Soaking dry.

Crack. Boom.

I don't really mind the rain, usually. For a while this year, in the early part of the summer, we were strangely devoid of rainfall where I live in southern Mississippi. A humid state most days, we get pretty decent rain at the onset of summer, but this year we damn near went through a drought. When the rains finally did come, it was like something out of a Discovery Channel African safari land documentary! The rain cools things down for a while, till the water begins to steam up and make everything muggy and more humid. It keeps the grass green, although I don't wan't my grass growing anymore once I cut it. And I love the sound of a good thunderstorm; puts me right to sleep nearly every time. Sometimes just standing in the beginning patter of a light rain is just what the soul needs to recharge. Sometimes.


I don't like getting caught in a downpour. Not usually. Not with all my gear on. Not when I am not actively seeking a drowning or drenching. True, there have been a few times in my life where I got caught in what was gradually building to a full blown monsoon, and I just said, "Shit on it. I'll just keep going and get soaked." There comes a point, if your mentality is there and your body, mind, and soul all agree on it, where allowing yourself to become drenched head to foot is almost... therapeutic. It seems to heal in a way. The madness of it, the futility of trying to avoid it, the almost total giving in to it somehow seems to, in an insane way, perk a person up. Again, you gotta get your mind right for this before you try it, or you will be as pissed off as a dwarf with a yo-yo. Your results may vary, and I don't wanna hear any complaints if you try this and it all goes wrong. I never told ya to do nothin.

Back to my point: generally, I loathe getting caught in a turd-floater of a storm. My last set of raingear was, ironically enough, eaten by hurricane Katrina. She took the roof off my house while I was inside, without even asking me if it was OK or knocking or the door first or any of that junk that consists of having manners. In the process of taking parts of my house away to another land, Katrina decided to take some of my clothes through the hole in the roof, and ruin the rest with nasty hell-water and all the moldy, mildewy contaminants that Satan himself rejected due to their ick factor. So my rain suit was destroyed by a big rain storm. Yay, irony. It was a nice set too, designed especially for use on a motorcycle, which came in handy back then. Fast forward seven years, and now I have another bike. Since getting it, I've been threatening to get another set of duds for repelling the dihydrogen monoxide molecules that are so susceptible to gravity. You know, for when the ocean is falling from a sieve onto you.

Ribbit.

I had heard about this getup, this set of slickers if you will, from a riding buddy about a year ago or so. Frogg Toggs, he called em. Said they were the best rain gear ever made. Since he dropped the name, I've been entertaining the idea to buy a new rain suit. Never got around to it, until the day when all the aqueous fluid in the known universe decided to, with no warning to me whatsoever, descend at near light speed on my town for an extended period of time. This deluge was punctuated, I should point out, with rapid bursts of electricity from clouds, in the form of tremendously powerful bolts which are normally used to jump-start dead stars or colossal planets. Anyway, I digress. I decided it was as good a time as any to make the investment, especially since I might need the things to wade through the lake that used to be a parking lot.

The suit in "bland."

I settled on a Pro Action suit, in a horrendous "bone" color that I detest since they didn't have blue in large, and I am impatient. Of course, as Lord Irony the Gotcha of Takethatshire would have it, by the time I hit the checkout, the rain had settled down to a light drizzle. Oh well. The suit is very lightweight and easy to pack into a small bundle, and to that point comes with a small "stuff sack" with drawstring for you to stuff the suit into for storage. The material is supposed to breathe well, be lightweight and easy to move in, without being bulky or leaking. It is cut in a manner to allow it to cover insulated garments so I should be able to wear it over a work jacket or the like. There is a zip away integrated hood with drawstring, zippers on the pant legs to help with boots and such, and a drawstring waist.
While I haven't really had the chance to try the suit out, I think it will do the job well, and it's going in the work truck ASAP in the little storage bag. Time will tell, and you can bet there will be an update as soon as I try to avoid being swept away by the next Tsunami we get here.

-Owen