True Seattleite: Rain Wear

I don't think I can be a real Seattleite until I own a raincoat. I have been holding off on a raincoat purchase because 1. I don't want to buy a rain coat 2. I find them too expensive for what they are 3. This means this Seattle thing is for real.

The fact is, we get rain instead of snow in the winter here, and rain gets you a thousand times wetter than snow ever would. I also have a little boy who doesn't understand why we can't stay outside for as long as he wants. As a result, we go outside anyway, and I have to wrestle with an umbrella while keeping up with my son, whose favourite thing to do is dart out into the street.

Wool coats were a great idea on the east coast, but are a soggy woggy pain in the Pacific Northwest. All signs point to a raincoat/rain jacket purchase by the week's end. I have never regretted my Hunter rain boot purchase back in 2009, now it's just a matter of finding its quality equivalent in a jacket.

So far, the contenders are practical, basic, and reasonably priced. Which will be the One?

Columbia Arcadia II $65

L.L. Bean Discovery Rain Jacket $54.95

North Face Venture Jacket $99