When the temperature drops and rain pours, one’s choice of kit can make or break a day in the field.
Top tips for rainy days
- Microfibre cloths are extremely useful. Keep some in the car to dry and clean glasses, plus separate ones to wipe down guns when the sport is over
- Invest in rechargeable hand warmers: a godsend on really chilly days
- Where possible, have multiples of caps and gloves
- Start the day dry: have your wet-weather gear on and not in the car
- Look around at the people who live and work in the tough weather and see what they use
- Store your kit in a small bag so if you have to travel in a gun bus or other car, you can throw it in easily
- Focus on light weight and layers
If you ask anybody to describe their imaginary perfect day in the field few will feature torrential, horizontal or incessant (delete as applicable) rain coupled with gale-force winds. In fact, many a keeper and host would rather ‘bad weather’ than a still, warm autumnal day. Inclement conditions often lead to some of the most exciting and challenging days – not least because at the end you will feel you have ‘earned’ your shoot supper, drink in the lodge or whatever it might be.
However, days such as these can pass in the blink of an adrenaline-fuelled eye or drag on for a wet-collared eternity. The difference? In one version you have stayed warm and dry; in the other you are cold, wet and shivering. It is all about the right kit. Now, I have a confession to make: I am a kit junkie. I have tried to deny it for years but a peek inside our boot room (and the back of my pickup) will reveal an impressive selection of green jackets, gilets, leggings and other paraphernalia – all of them different, of course. It is the deep dislike of being damp and chilly that has shaped and informed this addiction. But I am not alone. A glance through my Whats- App reveals a group in which some of my friends share names and good sources.
The current focus of our attention is the Swedish brand RevolutionRace. I have one man to thank for this compulsion: Nigel Musto. He introduced me to the world of ‘drop liners’, ‘taped seams’, ‘storm cuffs’ and ‘HH’ (hydrostatic head: the measurement unit for how waterproof material is). This happened in the early 2000s when I was working at the West London Shooting School and the Musto team had formed a design and brand partnership with it. Between us we realised that an instructor wearing a jacket for one year was the same as 10 years’ use by the normal shooting man or woman. I loved collaborating with Musto and we all learned a great deal from the process. Happily, years later I again worked with technical clothing alongside a new design team at Purdey. But let’s start at ground level with a wetweather day.
Avoiding cold and wet feet
AA Milne wrote: ‘When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.’ Correct but cold feet, wet feet or (even worse) both will surely hamper any escapade. Although I have two long-serving pairs of Chameau boots (leather lined for comfort and neoprene for warmth) I now typically wear a pair of proper ankle boots. They keep me warm, dry and give excellent support, all of which is essential on a wet day when the ground can start to slip and slide underfoot. I switched, having noticed the men and women who live and work on the moors rarely wear gumboots. Another trick I learned from the grouse community is ‘don’t wait for rain’. I often start the day with waterproof trousers on (a lightweight Schöffel pair being my go-to.) (Read our guide to the best sporting boots and brogues for shooting.)
Pessimism or practicality? I don’t really care, particularly as technical materials are so breathable that I don’t overheat. This approach means I am not standing between drives in the shelter of a car or the lee of a grouse butt grappling muddy boots and wet breeks into leggings while leaden skies douse me.
Dry and warm
You will have noticed that I mention remaining both dry and warm. The latter is vital. It is key to surviving the worst weather and is achieved with layers. Many years ago, I was with a small group of friends flighting geese on the Isle of Lewis on New Year’s Eve. It was an epic evening. Gales and freezing, heavy rain beat down on us as we tried to take cover along a dilapidated wall beside a flooding estuary The team’s kit ranged from some specialist military clothing, my nascent collection of green Gore-Tex and a few traditional waxed jackets. (Read our guide to the best shooting coats.)
Mercifully, I had put a number of layers (merino and micro fleece) under my jacket, so I was cosy – so much so that I dozed off, only to be woken by the one solitary goose coming into land. Debate rages as to who fired the telling shot but there is no argument that it was the hypothermia of the waxed-jacket brigade that led to us retreating to the house. Owner of the West London Shooting School Roddy Richmond-Watson is a fellow kit junkie. He swears by the value of layering when out in the worst conditions. “I have a good shell jacket and under that I wear a mixture of layers. If it is really cold, I have a merino base layer. It works. I can’t remember the last time I felt chilly – even when hind shooting in the Highlands,” he says.
But what of leggings? Unlike me, Richmond-Watson does not wear them because he has Gore-Tex-lined tweed breeks that “do the job brilliantly”. This brings us to tweed and its place in the armoury of kit, and another admission. (Read our feature on estate tweeds.) I love tweed and have even had the pleasure of working with Lovat Mill to create bespoke tweeds.
Tweed
An amazing and versatile material. When made for an estate, it blends seamlessly with its environment and, much like a regimental cap badge, is a source of pride for those who wear it. And they do wear it: it is robust, durable and effective. But it can become heavy with the weight of rain and so I adapt when and how I wear tweed in bad weather. I put it over the top of my waterproof jacket, the large cartridge pockets facilitating loading and helping keep the jacket from billowing, thereby making shooting easier. What is more, tweed is better at dealing with brambles, thorns, fences and the like than most ‘green’ materials. Will Criddle, a man who has hosted numerous days, adopts the same philosophy and is a huge fan of his various Bella Hoskyns waistcoats. “I wear them every day and especially on wet ones – they are brilliant,” he reveals. So, we have feet, legs and torso covered, quite literally.
What of the head and hands?
I always wear a tweed cap. In addition to being warm, waterproof and comfortable, my caps have long peaks to keep the rain off my spectacles. I would advise that at any opportunity between drives, try to dry a tweed cap on a radiator, by the fire, over the windscreen vents or whatever you can find. Also, be sure to have something to stop the rain running down your neck. The reality is every jacket has a hole through which the rain can enter: the space where your neck and head rise out of the jacket. I know this sounds obvious but people forget and are surprised when their shoulders and collars become soggy. They blame the jacket for leaking instead of blocking off the neckline. A simple towel choker works perfectly and makes a huge difference to how comfortable you remain. I have Raynaud’s, which means my hands get very cold very quickly. However, the reality is that shooting gloves must be thin enough for you to feel the trigger and be able to load. My solution? I now have several pairs of lightweight trekking gloves from Decathlon. They have good grip, long cuffs, cost next to nothing and dry quickly (placed alongside my cap). I will swap pairs throughout the day. Perfect.
Some of you may be thinking that is too much. Instead, you are happy with one hat and one pair of gloves, don’t like leggings and want a solution. This brings me (with an element of pride having been involved in its design) to the Vatersay cape from Purdey. It is full length with great pockets, versatile zips that enable loading, large hood and brilliant cuffs: the single answer to all of the above. It enables you to stay warm and dry and look good.
When it comes to extreme weather, the focus is not aesthetics. It is about the performance of you and your kit. Bad clothes in the bad weather make it hard for you to be at your best and get the most out of your day. Good clothes performing well in poor weather, you have a fighting chance. But don’t wait for a shoot day to try this kit out. Instead go for a walk when it is raining and find out what works for you and what is comfortable. It will save you in the future and make a great day out of what might otherwise have been a bad one.