Sun Mountain Monsoon rain suit delivers the goods on bad-weather golf days

By Kiel Christianson,
Senior Writer

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Sun Mountain's Monsoon rain suit is warm, dry and affordable. (Courtesy of Sun Mountain)

The ideal rain suit would be warm, dry, breathable, affordable and non-crinkly. This recipe for outerwear perfection sounds simple but is apparently more difficult to prepare than one might think, given that so few rain suits succeed in combining all these features.

The Sun Mountain Monsoon rain suit, though, comes as close as any.

There are rain suits made for light, temperate summer showers. And then there are cold, blustery days with steady rains that turn into intermittent downpours. The Monsoon is better suited for the latter. It's a bit heavier than most rain suits I've tested and plenty warm.

As for breathability, the Monsoon isn't perfect, but no rain suit ever is. I've yet to wear rain gear that does not induce a noticeable level of perspiration; however the Monsoon is certainly within the acceptable range, especially considering the level of insulation.

When it comes to price, the Monsoon is reasonable. The jacket is $85, and the matching pants are $65. And the range of available colors is larger than most competitors (the port and black is a particularly classy combo).

The final criterion for the perfect rain suit is crinkle: Your golf swing shouldn't sound like you're wadding up a sheet of wax paper. By this measure, the Monsoon is passable but not perfect – it does produce a noticeable but not distracting sound.

To be fair, though, I know of only one nearly silent rain suit on the market - Nike STORM-FIT rain gear - and it costs three times as much as the Monsoon.

Finally, the overall design of the Monsoon is sharp, a nice blend of classic and fashion-forward. The pants would benefit from reach-through front pockets (to access your regular pants pockets).

There's also a right-front breast pocket on the jacket, which at first seemed useful for a scorecard or yardage book, but after putting these things in there and taking a few swings, I found that they got in the way when I rotated my shoulders.

Overall, though, Sun Mountain's Monsoon delivers the goods on bad-weather days.

For more information, visit sunmountain.com.

April 15, 2010

Kiel Christianson has lived, worked, traveled and golfed extensively on three continents. As senior writer and equipment editor for WorldGolf.com, he has reviewed courses, resorts, and golf academies from California to Ireland, including his home course, Lake of the Woods G.C. in Mahomet, Illinois. Read his golf blog here.