frogg Toggs since they feel good and are light weight and pack so easily. But now we have the black.

But, I'm still worried about them not having any reflective material on them. We have gotten caught in downpours, especially in the mountains that cause very bad visibility and I worry about things like that.

What do you have? Is it packable? Does it have reflective material on it?
It does not have to be HD, but I need something easy to pack, reflectiveness and is breathable and do not mind paying for it if it has all this and is good quality. Looking for advice. Thanks!

 

there's dasher and prancer, donner and blitzen, comet and cupid ..oh, rain gear...

 

I've had the HD Gore-Tex rain gear for a couple of years and love it. I can ride in the rain all day and stay completely dry. A full face helmet is also a must to ride in the rain IMO.

 

I have the HD rain gear also and they work great. More expensive then others that you can pick up, but you stay completely dry in them.

I do have to say that they do take up more room then others also, but I like being dry when I need them.

IAFatBoy96

 

I roll with good ole Army issue gortex. Top and bottoms. You can never beat the price of free gear.

 

I swear by my HD raingear. It works, I wont waste my time looking for anything else.

 

We have the HD brand too; my wife said they're worth every penny.

 

Riding in the rain for 7 days on my trip to Canada last year taught me a hard lesson in the importance of good raingear.

Wife and I both have Tourmaster Sentinel jackets and pants. The pants zipper to the jacket in the back for better coverage. They have plenty of reflective material, several pockets, and armpit vents. They have a built in storage pocket on the inside of the back that the jacket folds into on itself. The pants zip open at the bottom to make putting them on over boots easier.

The jackets come in several colors including pink and powder blue for the ladies. The wife initially chose pink but then decided that when riding on 95 in the pouring rain visibility was more important than fashion. We both chose yellow and silver jackets w/black pants.

We decided to give Treds a try for keeping our feet dry.

Still haven't decided on which waterproof gloves to get.

 

I have a 2-piece from GKS...it's black with some reflective strips. If you like the ones you have already, you can always option to sew or velcro some reflective material on. I think 3M has a range of reflective products. Another option...I carry a relective vest in my bags all the time, and I know I look like a contstruction worker (nothing wrong with that and no offense to any construction workers here), but if I have any serious visiblilty concerns, I can just throw the vest over whatever I am wearing and take it off when not needed.

Here is the site for the GKS:

http://www.ganka.ca/eng/GKS.html

 

I use cheapo gear from the Army surplus store. It doesnt have a mfgrs tag, but it does have a mil-spec number. Other than a leaky crotch seam that developer last week, its worked pretty good for the last few years.