# 5,000 vs. 10,000 mm



## Guest (Mar 20, 2010)

I live in california and we don't ever get that cold. I have been rocken 5,000 mm pants for awhile now. When buying a new pair i got another 5,000 mm pant. My question is does anyone know why they make them more waterproof and what its for? :dunno:


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## fattrav (Feb 21, 2009)

Uhhhhhhh. They make them more water proof so that you can have greater protection from the rain/foul weather i.e. stay dry. You need this so that if you get caught in bad weather on the hill, you don't end up cold/wet/miserable.


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2010)

I have been wearing 5,000 mm stuff in the middle of a blizzard here. I was dry and warm.


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## NoTickets (Jan 16, 2010)

haha, "california" and "blizzard" are two words i never thought i would see in a sentence.


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## Milo303 (Apr 6, 2009)

Snow_omen said:


> I have been wearing 5,000 mm stuff in the middle of a blizzard here. I was dry and warm.


Same...

If your doing backcountry or sitting on your ass a lot and doing general flopping around in the snow for a long period of time, you may have some issues with 5kmm 

I don't spend a ton of time on my ass or fall that often and I've got no issues... 

Just layer up and the 5k shell is plenty. Both my pants and coat are 5k


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## NWBoarder (Jan 10, 2010)

Go live in the Northwest for a while and you will learn the benefit of 15k and up waterproofing.  It's really for places that get crazy cold or have a lot of "wet" conditions. I have 15k pants and a 25k coat. I have boarded in the rain this season and not gotten wet.


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## Milo303 (Apr 6, 2009)

Ah ya, I really only have Colorado/dry conditions for reference. I could def be wrong


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## malkinfleury (Dec 1, 2008)

My 3k pants were great until I went snowboarding in the spring. everything melting + the rain made it so miserable. I'd say in colder conditions when nothing is melting they'll be good...bu when it starts melting...you're screwed


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

To answer what the rating means: For a 10k or 10,000 mm piece of equipment, this rating means it can withstand 10,000 mm of rainfall in a 24 hour period without you getting wet.
If you don't ever get out in the rain and wetter conditions 5k might be decent enough for you. Usually if an item is rated decently low (like 5k for example), it probably just has some sort of waterproof coating on it that can wear off over time so watch out for that...


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I have a pair of 5k pants and a pair of 10k pants. I honestly can't tell a difference between them. If you stay upright, both will keep you dry even on a pow day. If you spend a lot of time on your ass, your ass will get wet in either.

To hell with all that 5k, 10k, 15k, etc. stuff. If you see a lot of shit conditions and spend a lot of time flailing around, go out and get you some Gore-Tex gear, eVent, or Conduit (Mountain Hardware). That shit'll keep you dry regardless.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

linvillegorge said:


> To hell with all that 5k, 10k, 15k, etc. stuff. If you see a lot of shit conditions and spend a lot of time flailing around, go out and get you some Gore-Tex gear, eVent, or Conduit (Mountain Hardware). That shit'll keep you dry regardless.


:thumbsup: Hahaha! Yeah seriously. My jacket is gore tex and I have never gotten wet in them. ever. My pants are 20k... have never gotten wet in those either.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

I wear 10,000 special blend pants and they get soaked in a light flurry. I'm a little skeptical about some brands ratings.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

Extremo said:


> I wear 10,000 special blend pants and they get soaked in a light flurry. I'm a little skeptical about some brands ratings.


I'm upright pretty much all the time so I don't worry about getting wet from sitting down, etc. Occasionally, the ceiling lowers during the day and I'm riding in it. That's when I noticed the fabric on my old 5000mm jacket start to get saturated. Gets unpleasant on the lift


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

These days I only buy pants that are at least 20K and jackets at least 10K. It's not SoCal everywhere. We ride (and sit on the lift) in snow showers constantly and even in pure rain sometimes. I also do some hiking in the sidecountry, and we're always looking for the deep stuff, so good waterproof ratings are important. Pants under 10K just don't cut it for me, as I've learned from experience.


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## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

Yup..20k Pants here too and Performance Gore Shell...

Everyone else was bitching and leaving early due to the wet snow today, 4 hours later i never got wet... my coat and pants were soaked on the outside, but it never got to me...

Glad i got the 20k/20k Analog pants, i didnt actively go looking for them ..just found em on Sierra last year for 80 bucks from 250.:dunno::laugh:


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## Tarzanman (Dec 20, 2008)

The waterproof rating is given for the material that the (pants in this case) are made from. Even though the material is waterproof, the manufacturer can still screw things up with bad stitching, or bad clothing design.

I have a trilogy ripzone jacket/pant combo which works ok unless i wear my back protector... which always makes the top of the rear of the pants collect water/snow

5K is alright if you are in relatively dry conditions (not falling down a lot, not caught in any heavy snowstorms, not sloughing through lots of pow pow).

I like 15k or higher so that my pants and jacket can double as a raincoat the 50 weeks of the year I am NOT slopeside


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