REVIEW: UF PRO Monsoon SmallPac Rain Suit

Most of the time you head out into the field when the sun is shining, but because Murphy is on our side, the dry sunshine turns into liquid sunshine. It would be good to have brought a rain suit. But it's so bulky in size – and so it stayed in the closet. The excellent Slovenian gear forge UF Pro offers a solution here with their Monsoon SmallPac rain suit. We were able to test this set extensively and report on our experiences with it:

The SmallPac, as the name suggests, can be compactly packed as rainwear. The set is delivered in two practical bags, but only the jacket for example fits easily into the thigh pocket of a BDU. The special feature of this suit in the Tanrmuster Pencott Greenzone is the laminate. We gladly quote the manufacturer here, as they should know: "The base material is a novel 2.5 layered, waterproof and breathable laminate where a light polyester GreenZone fabric has been laminated with an ePTFE/PU membrane. It is characterized by a high degree of waterproofness with high breathability at the same time."

Nice and all, but what does that mean? It definitely keeps you dry from the outside. However, the breathability of this material is considerably better than comparable, well-known GoreTex products. You don't stay completely dry underneath, especially not when you move very actively, but you stay drier. And especially much drier than "without" in the rain.

Here is the suit in all its glory on the man. The close-fitting cut and simplicity stand out. Now let's get to the jacket.

A monster! No, just our tester putting on the jacket, which is designed as a slip-on jacket. The entire suit is very simple, but stands out precisely because of that. Everything is very simple, well-thought-out solutions that are user-friendly.

The collar is very high and comes with a 1/3 zip. When opened, there is a large, sewn-in bib made of waterproof material underneath the zip. This design definitely keeps you dry and minimizes the breaking point – or better, the water passage point – of the zipper to a minimum. Closed, it forms a nicely fitting collar and hood shape.

The hood comes with a Hoodguard, which ensures that the hood fits perfectly on the head, but it also does so without it. It is large enough to fit a helmet underneath. There is a wire integrated into the hood brim that allows you to adjust it very well to your needs. This is actually the only way to adjust the hood, so no drawstring or anything like that.

Additional features of the jacket include an upper arm pocket on the left arm, cuff adjustment with snap buttons, and an elastic drawstring to tighten the jacket at the bottom. The waist adjustment can be operated perfectly with just one hand, we were very surprised at how well.

The pants are much more complex than the top. There are two-way zippers on both legs over the entire length. The waistband can be opened on the left side, but not on the right side. With this system, you can easily put on and take off the pants, no matter what kind of footwear you have.

Here are detailed pictures of the waist area of the pants, left and right.

In order to see something other than Greenzone in the green, here's the inside of the pants. The very excellently bonded seams are clearly visible, so that everything stays dry.

Other features of the pants are the Double Loops for belts known from UF PRO. Furthermore, there are small loops on the waistband for the included elastic and velcro suspenders. Very simple, but extremely functional. There are also MOLLE loops on the front of the thighs to attach the packs or other items to.

There are drawstrings on the inside of the waist and hem to seal everything completely

CONCLUSION: A top-class rain suit. Thanks to material innovation, the Monsoon SmallPac offers a very compact size with very good breathability. The only drawback would be the rather high price, but quality still costs in this day and age. You get what you pay for. Here, the user receives a top product. And we think that's good.

Available at UF PRO as a set for 530€, only the jacket for 268€, and the pants for 262€ excl. shipping. Also available in steingrau/Ral 7013 as a set for 499€ – either directly from UF-PRO or from the German retailers carrying UF-Pro.

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