PSA: I chose a cheap rain jacket over a quality one and regretted it on day 3

I bought a $20 poncho from a discount store thinking it would save money for my 8 mile commute. By the third morning of riding into work, the seams split and my entire work shirt was soaked through. Has anyone else gone the cheap route and learned the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

bell.emma12d ago

Oh man, I feel this in my soggy bones. My dumb self bought a "water resistant" windbreaker from a drugstore once and thought I was being smart. The first drizzle turned me into a human sponge within ten minutes, and I spent the rest of the day smelling like wet dog and regret. I swear those cheap seams are designed to fail right when you're furthest from shelter. Now I just treat rain gear like a decent pair of boots - spend a little more and it actually works. Your poncho story makes me feel a little better about my own bad decisions, so thanks for that.

lisa_ross1611d ago

Honestly, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here and say cheap rain gear has its place. I bought a $10 emergency poncho off Amazon for my bike commute and it lasted me two full seasons before I finally tossed it. The trick is you gotta treat it like a disposable item and layer up underneath so if it does fail, you're not totally screwed. I think people expect too much from budget stuff and then get mad when it acts like budget stuff.