Rainwear Central Rainwear Forum

So....

I’m looking for a new rain coat. As per one of my previous posts I have a PU coat from the 90s that I purposely bought 4 sizes too big to indulge in a fantasy that got me into latex in the first place. Wearing that coat now ( which I do when it rains) it looks like a huge plastic sack. Probably wonderful for some, for me, it’s not a good look. I’ll try and post a picture soon.

So I’m after a new coat and I’ve actually been overwhelmed by the amount of materials options and price. In fact as a true Yorkshire fellow the words ‘ow much?!’ flew out my mouth rather loud. Sure, I expect a decent price tag for latex, what about other materials though? Rubberised Cotten? SBR? And the vast differences in price.

Ok, here’s where you lovely folk come in.... what is rubberised cotton? SBR?
PU I’m good with and PVC of course. And why do some have a price tag or £100s?

I’m looking for something more tailored too. Broad shoulders and narrow waist so a straight fit doesn’t look quite right.

Thoughts, recommendations and material favourites please. Go....

Hi there. SBR or shiny black rubber is what started me off in first place when I was 3/4 years of age by brother, 5 years older, had one bought for him. I used to love to bury my face in it and stroke it all over, the smell and feel was marvellous. Many motorcyclists of the day wore them with their lovely wellingtons. Rubberised cotton usually refers to the ladies mackintoshes, cotton of similar material being lined with rubber. First girl friend had a black one and I used to love putting my arm round her inside the mackintosh so I could feel the rubber. There was also 'double textured' mackintoshes which was material both sides with rubber in between. Again a lovely smell but for me not the same as seeing polished black rubber

Strictly speaking, SBR means styrene butadiene rubber which is a synthetic polymer but let us not be pedantic. In this context it does not have to be black. Yellow is a common variant.

Also SBR can mean South Bucks Rainwear and they started out in the 1950s with coy adverts in the small ad sections of daily newspapers.

And of course SBR can mean Shiny Black Rubber which begs the question, what do you call shiny yellow or red rubber raincoats? The answer is clear, by all means call them SBR but if selling on eBay, mention that they are yellow or red.

There is now a common trend, especially among major manufacturers, to call any raincoat rubber, when the small print reveals that it it actually PVC, PU or polyester. Technically they are correct since they are all rubber polymers. I just want it made clear. I wonder if a PVC or nylon enthusiast would be as irked as I would be to buy something thinking it was my passion only to have something delivered that was someone else’s. however, in this forum, it doesn’t matter whether your passion is PVC, PU, nylon, rubber or whatever, we all use the same language and are driven by the same forces.