Best packable rain shell

Outdoor Research Helium

Outdoor Research · Under a $150 street band, often · Very light

The small-packing rain layer for backpacking, not a bushwhacking jacket.

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Helium is the packable rain layer for backpackers who carry a shell more days than they wear it. The face fabric is thin. Brush, granite, and a week of bushwhacking will show. Seam tape matters more than the logo, and a shell with no way to dump heat fails on a climb even when the fabric is waterproof. Check whether the year you are buying has pit zips. It is not a bushwhacking jacket and it is not insulation. The REI Rainier is the neighbour you try on in a shop when you want a sturdier trail cut and a return. The Marmot PreCip Eco is a separate budget shell in this catalog, with its own listing. The standard Outdoor Research Helium isn't sold on Amazon US right now. The button below opens the closest match there, the Marmot PreCip Eco, which is a different jacket and not our pick.

Who should buy it. Backpackers who carry rain more days than they wear it.

Best for. A jacket that lives in the pack more than on you

Standout limitation. Thin face fabric

Specs

Type

Packable hard shell

Budget

Often under $150

Use

Trail, not bushwhack

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