The Marmot Precip is best value in rain jackets and winner of our Best Buy Award. If you want the most rain jacket for your money, get this. Any jacket that we have tested that costs less generally has poor ventilation and much lower performance. To see exactly how it compared to others, check out our complete Rain Jacket Review.
The Marmot Precip is the suped-down version of the Marmot Oracle, and is just about everything youd expect from a budget rain shell. While not the best looking, and not loaded with tons of awesome features, the Precip gets the job done at an extremely attractive price.
We found the Precip to be totally waterproof. From light drizzles to and hour run in a heavy downpour, the jacket did the job of keeping the testers dry. The hood was generally bomber and the hood cinches are easy to reach and easy to operate. The hood does lack a quality cinch in the back, substituting instead a Velcro strap that often came undone. The collar boasts some fuzzy lining to help keep the chin warm and the cuffs closed up nice and easy with a Velcro strap. It cinches up along the waistline with an easy pull on one side, and stays tight once cinched. All of the zippers on the jacket are super smooth and easy to use, the pit zips were easily operated with one hand, and all the zippers are covered up with storm flaps.
While there are only two pockets, they are copious with plenty of room for you belongings. One drawback to the pockets however is that they are mesh lined allowing the condensation from your body to penetrate the pocket, particularly inconvenient if you had, say, an I-pod in your pocket while running.
The PreCip was not the most attractive jacket that we tested, but it is highly functional and goes for a great price. The fabric on the PreCip is not as durable as some of the other jackets that we tested, so don't expect it to last forever. Its also one of the heaviest we tested, but packs down nice and neat into one of its pockets and a loop makes it easy to clip onto a harness or outside of a pack.
If you seek a highly functional rain jacket that will get the job done at a great price, this is it. If you need something along the same lines, but slightly more compact and light check out the Mountain Hardware Epic Jacket If money's no issue and you are looking for a sharper looking, super light jacket check out the Patagonia Rain Shadow. If you want the highest performance with all the plush features shell out for the Marmot Oracle.
Hands-on Gear Review |
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Pros: Affordable, breathable, highly functional, packable. Cons: A little less durable, not as good looking, hood adjustment design, heavy. Best Uses: Hiking, backpacking, general rain use.
Manufacturer: Marmot
Overview
Compare top rated competitors side-by-side > OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review
Comfort & Mobility
Testers found that the Precip was generally comfortable and layered well. The jacket allowed for good freedom of motion and Marmot’s angel Wing design prevented the waistline of the jacket from riding up when reaching far overhead. The cuffs and collar were not as comfortable as some of the other jackets that we tested as there was no lining on the cuffs and the collar had a small patch of microfleece. A minor dislike, is that we didn’t find the Precip to be the most attractive of th jackets that we tested. It has a somewhat boxy cut and the elastic on the cuffs is not as sleek as some other jackets we tested. Performance and price wise, it’s awesome, but if looks are your primary concern, the Precip might not turn any heads. Breathability In addition to pit zips, there are two large pockets on the front of the jacket that have an interior mesh lining and when left open greatly increase the breathability. None of the rain jackets that we tested proved to be very breathable. Almost all of the jackets boast a “waterproof breathable technology” of some kind, but please interpret these claims loosely. We found that when we wore the jackets for any kind of high exertion activity (and we pointedly took at least one hard 1 hour run in each jacket… in the rain, In addition to climbing in them, hiking in them, walking in them and biking in them) we found that we were promptly creating our own weather inside the jacket. The only thing that saved us from our self-made monsoon was the fact that each jacket we tested had pit zips to let out some of moisture. Marmot’s Precip Rain Jacket has large mesh lined pockets with large openings that can be left open in addition to the pit zips to help with breathability. While the jacket wasn’t very breathable with the vents all closed, once we opened the pit zips and the pockets there was considerable breathability with little loss on weather protection. All in all, a good design Water Resistance We had no issues with leaking water in any areas of the jacket. The seams are all taped well, and the zippers are covered well with storm flaps. Weight & Bulk The Precip packs down nice and small into one of the pockets. There’s also a little loop making it easy to attach to your harness or the outside of your pack. At 16.98 ounces however, the Precip was the second heaviest rain shell that we tested outweighed only by its heavyweight counterpart the Marmot Oracle (17.9oz). If you need something light, check out the Patagonia Rain Shadow or Mountain Hardwear’s Epic Jacket. Feature Functions The pockets on the jacket are large and have more than enough room for your belongings, and the sleeve cuffs are adjustable and easily closed with a Velcro strap. All the zippers on the jacket are super smooth and the pit zips were easily opened and closed with one hand. The bottom of the jacket cinches up nice and easy with a single elastic pull, and the waistline of the jacket doesn’t ride up when you raise your arms. The structure of the hood is bomber and while the cinches for the elastic cord around the rim of the hood were easy to use, the rear cinch (the that pulls the brim of the hood back and away from you eyes) was a simple Velcro strap left something to be desired. Value We like a lot of things about the jacket. The Marmot Precip is just an all around solid little budget jacket. At around $100 it is one of the cheapest jackets that we tested, and let’s face it, saving money is awesome. Best Application Any activity in wet or rainy conditions; around town use. As with all the rain jackets we tested, breathability is poor so layer with a synthetic base layer in high intensity adventures or suffer the clammy consequences. — Robert Beno Compare this product side-by-side to top competitors >
OutdoorGearLab Member ReviewsMost recent review: November 27, 2012
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