The Yuba Ultralight K6 Rain Anorak is quickly becoming our fall favorite.
Avid hikers, campers, and backcountry enthusiasts can ever hade too many pieces of rain gear. Because conditions can change quickly, especially in the fall when the winds are starting to shift towards the cold winter season.
Beyond Clothing, the makers of expedition-worthy outdoor gear have a sleek new piece of outdoor rain gear in the Yuba Ultralight K6 Rain Anorak. This turns out to be one of the most packable rain hoodies we have ever seen.
This is how it handled when we put it through its paces while camping up in Northern Michigan's wild and unpredictable Upper Peninsula.
Yuba Ultralight K6 Rain Anorak
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this piece of rain gear comes the moment you open the box. When they say ultralight, they are not kidding. This thin only weighs about eight ounces, and packs down tightly into a self-stowing pouch quickly and easily. Compared to your average raincoat, the Anorak is going to be much easier to store away in a pack, or even in the trunk or glove compartment of a vehicle. For those sudden, unexpected rainstorms.
Beyond Clothing packed the Anorak with hydro repelling features. It is constructed of a Pertex 3-layer ripstop hardshell. The Anorak has been treated with a durable water repellent (DWR). I found the water just rolls off this jacket in a rainstorm making it a serious upgrade to anyone's arsenal of rain gear.
The Anorak has been designed to be part of the company's layering system and it does an excellent job of keeping those inner layers dry thanks to the waterproof seams and zippers. For my testing, I took the Anorak along on my vacation to the U.P. in Michigan where I spent several days exploring and hiking several wilderness areas.
Most mornings, the weather was just starting to get to that point where a light jacket was needed. Because it was often cloudy and threatening rain, I ended up just using the Anorak for this purpose, even when there was no precipitation. I used it several days with just a T-shirt as a base layer. Because the Anorak is windproof, it was perfect for some of my hikes along the rocky coast of Lake Superior, which was just starting to show her teeth in the middle part of September.
Because the Anorak is so light, it serves the dual purpose of a light jacket quite well for some of those frostier mornings. On the one morning where I did get an exceptional amount of rain, it did an excellent job of keeping me bone dry.
One last thing I want to mention about the Anorak is the pockets. I usually have a ton of gear with me on my hiking expeditions in the wilderness. Between my cell phone, car keys, geocaching stamp, small multi-tools, and extra camera gear, it is often hard to find a place to store it all. The Anorak's pockets are numerous and spacious for all those small items you might need to bring on your next adventure.
The waterproof nature of the Anorak also helps give a little extra peace of mind for keeping your phone and other small electronics safe if you get caught in a rainstorm. I feel like most people are going to use this for hiking, but it would also work great for mountain bikers, kayakers, fishermen, whitewater rafting, and more.
Overall, the Anorak is a nifty and versatile piece of rain gear. The storability of this thing just makes it even more valuable. It's an excellent space saver for full-time RV enthusiasts or overlanders that like to keep things light and portable.
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For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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