"Waterproof suit" covers three quite different garments, and most of the frustration in this category comes from buying one style when another would have suited. A one-piece, a bib-and-brace with a jacket, and a matched jacket and trousers all keep you dry. They behave completely differently the moment you sit down, get warm, or need to be somewhere else in ten minutes.
This guide compares the three, then goes into the technical fork that matters more than any of them: whether the fabric is coated or has a membrane, which decides how the garment feels to wear far more than the number on the label does.
For the one-piece in isolation, our adult rainsuit guide and our guide to what makes a good all-in-one go further.
What's on this page
If you already know which style you want, skip to the section on coated versus membrane fabrics, which is where most of the money goes.
Three kinds of waterproof suit
The one-piece. Ankle to neck, hood attached, one zip. No join anywhere, so nothing to expose when you bend or sit. The fastest route to full cover and the least flexible thing to wear. Comes off entirely for the toilet, and cannot be half-removed when you get warm.
The bib-and-brace with a jacket. Trousers that continue up over the chest and back on shoulder straps, worn under a separate jacket. The chest and back are covered, so there is nothing exposed at the waist even when the jacket rides up, but the two garments still separate at the shoulders. This is the arrangement most people who work outdoors settle on, and it is oddly under-represented in shops aimed at everyone else.
The jacket and trousers. Two independent garments with a horizontal join at the waist. The most flexible: wear either half alone, remove the jacket when warm, replace whichever wears out. The join is the weak point, and it is exposed every time you reach or crouch.
All three can be made to the same fabric and the same standard. The choice between them is about how you will use the garment rather than how waterproof it is, which is why comparing them on a rating figure tells you almost nothing.
A fourth style exists and is worth a mention: the poncho or cape. Excellent ventilation, quick to deploy, and useless in wind. Fine for a festival, poor for anything else.
A short way to choose
Three questions get most people to the right answer.
Will you sit or kneel on wet ground? If yes, you need chest and back cover, which means a one-piece or a bib. A jacket and trousers will let you down at the waist, whatever you spend.
Will you get warm, or move in and out of buildings? If yes, you need to be able to shed the top half, which means a bib or a two-piece. A one-piece will be uncomfortable.
Will you be out for hours without easy facilities? If yes, avoid a one-piece, because it comes off entirely.
Answer yes to the first and yes to either of the others, and the bib-and-brace with a jacket is your answer. It is the style that resolves the most conflicts, and the reason it is not more popular in consumer shops is largely that it photographs less well.
Answer yes only to the first, and a one-piece is simpler and quicker.
Answer no to the first, and a jacket and trousers is the flexible, cheaper, more usable choice, and our guide to two-piece rainwear covers how to get the overlap right.
Coated or membrane, and why it matters
This is the fork that decides how a suit feels to wear, and it is rarely explained on a product page.
Coated fabrics have a layer of PVC or polyurethane applied to a base cloth, forming a continuous barrier. They are cheaper, more durable against abrasion, and completely waterproof. They are also effectively non-breathable: the same barrier that blocks water blocks water vapour going the other way. Wear one while working hard and you will be damp inside from your own moisture.
Membrane fabrics laminate a microporous or hydrophilic film between layers. The structure lets water vapour molecules pass while blocking liquid water, so they breathe. They cost considerably more, are less abrasion-resistant, and their breathability drops sharply when the outer face is soaked, which is exactly when you are wearing them.
The honest position is that neither is better. They suit different use.
Choose coated if you are mostly standing still, sitting, or moving gently; if the garment will take abrasion from kneeling, brambles or tools; if you want it to last; and if budget matters. Gardening, spectating, fishing, dog walking and school runs all sit here.
Choose membrane if you generate real heat: walking at pace, hill days, cycling, physical work. You are paying to be less damp from the inside, and accepting a shorter life and a higher price.
A useful test on yourself rather than the garment: if your complaint about previous rainwear was that you got wet, a coated fabric will fix it. If your complaint was that you got clammy, a membrane might.
Ventilation is the third option and the cheapest. Pit zips, two-way zips and leg zips move far more moisture than any fabric does, and a coated garment with good venting often out-performs a membrane one without.
Reading the specification
Three things on a label are worth your attention.
Hydrostatic head in millimetres. How much water pressure the fabric holds back, tested under ISO 811. Below about 1,500 mm is showerproof; the low thousands cover ordinary rain; higher figures matter when pressure is involved, which means sitting, kneeling or carrying a pack. The number matters more for static wet use than for walking in the rain.
Seam construction. Taped, heat-sealed or stitched only, and crucially how much of the garment is covered. Untaped seams undo any rating. Turn the garment inside out and follow the tape; it should run everywhere, not just across the shoulders.
Breathability, if quoted. Expressed variously as a moisture vapour transmission rate or as a resistance figure, and unfortunately not consistently across brands. Where a garment is certified to the protective clothing standard EN 343 it will carry class numbers for both water penetration and breathability, which makes two candidates directly comparable. Most consumer rainwear is not certified and does not claim to be.
What to distrust: the word showerproof, which signals that no figure exists; and a rating quoted without any mention of seams, which is the commonest way a poor garment looks acceptable on paper.
Our complete buyer's guide covers the technical ground in more depth if you want it.
What changes as you spend more
Useful to know where the money goes, because it is not evenly distributed.
At the bottom. Waterproof fabric, a basic rating, seams taped in the obvious places. It will keep rain off. Expect an unstructured hood, plain cuffs, a small zip and no venting.
In the middle. Full seam sealing, an adjustable hood with a peak that holds shape, closable cuffs and ankles, a storm flap, a larger zip, and a cut that allows movement. This is where the useful features live, and for most people it is the right place to stop.
Above that. Membrane fabrics, ventilation zips, articulated cuts, lighter weight for the same performance, and certification. Real improvements, and improvements you only notice under sustained hard use.
The pattern worth understanding: the step from bottom to middle buys you function. The step from middle to top buys you comfort and weight. If your use is occasional and static, the middle step is where the value is, and the top step is largely wasted.
What price never guarantees: seam coverage. There are expensive garments with partial taping, and inexpensive ones taped throughout. Check rather than assume.
Unisex sizing and sharing a suit
A great deal of adult rainwear is cut on a single unisex block, and it is worth understanding rather than treating as a compromise.
Unisex generally means a straighter cut from waist to hip and one size run. If your hip measurement is substantially larger than your waist, size to the hip and cinch the waist, since elastic and drawcords absorb looseness while nothing absorbs tightness. That single adjustment makes a unisex garment fit most people perfectly well.
The practical advantages are real. One size chart to learn. A garment that can be shared within a household or handed on. And it sidesteps the long-standing pattern of women's outdoor ranges being offered in fewer sizes and shorter lengths than the men's equivalent.
If you are genuinely buying one suit for two people to share, size to the larger person and accept it will be roomy on the other. A shell is supposed to be roomy, so this works better than it would with ordinary clothing, and a one-piece shares less well than a two-piece because torso length varies more between people than waist does.
Where unisex struggles is at the extremes of height, since torso length is the dimension a single block accommodates least well.
Five common regrets
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Buying a one-piece for a use that involves going indoors. The right garment for the wrong pattern of use.
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Paying for breathability then standing still. Membrane fabric earns its price under exertion and costs you durability the rest of the time.
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Buying on the rating and ignoring the seams. The commonest way a poor garment looks fine on paper.
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Sizing to yourself rather than to your clothes. A suit goes over jeans and a jumper. Size up.
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Not checking you can reach your pockets. Minor until the first time you need your keys in the rain.
Four of the five are avoidable in the shop or inside the returns window, which is a good argument for trying the garment on properly the day it arrives.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a rainsuit, a bib and a two-piece?
A one-piece rainsuit has no join anywhere. A bib-and-brace covers chest and back on shoulder straps and is worn under a separate jacket, so nothing is exposed at the waist but the two still separate. A jacket and trousers is fully independent and has a join at the waist, which is its weak point and its flexibility.
Which style should I buy?
If you sit or kneel on wet ground, you need a one-piece or a bib. If you also get warm or go in and out of buildings, choose the bib with a jacket. If you do neither, a jacket and trousers is more flexible and usually cheaper.
Is coated or membrane fabric better?
Neither, they suit different use. Coated is cheaper, tougher and completely waterproof but does not breathe, which suits static or gentle use. Membrane breathes and costs more, wears out sooner and loses performance when the outer face is soaked, which suits high-effort use.
How waterproof does an adult suit need to be?
For ordinary rain while walking, a figure in the low thousands with fully taped seams is ample. Higher figures matter when pressure is involved, meaning sitting, kneeling or carrying a pack, since pressure forces water through far more readily than falling rain does.
What should I spend?
The step from the cheapest to the middle of the market buys function: full seam sealing, a structured hood, closable cuffs. The step above that buys comfort and lower weight, which you only notice under sustained hard use. For occasional or static use, the middle is where the value sits.
Are unisex suits a compromise?
Less than people expect. Size to the hip rather than the waist and use the drawcord, since elastic absorbs looseness and nothing absorbs tightness. Unisex also means one size chart and a garment that can be shared or handed on. Height is where a single block struggles most.
Can two people share one suit?
Reasonably, if they are close in height, because a shell is meant to be roomy. Size to the larger person. A two-piece shares better than a one-piece, since torso length varies more between people than waist measurement does.
More from our resource library
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Whether a one-piece suits you: the adult rainsuit guide.
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The features that matter on a one-piece: waterproof all in one for adults.
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Getting a two-piece to work: choosing a waterproof jacket and trousers.
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For hard working use: heavy duty jacket and trousers.
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Sizing a shell over your clothes: getting the fit right.
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The wider category: the complete rainwear buyer's guide.
Choosing a suit? Browse our adult rainsuits, matched sets and over-trousers. Size charts, full specifications and care instructions are on each product page.
The Wet Weather Kids Editorial Team
We are a UK retailer specialising in unisex rainwear for families: pack-away jackets, waterproof over-trousers and all-in-one rainsuits for school runs, forest school and standing on wet touchlines. This guide is general buying advice. For the specification of any particular garment, see its product page.
