Hopefully when I get back from my impending bike ride this thread shall be full of suggestions.

I need a new waterproof jacket for year round use. Hopefully it'll spend 3/4 of a year just festering in my Camelback, but it also needs to be up to multi day bivvy trips in crap weather (yes, I know the water will get in eventually)!

I'm more interested in function than form, and don't want to go to the top of the market because then I'd have the fear about stacking and tearing holes in the thing. I want a jacket that performs well but carries minimum brand tax.

Any advice gratefully received.

I have this and really rate it, only problem is it's lack of pockets!
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_Wickham_eVENT_Waterproof_Cycling_Jacket/5360037016/

http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/site/main_articles/the_truth_about_breathable_waterproofs/

…is a good read. I use a Paramo windproof, nikwaxed now and then, and the water runs off it all day. Once you realise getting wet is not the end of the world (getting cold is), £200+ on a shell seems crazy

Thanks gcaster and deft.

Amazing how you'll get 500 replies to a Jeremy Kyle type question on this forum but ask something about outdoors kit and the tumbleweed blows through.

depending on your budget the altura attack trail gets good reviews , including a reccomendation from singletrack but rrp is over £100. i think wiggle have got them for around the £90 mark.hope that helps .other good makes are endura or gore. gore are fantastic but v expensive. endura do a cheap and cheerful one for around £40 which i have used and its ok

The Pace cycling eVent jacket is quite a nice piece of kit, no frills, £100. Came out well in the mag waterproof review last year. DHB is cheaper, but the Pace has 1 pocket.

Huge recommendation for the Altura Reflex – a few pockets, pretty durable and very waterproof and breathable (if they still make it). Was £100 but seems to be cheap from loads of places. Had mine for a year and really rate it. Packs small too.

I bought a Paramo Quito reviewed here as a kind of do it all outdoor jacket. I love it but not really used it in anger on the bike yet, not sure how the relatively soft outer fabric it will stand up to branches etc. One of the major advantages of the Paramo system is that it can be mended unlike shell type jackets, it feels a whole lot nicer to wear than the traditional shell jackets.

That's more like it! Faith in Singletrack restored.

Of surfing/shopping now I think.

I got a very good Polaris jacket for under £20 in an ebay stock clearance last year from Parker International.

But I've also got a very light Montane waterproof that rolls up to nothing and I can carry it when there's just a chance of rain (every day it would seem). I find that more practical than taking a full jacket if it's raining when I start out.

Hora will be along in a minute to recommend something in a camouflage army stylee…

Bimbler – I've got a Finisterre jacket made of the same stuff (Nikwax Analogy) – TBH I think it's a bit fragile and warm for cycling but as a walking/hiking coat it kicks ar5e.

I am by no means an expert on this but can offer my own experiences.

For over two years I rode in only wind-proofs a Montane tiny wind-proof and in the colder weather a Paramo wind-proof, both of these were reproofed regularly to maintain there water repelantcy. In the warmish weather they were both fine when wet as the massively reduced wind chill and as long as you continued to work do a great job of keeping you warm BUT you will get wet in them.I never had a problem with this until one night ride it snowed heavily and then when I got lower down started to rain I got cold first because it became hard to ride and I was no longer generating a lot of heat and then got very very very wet and very very cold. After this I bought an event shell jacket which I have put a few holes in and repaired with patches. It has been great is super tough and much warmer in cold weather than the Paramo wind proof. It wasn't cheap but will be repaired properly by Endura very soon.

Sorry for the ramble hope there is some sense in there sam

I have a Gill Pro Speed eVent: no pockets, and I find the elastic toggles to tighten the collar hugely irritating, but the fit is great for riding and it's by far the best jacket I've had for waterpoof+breathable, and it seems hard wearing (I've come off in it a couple of times and it hasn't punctured). I believe it's been discontinued by Gill but lives again as the dhb Wickham, although I don't know where I heard/read that.