A question for the men

[SFLG]

This is going to sound real dumb, but for the life of me I can't find a water proof riding coat for men, do they exist?

I see plenty of adverts for womens water proof riding coats (my girlfriend has one!).

So what do you blokes wear when the weather turns wet?

Cheers

Stu

[larri]

have you thought of trying a motorbike jacket - not the leather kind - the all weather winter wonders.

I wear mine in spring and Autumn just the outer waterproof shell and with the padded inner jacket in the depths of winter for hacking out. It has the added bonus of removable kevlar padding/ body armour too - great for when you come off - means you don't need an added body protector :o

BTW I'm not a bloke - just a girlie biker;)

[Santorium]

I tend to grin and bear it, but for the less hardy pack-a-mac's are quite good. If it's looking a bit cloudy, simply clip onto your belt loops and ride out, unclipping if it takes a turn for the worse!

They're about £4.99 each from any market :)

[sallym]

I have a Drizabone stockman's coat which is brilliant. It's unisex, comes in a huge range of sizes and is absolutely designed for riding. It will keep you dry from head to toe. Expensive, but worth every penny and will last you for years.

[Yann]

I have a Harry Hall multi layer jacket, pretty unisex as far as I can tell, it's certainly never raised any comment (that I'm aware of:D)

[FRED]

The motor cycle jackets are ace..but pricey;) for a good one.
You can remove the linning for summer months.
Sometimes ive worn my motorcycle trousers:o made from gortex and some other fancy stuff, very warm in winter..a bit too warm if were doing lots of trotting though, but they keep the rain out.
For summer and autumn I wear light weight waterproofs with a linning, there very good even in heavy rain, but you have to beware theres lots of rubbish out there, I use a seat saver so no problems sliping on the saddle. if your looking long term buy the best you can, if you plan to do lots and lots of all weather ridding, then you can't better the long ridding coats for winter.
Yann can vouch it gets real cold where I ride, so it pays to keep warm n dry.

[Lovecat]

My OH has a mountain horse coat, but he gets too hot in it so he never wears it - he's got a 'kag in a bag' (£5 from Millets!) which he clips onto the top of his keks in case of need.

Anyone want to buy a thrice used mountain horse riding coat?:D ;)

[james]

Toggi stockman's coat if I am riding in the woods as it covers my knees too (otherwise they get soaked). It is only a light shower, I use a goretex running jacket which is low cut and well ventilated. A body protector on its own is not bad protection against light rain.

[Tim]

Originally posted by Lovecat
My OH has a mountain horse coat, but he gets too hot in it so he never wears it - he's got a 'kag in a bag' (£5 from Millets!) which he clips onto the top of his keks in case of need.

Anyone want to buy a thrice used mountain horse riding coat?:D ;)

Why not sell it back to the Mountain Horse you bought it off??:D

[SFLG]

Hi Folks

Thanks for all the suggestions, I was surprised to see the different range of ideas, I suppose I was expecting everyone to have 'proper' riding coats.

However, it got me thinking, I also do mountain biking, and I've got a light weight water proof jacket that I take with me. So I thought I might use that. The only problem is, is that it is bright yellow, and I'm not sure how the horses will react to it. Maybe I could look for a green one.

I suppose the other option is to move to a sunny hot country :p

Cheers for now

Stu

[Esther.D]

My O/H is collecting quite a wardrobe of stockmans coats (bought when on offer at the shows:D ) - they almost all come in mens and/or unisex - I have even seen a mans one in XXXXXL - it was like a tent but it proves that there is a stock coats out there for everyone;) I have more problem buying them than he does as I need an XS ladies.

[Miss MoneyPenny]

Stu - I would have thought that a bright yellow jacket would be ideal - I certainly wear a bright yellow hi viz jacket and Penny doesn't mind! Safer for you anyway.

I cheat as I used to be a Police Officer and I still get on well with the IOM Constabulary. I offered to take some of the surplus (older) hi viz waterproof police jackets off their hands and I donated some money to charity for them. I love them as I do a lot of road work and no one can miss us!

Don't worry - I did remove the POLICE sign on the back! Not quite up to mounted police standard just yet!:D

[LindaAd]

I wear a Musto, with a hood & lots of pockets, can't remember the model name, but it's definitely unisex - most of them are.

[SFLG]

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the advice. I finally found a coat! A local country/horse/farmer store had some wax jackets for sale at £29.99 so I got one of those.

Cheers

Stu

[tbone]

:) I'm glad you found one :) If you ever need another I would cheeck out Ebay www.ebay.com

*climbs back up in the tree were she can hide.*

[Laetitia]

Waterwings are quite useful.
Trouble with wax jackets is the rain pours off them onto your legs, down your neck and into your shoes!!. You need leggings to complete the overall dri effect. Personally I quite like using an umbrella, but it does pose a problem with low hanging trees. L

[Sidesaddlelady]

A British company called Dark Horse (they have a web-site) make old-fashioned, proper riding macs in rubberised cotton. They are absolutely wonderful, completely waterproof and extremely stylish compared with modern equivalents. They are built for riding in unlike some So-called riding coats, with plenty of room for the horse. They do the traditional beige and cream in the standard riding mac fabric and also some other colours in the lighter weight rubberised fabric.The down-side is that they are not cheap but they do do mens' and ladies' versions.

[Sidesaddlelady]

Re bright yellow jacket. Yellow is the most visible colour. (In fact when you are losing your sight it is the colour vision you retain the longest.) Consequently it is what you should be wearing if riding on the roads. Better look like a live prat than be a dead fashion victim!