Rainwear Central Rainwear Forum

What material are Klepper mackintoshes made from?

It looks like rubber but is it really?

went to Berlin and got very nice coat hard to say what it is made off

The modern versions are at least sometimes made from a material referred to as Gumpla in German. I assume that's a mashup of "Gummi" and "Plastik," which I'm guessing is a catchy way of describing synthetic rubber. I'm guessing the original Kleppers were made of an older version of the same stuff; real rubber would still have been scarce and expensive in the 1950s in Germany, and the ads at the time definitely market the Klepper as a kind of Volkswagen of rainwear - affordable and functional.

I've thought about buying a klepper raincoat for a long time but one thing that has prevented me from really taking the plunge and dropping $200 on eBay for one is the fact they are made of rubber. Knowing from experience of the rubber raincoats I own which are older, the rubber has a high tendency to dry out, harden, and then start cracking which destroys the whole concept of being waterproof. Does this happen with the synthetic rubber of the gumpla klepper raincoats?

I got a Klepper several years ago, a standard one. There is no stiffening. Unfortunately I stepped on it while it was on a hanger and tore it near the bottom. ##@%&**! Then I tried to fix it, I put on yellow tape--I thought on the inside. It
wasn't. So I have a yellow stripe in the front. !!@###%&+! But I got some paint which I think will cover it in the correct color. ""+@@#%&!
Oilskin Lover!