Frequently Asked Questions

Dutch Harbor, (the place), is in Alaska, located on Unalaska Island about half-way out on the Aleutian chain. For many, many years it has been one of the top seafood landing ports in the world, both in terms of dollars and tonnage. It’s probably best known for its King crab, it’s dismal weather and the many challenges in dealing with both. Dutch Harbor Gear, (our company) is in Seattle, which we find to be a great location to not only service our namesake and the Northwest, but it also gives us great access and shipping capability to all of our markets.

See page on How to Buy.

The easiest way is to think of your raingear as a tool. Think…how am I going to use it and how often. In most cases common sense will lead you to a decision. You wouldn’t use the heaviest weight for a backpacking trip. Nor would you expect the lightweight material to stand up to a job that has high abrasion exposure. Then you can ask yourself if drawstrings, pockets, adjustable cuffs are important for the job. There are reasons why some have them and some don’t. Be realistic regarding your expectations on durability. Nothing is bomb-proof and raingear is probably the least properly maintained tool you’ll buy.

• WR…is usually found on general outerwear or recreational apparel. It will have either a lightweight coating of some type or maybe made of waterproof materials, but the seams are not taped or somehow sealed and therefore cannot be called waterproof. In time (not absolute, but in the neighborhood of 2 hrs. max), the water will either come through the coating or find it’s way through the seams. The coating is simply designed to give you some time to find shelter. Not sealing the seams is usually (not always) a cost cutting effort.
• WP…is generally when the fabric used has a fairly heavy coating of some type (ie., PVC, Polyurethane) applied throughout. The seams are sealed, either by welding, (electronically), sewn, or dabbed by a liquid sealer of some type. Frequently two process’s are combined (sewn & welded) for best results. Waterproof (primary mission), also means it’s not going to breath…and if you over work or over dress, you can generate a lot of heat, which if it doesn’t escape…can turn to sweat. A lot of that and you can get wet on the inside, and you’ll think your gear is leaking, but it’s not.
• WPB…is usually found in more sophisticated (an expensive) apparel. Generally the base materials themselves and the process used (either a combined high-tech membrane laminated to another fabric or a combined construction technique and proprietary coating process0, flat out cost more. But it’s intent is to significantly reduce the potential for sweat development, by letting vapor directly through the fabric, which adds tremendously to the comfort of the garment.

Remember…regardless of the system…given a high activity rate or wearing excess inner apparel…you can max out (generate sweat) any system. Sometimes it’s only for a short while and can’t be avoided and that’s ok. But if it continues, you’ll need to adjust.

Unless otherwise specifically stated (ie., youth or women’s), all our garments are base on a full cut men’s sizing (not unisex). Our garments are graded up from men’s standard sizing : for example…chest sizes

XS = 30-32, S = 34-36, M = 38-40, L = 42-44,XL 46 – 48, 2X = 50-52, 3X = 54-56, 4X =57-56.

We tell people "If you’re a large…order a large". Most people would panic if we listed the actual measurements of each garment. For example, the actual chest measurements of our HD201 Quinault rain parka for size large is 54"…. but…you have to remember what you’re wearing under it… a tee-shirt, a sweat shirt and a jacket or a similar combination. Yes, it does depend on the season…but you don’t want one for the summer and one for the winter. Buy the large and then adjust accordingly. If you have a bit of extra room in it sometimes, it just allows for better airflow. If you’re a large…buy a large.

Workmanship and materials….tempered by time and commonsense.

This means that is a seam blows or the fabrics fails to perform to it’s capability, we’ll stand behind the garment. You can’t really attach a time limit. Some people may use a garment on the job daily. Others may stow that same garment someplace (with or without proper prep,), and use it only once or twice a year.

If a jacket has a cut across the back or other area, chances are it’s not a fabric flaw. If there is a rip up the leg of a rain pant, but it’s not in the seam, chances are it’s not seam failure. These are two easy examples, but both could occur through negligence the first day out of the package. Improper maintenance or no maintenance over time will contribute to the demise of any garment. This is the biggest single issue regarding garment warranties…especially when it comes to WPB’s. NEVER send a WPB garment to a dry cleaners.

Wash them…by hand…at home if possible….seriously!

Some you can soap up, wear in the shower and rinse off. Some you can soap up and rise by hand in the bathtub (like a sleeping bag). Some you can use a bucket of warm soapy water, a scrub brush and a water hose in the back yard.

This is basically for two reasons: 1.) Most outerwear garments have some sort of applied coating, which does not react well to many cleaning solvents used. They tend to weaken and ultimately destroy the function of the coating. 2.) Some inside seams (especially when there is quilting involved) are not designed to withstand the "G" force that can be created when you have a water saturated garment going through the spin cycle.

If you choose to use your home washer for any or all of the cleaning process…make double sure that its all on the "lightweight" or "fluff" cycle, including the dryer. Even though it will take longer, it’s always best to hang it to dry.

All of our garments will have a care and cleaning label attached…. either in the neck area close to or on the back of the size label…or sewn into the seam on the lower left (as you’re wearing it) about 5" from the bottom. Most of them use the international care label symbols (see attached page).

Yes…to almost all of them, you can do one or the other. To some of them, you could do actually either or both. It all depends on the look you’re trying to achieve.

What surprises a lot of people is that even some of our raingear can be embroidered. It takes something that is not normally considered to be embroiderable and gives it a complete different look. Yes, you’re punching holes in it…yes it is possible for it to leak…but you can get a bottle of liquid seam sealer from a backpacking store and swab it on behind and that seams to work just fine.

Most of our raingear can be screened…but it has to be air dried as opposed to heat dried.

We do not do either in-house. Almost every community will have a quality screener or embroiderer.

No…a simple answer to a complex question. We certainly understand the concept and the interest but we simply feel that in the long run, a simple layering approach gives you more flexibility.

We have found that when people have a comparative list (of weights), they frequently make the wrong selection…ie., this one must be the best, because it’s the heaviest…or…this is the one I want because it’s the lightest. The same applies to… this is the thickest…or this is the thinnest. The "mil. spec." on raingear for example…while it may indicate the overall thickness , it does not indicate it’s construction nor how it achieved that thickness. It’s not unlike…this must be the best because it’s the most expensive.

The most important information required for a buying decision is "how is it going to be used?". You could wear our heaviest raingear on a hike, but it wouldn’t be comfortable. You could wear our lightest weight on the job for more flexibility, but it might not hold up to the wear and tear.