drytop question

[marv]

just got my nice new top! wandering if theres a spray maybe 303 that i should use to protect it,or will that have a negative effect on the breathability

[Squints]

Using 303 on the gaskets will help to loosen the gaskets and also it will make the gaskets last longer. So I would recommend using it on the gaskets.

Hope that helps

Corey Volt

[Don]

Well Corey is right on with using 303 for your neck and wrist gaskets. As far as treating the entire jacket. You should only need to replace the water proofing (DWR coating) when the jacket begins to "wetout". Wetting out is common on older jackets or jackets that are used hard.

With a normal 3 layer breathable jacket: (1) outside fabric, (2)teflon coating{Gore-tex- for lack of a better term}, and (3) inner layer to protect the teflon. A DWR is added to the jacket when it's made to help bead-up the water on the outside of the jacket. After enough time and wear that spray coating will off and the outside fabric may start to hold wet or feel wet. The teflon on the inside of the jacket will still do it's job by keeping the water out. It's just the outside fabric that is getting wet. For this you can add a new coating of DWR (Nikwax TX-Direct is one kind).

At the begining of it's life only the gaskets will need a 303 or Seal Saver treatment. The DWR coating should be fine at the beginning and you can check it at home by just running some water over it to test. If it beads up it's good to go.

Hope this helps.

[marv]

very helpful indeed! i'll try the 303 on the gaskets because it's a real pisser getting that thing on & off. the tag said something about replacing the outer layer after heavy use but didn't get into much detail about DWR,thanks