I have a 2004 GoLite UL windshirt (the Helios) which is as light and as breathable as plastic food wrap.

I am looking for an upgrade -- meaning REAL breathability for hikes at moderate humidity and hiking pace at below 60F. I want to keep the weight at 3-4 oz. and also retain a meaningful degree of water resistance.

I understand GoLite's current Wisp is "pretty breathable" and GoLite will be coming out with a hooded, full zip version in 2007. Is the current Wisp HP material really significantly better than my 2004 GoLite? Or just marginally better?

I also understand Marmot Ion will come in a different material in 2007. Any info on that?

Any other great recommendations?

Edited by ben2world on 12/08/2006 17:35:44 MST.

I'm with you re: breathability.

I finally settled on the Montane Lightspeed (durable fabric) and hacked it up (ditched the inner hood layer, replaced drawcords w/elastic) to get to 4 oz, then washed it in lots of detergent to blitz the DWR. Now it's probably the most breathable wind shirt I own.

I like the patagonia dragonfly pulover.

Unfortunately, there seems to be some kind of understanding within patagonia that if I like a product they will discontinue it.

Montane Lightspeed

And the new model (Sept 06) does not have a lined hood.
This my windshirt and breathability works for me especially, as Ryan stated, when you wash out the DWR. Importantly, the hood matched with a Smartwool hoody (or similar) makes a great cool/cold weather hiking arrangement.

Edited by rogerb on 12/08/2006 18:52:55 MST.

Thanks, gentlemen -- I will look into the Montane and Patagonia.

But Ryan also got me thinking about whether I can do the same with my GoLite Helios -- i.e. improve breathability by washing the beejeebies out of it with hot water and concentrated soap and thereby removing the thin inner PU coating???

Edited by ben2world on 12/08/2006 19:14:57 MST.

Also, can anyone comment on the breathability of the current GoLite Wisp HP fabric -- either in relation to the pre-2005 Wisp, or to the Montane? Ryan? Verber? Anyone?

Thanks again.

> improve breathability by washing the beejeebies out of it with hot water and concentrated soap and thereby removing the thin inner PU coating

Confusion here. Ryan was talking about removing the DWR surface treatment off the fibres (not sure why, but never mind). You are talking about trying to remove the PU coating from one face of the fabric. This will NOT work.

I own both the Golite Wisp and Ether WIndshirts. However, both are 2005 models, so I can't compare them to the pre-2005 versions.

I can say that I am a big sweaty guy who drowns himself in a poorly breathable system and I find the Golite windshirts to be pretty decent. I used the ether in the Smokies and Land Between the Lakes in 2005 and found it to be much preferable to the older system of "doing the best I could" with my rain shell (which by the way was a highly "breathable" ArcTeryx Paclite/XCR Goretex model - very breathable for a waterproof jacket, but only so-so for a wind jacket). I loved the Wisp in misty rainy conditions on the Colorado Trail this past summer. Far superior for breathability than my rain jacket. I do still get lightly damp, and the windshirts are only marginally water resistant. But its performance for breathability in cold wind is powerful enough that I don't mind breaking the dual-use principle by carrying one as well as a rain shell or poncho.

Roger: I wash out the DWR and try to make the surfaces hydrophilic, so that when moisture condenses on (or sweat wicks to) the inside of the fabric, it dissipates via capillary action and thus is more rapidly driven off ("breathed") out of the system.

Roger and Ryan: Thanks for the clarification. Yeah, I did read DWR; I wrote PU coating -- more as wishful thinking than anything else, I suppose.

Shawn - Thanks for sharing your experience with the Wisp HP material. Given your positive experience, I know I need to upgrade mine -- be it the 'new' Wisp or a Montane, etc.

Hey Ben:
I second the cudos for the Patagonia Dragonfly. Barely 3oz, stuffs to the size of a small apple and with the hood it works exceptionally well a windshirt. Oh and breathes very well and is lousy in any kind of rain.

I just checked on ebay and there are 3 on sale now for around $60 is so much better than the $139 I originally paid for mine.

Here is the direct Link.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&fnu=1&xpufu=x&from=R10&satitle=patagonia+dragonfly+jacket&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6
&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=95118&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=3%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search

Edited by ryan on 12/10/2006 07:24:43 MST.

Thanks, Mitchell. I am looking for something with full zip; I'll look into Patagonia and see if they have the equivalent in full zip.

You are describing that patagonia houdini full-zip windshirt:

http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/product/product_focus.jsp?OPTION=PRODUCT_FOCUS_DISPLAY_HANDLER&style_color=24016-432&patcatcode=MAIN.CLOTHING_GEAR.MENS.JACKETS.BREATHABLE_SOFT_SHELL

Hi Ryan

> I wash out the DWR and try to make the surfaces hydrophilic, so that when moisture condenses on (or sweat wicks to) the inside of the fabric, it dissipates via capillary action and thus is more rapidly driven off ("breathed") out of the system.

OK, understood. Interesting idea.
Have you been able to make any measurements of the different behaviors? (This could be very hard!)