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Deben Gamekeeper coat and trousers

Deben Gamekeeper coat and trousers

I live on the north east coast of Scotland, which happens to be one of the windiest and coldest places in the entire country and when it rains here it never just comes straight down from the heavens, instead it drives in at you horizontally, hammering at your waterproofs. I have found that in such conditions most of the breathable GoreTex type fabrics just cannot cope, the rain blasting through them in a couple of hours or in some cases within twenty minutes. The reason for this is that breathable waterproof fabrics have millions of tiny little holes in them to let out the moisture created by the bodies heat but in order for the holes to keep out the rain the pressure on the inside of the garment must be greater than it is on the outside. Where I live this doesn’t seem to be the case, the outside pressure of the rain being so great that it renders most breathable waterproof fabrics useless.

I spend every single day of the year outside and for much of the time that means being in the rain and the mud. With many breathable fabrics being so vulnerable in this climate I needed to search out some waterproofs that are actually impervious to the wind driven rain.

Deluge Test

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In latest Deben catalogue I discovered some cotton based waterproofs that are the modern version of that old classic - the wax proof. The garments comprised a short hip length coat and combat style trousers that look like wax proof but aren’t wax proof.  They even feel and smell like wax proof, but they do not have a wax coating that rubs off and needs re-applying. When the garments arrived I waited for the first really heavy deluge, which did not take long and set off in the coat and trousers - not hunting but wood collecting, which is the dirtiest wettest and toughest job on my smallholding. It can literally tear great holes in my clothing, but the Gamekeeper coat and trouser were not phased at all; the rain bouncing off the garments like it was hitting a brick wall.

All afternoon I spent gathering wood the rain getting harder with each passing hour, and I was covered in thick mud but not one single drop of rain managed to penetrate any part of the garments, which I find astonishing.  Month after month I hammered the garments and still they would not give way to the rain and what’s more I could not manage to rip them, which is something of a miracle for me.

Features

The jacket features of the coat include washable rear game pocket, two hand warmer pockets, large cargo pockets with 2 integrated rows of cartridge belts, zip closure with stud over flap, Hi-Vis safety band, two zipped inside pockets, mobile phone pocket, djustable stud cuff and integral hood. For warmth the coat has a substantial - and more importantly - warm fleece and this is the testimony of someone who has to face sub-zero temperatures on a regular basis.  The Gamekeeper trousers have 6 pockets, a non-slip elasticated waistband, knee pads and ankle ties.
But for me the Gamekeeper coat and trousers’ most sterling feature is their total impregnability to the worst rain the weather can muster. If you want to stay dry no matter what the conditions, then this is the gear for you and what is more it costs just a fraction of the price of some other waterproof clothing. If I had to score the Game Keeper garments they would get 10 out of 10 marks – and I can’t say fairer than that.

The Gamekeeper Coat (with inner fleece) costs £69.95 (or £59.95 for jacket alone) while the Gamekeeper Hunting Trousers are £27.95. For more information contact Deben on tel. 01394 387762 or visit the website at www.deben.com

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  • Deben Gamekeeper coat and trousers - image {image:count}

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  • Deben Gamekeeper coat and trousers - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Deben Gamekeeper coat and trousers - image {image:count}

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