The Golite Helios is godly. It weighs only 3.2 oz. (Medium), pick it up and you can barely notice you're holding it. Combined with an ultralight umbrella, this rain jacket makes for a formidable rain protection system.

Yes… that's right, I said umbrella. My old goretex used to weigh a few pounds, in a down pour it would keep my dry in theory but my outside would get wet and saturated, and after a few thousand feet of climbing, my inside is hot and soaked with sweat. In short – I'd be miserable.

Last time I got caught in a down pour (We live in Seattle, it happens a LOT) on went the Helios, out came the brolly. I have never had such a pleasant experience trotting along in the rain, no sweat, no saturation and rain bouncing off to the sides.

Sadly, you can't buy the Helios anymore, Golite discontinued it. But Theresa has the Ether windshirt, which is almost as good.

The alternative, Golite Ether is Available from Amazon for $65.