| No...but the best I've found for touring and adventure travel. There is one situation where I would not use the Darien: off road in very hot conditions, such as the desert. Gore-Tex will never be as breathable as unlined material, and the suit relies on airflow to dump heat when it gets warm. Even when it does get very hot, as long as you can maintain some airflow, and promote the body's natural evaporative cooling, the suit works ok. If you can wet your shirt underneath, you can stay quite comfortable. But when you have to slow down or stop, such as tougher off road conditions, your body is working harder but can't cool itself, and your need to dump heat can become critical to your own survival. Heat exhaustion can lead to poor judgement, and in tough conditions this equals much more chance of crashing and doing damage to yourself. The is no perfect suit for ALL conditions, but the Darien comes the closest...although... I would like to see Aerostich come out with a lightweight non-Goretex-lined Darien to complement their regular line, possibly using some mesh panels, that a travelling rider could take with them and simply change out the armour. Without the armour, and with lightweight material, it would pack small enough, yet changing out the pads would take literally minutes with the velcro system Aerostich already uses. Other RTW riders I have seen have some sort of extra hot weather gear in addition to their main suit (depending on their destination), which aren't compatible and don't have easily interchangeable armour. If you like the idea of this, let Aerostich know...enough mail will hopefully convince them to spend the money in developing the perfect 'system' for touring and hot weather riders. |
| Aerostich Darien Suit |
| I originally bought my first Aerostich Darien after reading a LOT of good reports from satisfied customers; I needed a good suit for my first trip to Central America from Vancouver, and while the suit was not cheap I decided my skin was worth it, considering I would be wearing the same thing all day every day I was riding.; I left in freezing conditions in February, narrowly avoiding getting trapped by snow; in the centre of Mexico as I returned in May, it was HOT. I had banked on the Darien working in all extremes and it did the job just fine...also saving my own permeable membrane when I crashed doing about 110km/h. The damage?;A busted rear zipper and a few scrapes...this is one tough suit. It's still alive, but now looking the worse for wear and was not going to last another long tour; I went looking for a new suit for this time round...and looked at a LOT of suits... |
| The jacket is totally waterproof, and has big pockets for stuffing things in like documents when you get off the bike. The construction is bombproof, better than any other suit I've seen. The Gore-tex liner means it breathes, but the kicker is the huge pit zips that allow it to really move air, more than any liner ever will. In contrast to other types of biking, a lot of world touring time is spent not just on the bike, but walking around in your gear, buying food, eating food, getting directions, talking to officials, taking pics, etc. In many cases, wearing your jacket while you do this is the most convenient and the best way to ensure that it (and its contents) will stay yours... Most other bike jackets out there have bicep zips, great for sucking air in when you're moving, but next to useless when you're standing in a customs queue somewhere, or even in the supermarket...there is no liner, Gore-tex or otherwise that will dump heat and moisture fast enough to prevent you sweating in these conditions, hence - pit zips and the back vent to the rescue. Aerostich's armour is the best I've ever used, more comfortable than any of the hard moulded pieces and probably more effective than the thin sandwich foam that comes with a lot of suits. It is very easily removable for cleaning and actually works to hold the suit away from your body when just used with a T-shirt in hot weather. This can make the suit seem more bulky than others which cling tighter, but when its hot and you have clammy material sticking to you, you don't care what you look like. The bulky suit also works wonders in those countries where size determines respect, I kid you not...The reflective panels are big enough to really work, and don't just look like fancy trim...you need all the help you can get if you find yourself driving at night in the third world (and most other places...) The pants go on an off very easily, and the two way zip means you can vent them up top. All the zips are big solid YKK numbers, and all stiched very well. When my last suit finally died, it was the liner delaminating...all the stiching was inthe same condition I bought it. My first set of pants were waterproof until the Gore-tex liner wore out in the butt, and even then, they only leaked in strong rain. I suggest carrying a lightweight pair of overpants, like the Froggtoggs I use, for when its really bucketing and you're going to be in it for hours. |
| But if I have to carry overpants, what's the point of a built-in liner? |
| Because 99% of the time, that's all you need. If you're riding you're often passing THROUGH rain on and off...sweating in rain paints all time is not a good option, neither is stopping to take them on and off every 20 minutes, trying to second-guess the weather 50 k's ahead. The thing I like about the pants is, they are FAST to get on and off, and the adjust-once ankles work great. |
| NOTES |
| The back protector is optional. I believe it should be mandatory - its the first thing I hit when I crashed in Mexico, and I believe its the only reason I'm walking today and didn't break anything. It has 2 stiffners in it as well, which DO make the jacket stand up by itself - you can remove one or both of these very easily to make it more flexible...just please, always use some kind of back protector... Its the same TF2 foam as the rest of the armour, and again, helps to hold the suit off your skin when its hot. Size it a little big if anything.; The air gap is really important when its hot, and you need room to layer underneath. The neck is stiffer than most - you get used to it. The jacket is stiffer than most, because of the liner being melded to the cordura. Again, this stops it clinging to your skin, which is so important when its hot. The jacket DOES have a break-in period though - washing helps... Speaking of washing, the waterproofing needs maintenance to work. Gore-tex is full of microscopic pores that block easily with sweat and dirt, and stop it working. Wash it according to Aerostich's instructions that come with the suit. The other very important element of the waterproofing is maintaining the DWR, or Durable Water Repellant. This needs to be reapplied every time the suit is washed in a detergent. Scotchguard is one, there are now others on the market. Basically, they stop the cordura getting soaked, which is essential to the operation of Goretex. |
| Why did I choose the Darien again for this tour? |
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| In a nutshell, the heat from your body turns sweat droplets to vapour, allowing them to pass through the Goretex membrane and out into the cooler atmosphere - note it only works if the temperature outside is lower than that inside the suit. Goretex alone will not stop you sweating in hot weather - which is why you need generous venting to promote airflow over your body in this case. But in the rain, if the outer fabric of Cordura becomes drenched, there is an effective water barrier preventing the flow of water vapour out of the suit; the vapour recondenses on the inside of the suit, and you begin to feel sweat. Many people assume the suit is leaking at this point...in fact, you're actually feeling your own sweat that can't escape. The DWR (Durable Water Repellent) causes the water to bead and run off the suit, rather than soaking the Cordura and creaking this barrier, so its reapplication is essential. How do I know about Goretex? I used to work long hours on film sets in Vancouver, where its always raining, or at least it is when you shoot utside...you take an active interest in the stuff, believe me. |
| How GoreTex Works |
| The Perfect Suit?... |
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| A view like this deserves the cheesiest grin you can manage. Me and the Darien, Divisidero Copper Canyon, Mexico. 1998 |