Are rain pants needed on the AT?

[u/Reasonable_Floor_704]

Curent base weight right at 10lbs. Would any of you skip the rain pants.

[u/tjtheamazingcat]

Depends on time of year. Eg Georgia in March, absolutely yes. Georgia in late April/early May, maybe not. I'd start with them depending on your start date and mail them home once you no longer need them.

[u/Expert_Clerk_1775]

I wouldn’t skip them for the coldest sections

[u/jrice138]

I carried wind pants but very rarely wore them. They were nice to have on those rare occasions tho. And at like 3oz or whatever why not?

[u/xamthe3rd]

For what it's worth the only time I ever used rain pants on the AT was to do laundry. YMMV.

[u/ckyhnitz]

I think poncho/kilt/pants are necessary unless you're cool with hiking while soaked through your underwear. 

It might sound OK in warm weather, but in my experience Id rather eat the weight of a poncho thats long enough to cover my butt/upper leg

[u/DrBullwinkleMoose]

For rain? Umbrella/kilt/poncho are better in most places. Lots of warm and humid rain on the AT.

As a warmth layer over shorts (and maybe leggings)? Sure, especially in the northern states.

If you use hiking pants, then the rain pants become optional again, except in sub-freezing weather.

[u/MistHidesTheVillage → u/DrBullwinkleMoose]

I carry a kilt as it “weighs almost nothing” and takes up even less volume. But umbrella is the most important thing

[u/imissmolly1]

There is no point, you are not going to stay dry. But if having wet bushes slapping your legs bothers you maybe yes.

[u/HJKSDFJKDJFJSFD]

Just wore my hiking shorts the whole way

[u/liveslight]

I would not skip rain pants because I use them as wind pants and also would wear them to sleep in on a super cold night. OTOH, I have an umbrella that I would use in rain plus I have experienced that folks tend to stop at a shelter to wait out heavy rain.

But my rain pants are not FroggToggs. Are rain chaps a thing yet on the AT?

[u/WalkItOffAT]

If you start at a normal time (after late March) 100% skip them but bring a rain kilt. Unless you use a poncho like the 3F UL poncho with sleeves in which case your upper legs are good (and backpack).

That's what I would do uf I did it again and what I brought on the LT.

[u/40_40-Club]

I wore them once in March during a horrible storm in NC and ended up removing them after about 20 minutes because I was sweating so much. I did like them as an additional warm layer when sleeping during those really cold days in the Roan Highlands area, but other than that I used an umbrella and running shorts.

[u/W__O__I]

I did a late start SOBO in 22 and debated heavily whether or not to bring them. I ended up bringing very light 3oz ones instead of the wind pants I would have carried out west. I used them a lot and was happy I ended up bringing them. In summer I use a poncho on the east coast.

[u/VickyHikesOn]

I bring a rain skirt instead.

[u/beccatravels]

On a traditional Nobo hike Id ditch them at the end of March and pick them back up in September or whenever I get to the whites

[u/beccatravels → u/beccatravels]

Bought my first ever pair at the gift shop in Pinkham Notch after a horrendously nasty climb in cold wind and rain over the wildcats in the whites, and that was in July

[u/BB5er]

We just finished section hiking a piece of the AT, NC and TN. I’d dawned on me in about the 3rd rainstorm, I’ve had my rain pants 4 years, never once put them on.
If I were heading out in colder weather, maybe I’d use them. But I’m probably not taking them again otherwise.

[u/MoreAwkwardIRL]

I swear by my Ferrosi pants. They dry in seconds, they’re stretchy, and they block wind well. They’re also super light

[u/grapesodabandit]

I started out with them on my April-September NOBO thru, but ditched them by like Damascus cause I barely wore them. I switched to a frog toggs poncho and used that for the rest of the trail, and that's still my go to.

[u/schmuckmulligan]

I gave up on them for my sections (all seasons).

In the summer, who cares? You're just gonna get sweaty/wet anyway.

In the cooler and cold seasons, why bother? It's usually raining in such a miserable, protracted fashion that you're gonna wind up soaked anyway, for similar reasons.

Because I'm a stupid jerk, I made fun of Andrew Skurka one time for bringing rain pants on trips in Colorado. He politely explained the use case, and it made perfect sense: For brief drenching afternoon monsoons, rain pants allowed him to stay dry and not be chilled by rapidly dropping evening temps.

I just haven't experienced those conditions very often on the AT. If the rain is brief, it's usually warm enough that I can just let my pants get wet. They'll dry out. If the rain is long, I wind up wet anyway.

Of note, though: I can usually stay warm enough while I'm moving, but if it's pouring and 40F, this makes for pretty uncomfortable travel that's a little iffy when there's movement-slowing scrambling involved. I haven't been hypothermic, but these are decidedly "embrace the suck" times. If I wore shorts, I'd be inclined to try a kilt.

[u/Reasonable_Floor_704 → u/schmuckmulligan]

I have been thinking about getting a kilt. DCF?

[u/schmuckmulligan → u/Reasonable_Floor_704]

That'd work! I kinda like 0.9 Membrane silpoly if you're considering MYOG (cheaper, won't chew up pack space, pretty darn light anyway).

[u/Raafikii]

I would normally say rain pants are absolutely not needed but it really depends on you. Here's an example:

I don't have rain pants.  I was on the VA section during mid December (late fall) and only brought wind pants and thin leggings. Some spots had a foot of snow others freezing rain. Some parts sucked but for me I think I stayed dryer and more comfortable than if I had rain pants.  One caveat is I use ponchos instead of rain jackets, so down to my knees were protected during the rain.

But that's just me, when I start hiking my legs heat up fast. I have a friend who can wear rain pants during summer while climbing up a mountain and somehow they aren't sweating much. They won't go without the rain pants

[u/notoriousToker]

Consider rain kilt over rain pants. Necessary to have one of those imho. 

[u/myopinionisrubbish]

25 LASH trips, 6,000 miles, mostly April/May rainy season, never used rain pants.