7 tips to consider when buying a raincoat

A raincoat is of course meant to keep you dry. Yet many brands do not fully understand this. Probably for price reasons. What should you pay attention to when buying a raincoat? Do you really have no idea? After 8 years of selling trendy raincoats, I have gained the necessary experience. Below are 5 tips from me:

1. Material

First of all, the material the raincoat is made of is important. As you probably know, natural fabrics such as cotton and wool absorb water. If you want to make cotton waterproof, it really needs to have a good coating. So pay attention to whether a jacket has a good waterproof coating or whether the fabric itself is waterproof, such as PVC. You can check how high the waterproofness of a jacket is. This is stated with every raincoat. In my experience, you should go for a minimum waterproofness of 5000 mm per cm2. The higher the waterproofness, the better, but in any case I would never go for a jacket whose fabric cannot handle less than 5000 mm per cm2. That is why we do not sell them at Hipinderegen.nl.

2. Seams taped

A good raincoat has seams that are taped. This means that the seams on the back are provided with an "adhesive strip", so that no water can leak through the seams. This is very important, because a normal seam still lets water through during prolonged rainfall.

3. Hood

A good hood is important if you want to keep your head dry in rainy weather. Of course you can also use a sou'wester or an umbrella, but at least you always have a hood with you and it is also nice when you are on your bike and it is difficult to hold an umbrella. When choosing a hood, make sure it has cords that you can pull so that it stays on your head when it is windy. In addition, some hoods also have a flap so that the rain does not get into your face as quickly.

4. Breathable

What is more horrible than a jacket that is waterproof on the outside, but where you get soaking wet from sweat on the inside. A good raincoat has a breathable fabric and ensures that perspiration can escape. The higher the breathability, the faster the perspiration is removed, the drier you stay. If the jacket has a water vapour permeability of at least 5000 grams/m²/24 hours, you can assume that it is breathable. If cotton is rubberised, the fabric is no longer breathable. This also happens with many raincoats. In this case, they often make holes under the armpits.

5. Windcuffs

A really good raincoat also ensures that no rain gets in to your arms. For this, many raincoats have special wind cuffs on the inside or you can fasten the sleeves tighter around your wrist with a press stud. Especially if you want to use the raincoat on your bike, it is advisable that your raincoat also takes this into account. I hope you find these 5 tips useful. If you have any more questions, I would love to hear from you!