Outerwear manufacturers gratuitously toss around the terms “windproof,” “wind-resistant,” and “breathable.” And yes, every garment registers somewhere between zero and awesome on the wind-resistance and breathability scales. But it can be hard to pin manufacturers down on an actual number rating. 
And usually when you do see a rating, all you can guess is that higher numbers are better, because, to us Americans, bigger is better (duh).
We’d like to shed a little light on this whole ratings thing and how manufacturers come up with those numbers—and what those numbers actually reflect in terms of your comfort. Read More …