In reply to Chive Talkin\':
My memory of life as a schoolboy and a young mountaineer (did the Dubh ridge in a thunderstorm aged fourteen; the Gap was interesting in pouring rain in Spanish fellwaking boots) was of being almost constantly damp. At school we went out in all weather in duffel coats and brogues and often came back soaked. I remember often shivering in damp clothes and sitting on radiators trying to dry out. We climbed in cord britches, canvas cags and oilskin cycling capes with sou'westers. Probably around 1970 somebody called Peter Storm introduced a revolutionary proofed nylon cagoule, we bought some for a camping and climbing holiday in Skye but Blacks didn't have them in stock so had to mail them up post restante to a PO near our campsite. We soon discovered that thanks to the cagoule being waterproof you ended up as wet inside as out with condensation. . I also remember digging a snowhole on a Tulloch Mountaincraft winter course, getting soaked then getting into my sleeping bag soaked, in the mistaken belief that I would dry out. Instead my sleeping bag turned to wet toilet paper and I had a freezing night. On a two-week camping trip to Killarney I discovered that you slept much better if you folded a towel and lay on it to insulate you from the ground. I used to dread rain, whereas nowadays with modern kit it's just an annoyance. It's amazing how kit has improved.
