Why We Chose The Black Yak Caracu Women’s Waterproof Jacket Lightweight, packable, protective
When it comes to waterproofing, Gore-Tex is still the best-known name in the game. With their ‘guaranteed to keep you dry’ promise, you know that any jacket with a Gore-Tex swing tag ought to do a decent job of fending off precipitation in all its forms: rain, sleet, hail or snow.
Which we guess is why emerging mountaineering brand BlackYak selected it for their women’s Caracu jacket, a multi-functional, feature-rich hard shell that feels simultaneously lightweight yet also protective.
Who Is The Black Yak Caracu Women’s Waterproof Jacket For?
This is a good all-rounder; a versatile multi-activity shell for hiking, trekking, mountaineering and climbing. The Gore-Tex Paclite Plus waterproof-breathable membrane works well whether you’re tramping through snow in cold, dry conditions or trekking in hot and humid weather.
It’s light and packable enough to be a good ‘just in case’ jacket on day hikes or multi-day trips, but protective enough to fend off wild weather from spring through autumn. We’d probably take something a bit burlier for winter mountaineering, but for everything else, the Caracu is a real winner. Tipping the scales at 285g for a women’s medium, it offers a high level of weather protection with only a small weight penalty. As such, it’s a viable choice for lightweight backpacking and alpine climbing too.
Materials
This shell incorporates the latest version of Gore’s Paclite technology, Paclite Plus. This is designed to offer the highest levels of waterproofing (independently tested to exceed 24,000mm Hydrostatic Head) while remaining light and packable. Unlike older versions of the Gore-Tex Paclite membrane, however, the raised print backer has been completely eliminated in favour of a dry touch coating. So, it’s almost a 2-layer jacket, which sounds a bit old-school, but this is one that doesn’t require a protective inner mesh or taffeta drop liner. This makes the jacket lighter and less bulky than conventional 2-layer jackets, and feel far less clammy compared to most 2.5-layer constructions.
The face fabric is a light but reasonable durable 100% nylon with a durable water repellent (DWR) treatment to enable water to bead up and roll off the surface.
