Watching the weather forecast I am expecting rain every day for an upcoming trip. The old man who makes his own schedule wants to reschedule, but the real wilderness fan says go ahead and do it. I am debating some gear issues and seek the wisdom of others experience.

Rain pants. I have them, but I wet foot up to my knees (or more unexpectedly) so I generally just expect wet legs unless water temps are cold and then I wear my hippies. Rain pants might be great around camp or even hiking, but canoeing and portaging they seem not such a good idea. Your input?

Headgear. I plan on going with an oiled canvas wide brim hat. Sheds the water pretty well. Your input?

Rain jackets have been well covered so not included with this list and a good tarp is a must. Any other gear you take knowing there will be rain?

I wear rain pants over either long or short pants, depending on the air temperature. I also wet-foot, so the pants get wet from the knee down, but at least my thighs and – more importantly – my buttocks stay dry. My rain pants also have a means of cinching them around the ankles so that I can keep the cuffs out of the mud.

Your waterproof wide-brim hat sounds like a good idea. Hopefully your rain jacket has a hood in case the hat wets-out or the rain starts to blow sideways.

I if its raining but warm I will wet foot and don't wear any rain gear as I just get all sweaty while portaging, and I'd rather be wet with rain than sweat.
If temps get cool I dry foot with my hippies like you, and wear my rain pants and jacket. But I try to just use my rain gear in camp whenever possible, as I like to make sure when I'm done moving for the day I have dry clothes and rain gear to change into and am comfortable the rest of the day/evening.

Always expect rain. Be pleasantly surprised if it is dry the whole trip.
Bring a big tarp. Pitch it carefully for a dry place to hang out in when it’s raining.

bhouse46: "Watching the weather forecast I am expecting rain every day for an upcoming trip. The old man who makes his own schedule wants to reschedule, but the real wilderness fan says go ahead and do it. I am debating some gear issues and seek the wisdom of others experience.
Rain pants. I have them, but I wet foot up to my knees (or more unexpectedly) so I generally just expect wet legs unless water temps are cold and then I wear my hippies. Rain pants might be great around camp or even hiking, but canoeing and portaging they seem not such a good idea. Your input?
Headgear. I plan on going with an oiled canvas wide brim hat. Sheds the water pretty well. Your input?
Rain jackets have been well covered so not included with this list and a good tarp is a must. Any other gear you take knowing there will be rain?
"

As I have a layer of blubber on my legs and am short will be wet to my knees often enought as described. Event rain coat and wide brim oiled packed on my noggin to finish off, as you described. Tarp always.

butthead

I am not especially impressed with the whole waxed clothing gear concept.......nice looking but doesn't always perform over the long haul. My sporting clays exec traditionalist buddy had a high end waxed raincoat which did not perform well and by the end of the day he had to seek me out as he was hyperthermic and couldn't get warm.

I find the Seattle Sombero hard to beat except in a fierce blow. I am also a strong advocate for neoprene paddling gloves in rainy weather especially if there is any chill in the air.

Products like E-vent which are prized for their lightweight are not to be overestimated. They are fine in the summer but give me good old fashioned lined Gore Tex when staying dry in cooler conditions is a must. I like rain pants as well. Heavier rain pants which usually have a liner need a good pair of suspenders to keep them in place on portages whereas lighter options like E-vent usually stay up rather well.

I got the frog tog bib overalls and frog tog jacket. I am on my second set of bibs and got the knock-off brand which seems find after the last pair got somewhat threadbare. I like the bib more than the pants because there isn't that gap between the jacket and pants when in a canoe. They also double as awindbreaker on cool windy mornings when you want to warm up a bit. These only are used on canoe trips and most of the time stay in the stuff sack. You can spend lots of bucks on serious rain gear. these won't hold up for bushwacking or everyday use but they work fine for me.
good luck in your search.

dr bob

For an upcoming hiking trip I will be trying rain shorts (just can't get myself to try a kilt) for the first time. Rain shorts are better suited for hiking trips but may be worth a try on a canoe trip. I imagine water seeping in while sitting in the canoe. Just be sure that the shorts underneath are shorter than than the rain shorts. I chopped off a pair of FroggToggs.

I wet foot and usually don’t wear rain pants while traveling since I run warm and work up a sweat easily. That being said, I always bring rain pants. There was one year that I decided to leave the rain pants at home, and I learned my lesson the hard way.

Air temperature means little when you’ve got high winds and rain pants are gold during a windy storm. I also like to bring two pair of quick dry convertible short/pants so I can change into dry clothes after a wet paddle.

I think it was our first Woodland Caribou trip it rained most of the trip, along with windy below zero temps for the full combination.

I wore breathable stockingfoot hip boots with a hiking style wading shoe over Frogg Toggs rain pants and it was a great system. ( I hate having swamp ##$. I'm not a fan of the oiled hats either, for me I tend to get wetter underneath from sweat rather than the fresh clean rainwater.

Nomad

As long as you are warm and dry in cozy sleeping bag with a full belly..then it has been a good day.

dr bob

I just wear my rain pants in the water. They dry fast.
Ben, if you delay your trip, a friend and I are soloing to Knife on 9/22/18. You are welcome to join us. Either way I'll probably see you on 9/21 at the get together.

Rain pants and a wide brim hat are a good idea. If it's light rain, I use on the rain parka and the hat. If it's pouring rain, then the wind pants, parka and hat are all required gear for both portaging and paddling. If it wait, as I did last week on the Knife portages with my daughter, then I'm soaked :). We are still drying out some of those clothing items!

I wear chota brookies and gaitors with sealskinz socks during the summer. The chota hippies are great for the shoulder seasons up north however everyone has their own system. My favorite quote from last week was my 14 year old daughter sizing up my footwear and remarking, "You wear all THAT, dad?". :) She was in frog toggs and watershoes.

How much does a pair of rain pants weigh? Next to nothing.

You can wear them in all sorts of conditions for all sorts of reasons - rain (obviously), wind, cold (layering)... the benefit of having them FAR outweighs the weight/bulk (of which there is neither).

IMHO, it's not even a question. Bring 'em... and use 'em.

I also always bring rain pants and a rain jacket. Not really worried about getting them wait when paddling and portaging. Water runs off them. Being able to stay dry is critical to being warm and safe. I have trouble imagining a trip so short with a weather forecast so dry that I would leave them behind.

I have an unwaxed canvas hat that has held up amazingly well in some very heavy rains. But I can also wear my hood underneath it.

when it says its not going to rain all week, we wear rain gear in, because it will rain on us no matter what. :)

note: the rain is also fun. bring a sponge for the canoe and tarps are also handy as are contractor bags
:)

I always bring rain gear - coat and pants. Staying dry is key to staying comfortable and avoiding hypothermia. If it looks like it could be a wet trip, like you're describing, I bring my Goretex or Event rain gear. I also like to have a layer of merino wool under the rain gear. Wool keeps me warm even if it gets damp.