Made by the Frogg Toggs folks, DriDucks Ultra-Lite 2™uses a micro-porous polypropylene fabric. They are very water repellant so far and breathe well – and not just water vapor, you can actually blow a noticeable amount of air through the fabric. Try that with GoreTex or coated nylon!
The fabric has a slicker finish than the Frogg Toggs I looked at about a year ago so it shouldn’t snag on brush quite as much. It’s still not as durable as conventional rain gear but at $20 for a set I can replace them regularly. My XL jacket weighs just 175g and the pants are 133g. You have to buy the pair in the same size – no mix ‘n match.
The jacket is very no-fills. No drawstring at the waist, no pit zips, and no pockets. The hood has cord locks on the drawstring but no mechanism to adjust the depth of the hood.
The pants are similarly minimalist, with an elastic waist, no pockets, and rather straight legs with no elastic/snaps/Velcro/zips/etc at the cuff. In my case, they’re also 4″ too long but I think anyone with basic sewing skills (not me, in other words) could shorten them.
The jacket has only seen action once so far, and it did get snagged twice on briars. I put a bit of duct tape over the inside of the hole and some Seam Grip over the outside. If I knew in advance I was going to be in a lot of brush and rain was expected I would pick a different jacket for the trip but the DriDucks will suffice for the majority of them. Mar 24 2013
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- A closeup of the fabric. Not very informative, is it?
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- Seam detail.
Nov 27 2013 update: The jacket has seen more use and has accumulated more briar scars but I’m still satisfied with it as the jacket I pack when it’s probably not going to rain. When rain is likely I pack my heavier but more fully-featured Mountain Hardwear jacket.
April 2019 update: I’ve used the DriDucks jacket exclusively for the last couple years and still like it. Small tears can be patched with Shoe Goo or various other adhesives (Silicone didn’t stick very long). Larger tears can be sealed with Tenacious Tape or Duck Tape.
The product was purchased with my own money. I have no material connection with any companies, products or services mentioned in this post.
The Compulsive Hiker 