UKC

I'm sure we've all been there - a newish waterproof where persistent rubbing from a rucksack on the shoulders and the waistbelt has neutralised the waterproofing and damp shoulders and kidneys quickly follow.  Does anyone have any solutions for this or just re-proof the thing?  It's a Paramo if that makes a difference!

Not just Paramo, hardshell's do it as well, they all seam to do it! No matter what make of waterproof I've had, Gortex, E-vent, manufactures own brand, they all do this after the newness has worn off. Gortex seams slightly more durable than others, but comes with a very high premium price! In the end I find once they start to leak they only get worse and eventually no amount of reproofing helps as the fabric is degraded in these area's. I've now given up with the high end brands and just go for the lesser expensive makes with there own hardshell fabric versions, usually I can buy 3 for the price of an ME Lhotse for example! On a positive note, reproofing a Paramo should pay more dividends than a hardshell as there primarily dependent on the treatment rather than a membrane. 

Ta, thought that splashing out on a quality one this time round was the solution....perhaps the answer is just to stay out of the rain ; )

Paramo is good stuff, but is not waterproof in the traditional sense, and direct pressure will make it "leak" (try kneeling on wet grass in paramo trousers)

I sometimes think there's a case for neoprene coated shoulder patches for rucksack straps to sit on.

I used to have a karrimor coat with rubberised bits on the shoulder and waste to stop this happening , it seemed to.work quite well.

My current paramo jacket has got a honeycomb structure where a pack would sit which stops the pump liner and the outer touching , it seems to work well but they don't seem to put it on all of the jackets. 

Poncho

Not a big paramo fan myself and I can't say I've ever had trouble with hardshells and rucksack straps but one of the big benefits of paramo is that it's easy to modify. It would be simple enough to sew some patches on the shoulders. Some ripstop nylon from peninefabrics or pointnorth would do the job and any alterations place would be able to do it if you didn't want to do it yourself. Cioch outdoors make clothing from paramo fabric so if you wanted a more professional solution they might be worth contacting, I'm not sure if they do repairs or not.

Hilltrek in Aboyne also do Paramo repairs so they could help with that too. They modified a Paramo jacket for Mrs Rab a few years back

Update - I caved in and 'Followed The Instructions', washed with Nikwax goop twice as directed and went for a walk in the rain on Sunday and what do you know?  Dry shoulders!  Happy days.

Paramo is the only kit I've ever had where reproofing restores its waterproofness to what it was originally

Had my Paramo jacket overhauled by Paramo earlier this year where my rucksack had rubbed a small hole in the fabric where there is a fabric "tube" housing the waist draw cord. As I never use the draw cord they suggested removing it. I dropped the jacket off at their shop in Wadhurst, Kent. They followed up with a quote for £40 which included a re-proof.

They did an excellent job and it's like new, but the downside was that there was a wait of 2 months as they were very busy.