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{"id":4960,"date":"2019-09-03T16:02:38","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T14:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/?p=4960"},"modified":"2021-05-20T17:14:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T15:14:00","slug":"review-black-diamond-stormline-stretch-rain-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/review-black-diamond-stormline-stretch-rain-gear\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Black Diamond StormLine Stretch Rain Gear"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with my rain gear. It enables me to confidently go on longer hikes without worrying too much about what the weather\u2019s doing, but on the other hand I can\u2019t wait to take it off because of how much it restricts my movement, especially rain pants when I have to step up on bigger steps. Thanks to the Black Diamond Stormline range, it\u2019s all love\u2026<\/p>\n

Key Information<\/h2>\n

Price (at time of writing):<\/strong> Jacket – R2899; Pants – R1899
\nWater-resistant membrane:<\/strong> BD.dry\u2122 (with DWR coating)
\nWater column rating:<\/strong> 10,000mm
\nBreathability:<\/strong> 10,000g\/m2\/24hr
\nWeight:<\/strong> Jacket – 288g (Size: Large); Pants – 215g (Size: Large)<\/p>\n

\"\"
Hiking in the Cederberg on a freezing, post-storm morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stretch<\/h2>\n

The Stormline range\u2019s major selling point is the fact the it stretches. That\u2019s right, water-resistant fabric that stretches\u2026 This allows for a more fitted garment and more freedom of movement at the same time. Modern textile engineering – it\u2019s a wonderful thing!<\/p>\n

The stretch is most noticeable in the rain pants that have a much more fitted cut than usual, with slightly pre-articulated knees. No more poofy \u201cOros Man\u201d style while walking in the rain – these rain pants are so slick you could wear them to a party\u2026 maybe.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Image credit: Black Diamond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fabric<\/h2>\n

The fabric used on both the jacket and pants is Black Diamond\u2019s own BD.dry\u2122 2.5L, which consists of a water-resistant laminate on the inside, 4-way stretch nylon outer and a DWR hydrophobic coating.<\/p>\n

The fabric has a waterproof rating of 10,000mm and a breathability rating of 10,000g\/m2\/24hr. In layman\u2019s terms, it does a great job at keeping the water out and is surprisingly breathable. Combined with the added ventilation of the pit-zips, I comfortably hiked for over an hour without excessive moisture build-up inside my jacket.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Warm and dry on a snowy Matroosberg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Design & Weight<\/h2>\n

The design is basic and solid, with no unnecessary \u201cfashion panels\u201d which would otherwise create more weak points and add weight, as they require more stitching. The few seams that are there, are fully seam-taped.<\/p>\n

The underarm-area of the jacket and the seat-area of the pants are gusseted for extra freedom of movement.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Image credit: Black Diamond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Weight isn\u2019t a concern either, with the jacket weighing 288g and the pants 215g.<\/p>\n

Both the jacket and pants come in men\u2019s and women\u2019s cuts.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Image credit: Black Diamond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Features<\/h2>\n

The jacket is fully featured with an elasticated draw-cord around the waist to seal in the heat, two hand-pockets, pit-zips for extra ventilation, an adjustable hood and a generous peak to keep the rain out of your eyes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The hood has a convenient 1-toggle system that adjusts both the peak and volume of the hood, at the same time, as opposed to the usual two toggles on either side of the hood for the peak and one in the back for the volume.<\/p>\n

The cuffs are adjustable with velcro tabs.<\/p>\n

The pants only have one back pocket, which doubles as a stow-pouch, as both the jacket and the pants easily pack into their own pockets.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They also have 1\/3-length zips at the bottom, allowing for the pants to be put on while wearing boots, as well as an internal button closure to prevent accidental opening while walking.<\/p>\n

Cons<\/h2>\n

My only criticism would be that the pockets on the jacket are too low to be useable when wearing a backpack with a thick waistbelt.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Image credit: Black Diamond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Since I\u2019ve had the Stormline rain jacket and pants, I\u2019ve been reaching for my rain gear with much more enthusiasm and I\u2019m much quicker to pull out the jacket at a lunch stop on a hike to keep the wind off me. It\u2019s comfortable, it\u2019s light, has a nice skin-feel and does exactly what it\u2019s supposed to without any fuss. In a nutshell \u2013 the most comfortable rain gear I\u2019ve ever worn.<\/p>\n

This gear was provided by Ram Mountaineering<\/a> for review purposes and can be purchased from any specialist outdoor store that stocks Black Diamond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with my rain gear. It enables me to confidently go on longer hikes without worrying too much about what the weather\u2019s doing, but on the other […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[194,646,54,647,648],"class_list":{"0":"post-4960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gear-reviews","8":"tag-black-diamond","9":"tag-rain-gear","10":"tag-review","11":"tag-stormline","12":"tag-stretch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4960"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6216,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960\/revisions\/6216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hikingsouthafrica.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}