A rainy day walk for Megan & Chrissie
She decided to watch the weather forecast again - for the third time that morning, just in case there was the slightest change. To Megans relief it was still the same. Black clouds filled the weather map and the weatherman was now adding a red warning for severe weather - torrential rain, gale force winds, possible local flooding, all of it heading her way within the next hour and predicted to last the whole day. Megan was planning on at least six hours - possibly even more, exposed to some of the worst weather she had ever experienced - she would have to be absolutely sure her protection was as complete as possible - if it broke down under the continual deluge she would be wet, cold and miserable, and possibly hours from home and shelter. This was not the day for any compromise or half measures.
She already wore a basic layer of thermal underwear, the forecast was cold as well as wet, but now the assembly of her proper protection could begin. Thick woollen wellington boot lining socks would keep her feet warm, and a pair of waterproof overtrousers - a nylon shell with pvu coating, should give a completely waterproof covering for her legs, but to be sure she added a pair of tights and a further pair of overtrousers. A pair of knee high sealskin waterproof socks covered her lower legs, and finally black rubber riding boots - tight fitting to just below her knees, sufficient to cope with the possible foot or so of potential flooding. Finally, just to guard against any seeping of water, she taped several layers of wide black plastic tape between the top of the boots and the overtrousers. Legs and feet fully protected, she started to assemble the rest of her protection, carefully checking the array of rainwear spread out over her bed.
Her head and shoulders would take the heaviest battering, especially under the overflowing gutters she anticipated in some parts of the town centre, and the key to Megans plans to defeat the worst the weather could do would be multiple layers of proofed material, so that even though it was inevitable that the sort of rain predicted would drive its way through the most resistant protection, several layers would hold it at bay virtually indefinitely. Around her head and shoulders that would be at least a dozen headscarves of various materials patterns and sizes with one thing in common. All had been fully treated with the most effective waterproofing available. She knew that any single scarf could resist a heavy downpour for at least fifteen minutes, and together, Megan was sure they were equal to anything nature could throw at them. In any case, her scarves would not be the only covering protecting her head, with two of the raincoat layers including hoods. All of the rainwear she would be wearing that day was familiar and well tested in extreme conditions - with one significant exception, a brand new final raincoat layer that really excited her and she had been eagerly anticipating putting it to the test - but there were several layers of protection to put together before that.
The first covering around her head consisted of three fully rainproofed scarves, a large paisley patterned acrylic shawl, red with a blue edge, and folded inside it, two original totes rainscarves - reproofed to be even more effective than the original water repellent proofing. The original Totes advertisements boasted "rain rolls right off it!" with a glamorous young model shaking raindrops from her head. Megan had several Totes scarves, and she knew that the original proofing had been good for about five minutes under a heavy downpour, whereas with the additional proofing she had applied, the same scarf would now resist for at least a quarter of an hour! The three scarves were folded in a triangle, and tied in hijab style with the folded edge just above her eyes and the ends passed across her face just below her nose and knotted firmly at the back. Megan loved using the Moslem hijab style, which could allow a single scarf to completely cover her head, with just her eyes left unprotected. For the time being though, she only let the double edges of the scarves cover her face below her nose - more complete cover could come later.
Megan would now add the first of her raincoats - the principal of protection in layers applying again. The first coat was also a product of the Totes company - lightweight, taupe coloured , and very effectively rainproofed, with an extra storm flap fastening the hem below her knees. It seemed ridiculous to her, but she knew that just this first layer of her rain proof coat and scarves would give her better protection against the weather than most of the people she would see that day. It always amazed her that more women didn't use the multi-layered approach with headscarves - even without the proofing she had applied, three or four good quality scarves could protect you for at least 15-20 minutes in a downpour, and much longer in lighter rain. She remembered her first outings with layers in the rain - no proofing, but three heavy satin headscarves had protected her in fairly heavy rain for a good fifteen minutes before the inevitable penetration. No matter - getting wet in the heaviest rain wasn't something that would be worrying her any more!
The next layer was very different and less conventional. First a motorcyclist's balaclava, which she pulled on over the headscarves. The black silk cowl, fully treated with waterproofing, almost completely covered her head, leaving only a narrow oval around her eyes and nose. A black Peter Storm cagoule followed, nylon with a PVU lining, it was already part zipped up, and Megan slipped it over her head back to front. Reaching behind her, she pulled the zip up tightly at the back of her neck, and pulled the hood over her face. Cut into the hood, a small oval neatly framed her face, exactly covering the edges of the balaclava and hijab style scarves beneath it. Megan had created this layer to ensure that any rain that might find its way through the knotted scarves at her chin could not progress through the weak spot of some raincoats - the buttons at the neck. She had once, without sufficient preparation, stood beneath an overflowing gutter. Her scarves had protected her head, but the amount of water running down them had worked under the knot and found a weak point in the two raincoats she was wearing at the buttoning under her chin. That would not happen again. The hood of the cagoule was pulled as tightly as possible - giving another waterproof layer around her head and onto that layer she positioned a curly black nylon wig, perfectly disguising the proofed layers covering her head. Two satin scarves, again fully proofed, would then secure the wig and cover the unprotected area of her face. Both scarves had a pale orange patterning, which would not look out of place if they needed to be pulled fully over her face in the most extreme conditions. The first scarf was worn in the Grace Kelly style, tied at the back, but with the edges pulled completely across her mouth and chin. The second scarf was tied cowboy style as a mask, completely covering her face up to her eyes. She passed the ends around the back of her head, and brought them back to the front to tie them under her chin. She then pulled the edges of both scarves, the balaclava and the cagoule hood down so that they just left her nose clear. If the weather was violent enough to need it, she could pull up the hood and scarves completely over her face and then cover them with a large circular pair of tinted lens glasses. That and the total of eleven layers of proofed material should be sufficient to protect her from any spray that might get past the edges of her main scarves
She looked out of the window. The rain hadn't yet started, but she could tell it was coming - heavy black clouds covered the horizon and were coming her way quickly.
The next coat was one of her favourites. Olive green, and double breasted, with storm flaps, and a wind flap extra button securing the hem. It was made from heavy duty nylon coated with latex rubber inside - double layered along all the seams. Completely waterproof apart from a little penetration around the buttons, which she had discovered by standing under a power shower - one of her favourite methods of testing her rainwear. Playing directly onto the front of the coat, the shower had penetrated through the fastenings, but only the first layer of the double breasted coat had been soaked through, the latex rubber lining proving completely impervious to the force of water from the showerhead. The next layer of scarves was now starting to get really serious. A large black acrylic shawl, with green and brown patterning provided the outer layer and folded inside were four more rain resistant scarves, a mixture of materials and patterns - some with original rain proofing, some not, but all re-treated with top quality additional waterproofing. Megan again tied the scarves in the Grace Kelly style knotted behind her head - the front edge pulled forward and the sides across her chin. A full twenty layers of waterproofed material now covered her head, but that would not be the last. The next coat would normally have been her final layer, never penetrated in years of walking through the most violent rainstorms, but today was special, and her faithful friend would only be the penultimate layer of her total weather protection.
The coat was a Marks and Spencers trench coat style in a brown satin finish heavy gaberdine-style cotton. Fully lined and fully proofed, Megan loved it because after 15 minutes or so in heavy rain, the coat would appear to be completely soaked through, even though there was no penetration at all. The only problem with the coat was that the sleeves were a little too short, but as a final layer it had not only resisted many hours of heavy rain, but recently she had worn it under a fully flowing waterfall and had remained completely dry inside its saturated outer shell for a full five minutes beneath the freezing deluge. Totally soaked on the outside, but never penetrated by any extremes of weather. Even so, for total protection against the hours of monsoon-like conditions she would be facing that day, Megan was adding a further layer. Her new coat was a Jack Murphy Malvern country style ladies macintosh. 100% waterproof to 20,000 mm. made from coated polyester with zip and snap button fastening, full length, extending even below the hem of her trenchcoat it was just above ankle length and fastened far enough down so that wind would not be a problem lifting the hem. A generous hood with a stiffened edge fastened securely with a velcro chin strap over the neck fastening which was a high mandarin style with zip and double button. Final touch were the velcro wrist straps which would securely tighten the ends of her sleeves over the three pairs of gloves she would be adding. The Malvern was an X large size, so was a comfortable fit over the M&S trenchcoat, and was quickly zipped, buttoned and velcroed, hood in place and total waterproofing guaranteed. The final layer of headscarves would complete her total protection and prevent any possible wind affecting the hood.
Another acrylic shawl identical to the previous outer layer, black with the same brown and green pattern would be the final layer, matching the scarf below, the edges of which were pulled across her chin for extra protection, but indistinguishable from the scarf tied over them. Folded inside were three more proofed scarves - two more acrylic wool blend and one other that was a bit special. A pure wool dark brown scarf, so densely woven that even without any proofing it had resisted serious downpours and the extra proofing Megan had applied added even to that. It was also much stiffer than other scarves, preventing really heavy rain from making the front edge of the scarves droop under the weight of water. Together with the stiffened hood of the Malvern raincoat it would keep the edges of the scarves projecting several inches around her face, and the tightly tied scarf would prevent the wind getting under the front of the hood. The scarves were folded into a large triangle, tied on her chin with the knot over the velcro hood strap and the front edge of the scarves pulled forward just beyond the edge of the hood. The effect was just as Megan planned, as she appeared to be wearing a single long raincoat, with just a large headscarf covering her head. Although the proofing of the scarf would resist the rain for a time, she knew that the heavy rain forecast would eventually soak through it. Her raincoat also would appear soaked, even though it was reputed to be totally waterproof Megan knew that even with 20,000 mm proofing it may not completely resist the hours of torrential rain that were predicted- but it would certainly make it impossible that anything would penetrate the layers beneath. Within just a few minutes of her stepping out into the downpour it would appear that she was totally saturated, but she was completely confident that her many layers would keep her totally protected for hours!
As she looked in the hall mirror to adjust the knot and the edges of the scarves, there was a knock at the door. "Who on earth could that be" she thought to herself - the rain had just started, she hadn't yet put on her gloves, and did not want to be delayed! She opened the door to see a familiar figure - standing back from the porch and away from its protection against the rain which was already falling steadily, but she was far from unprotected. A large Hermes style scarf, worn with a substantial country-style raincoat and glossy black rubber boots were more than adequate to keep the visitor dry for the moment.
"Hi Megan - I see you're nearly ready - a couple of minutes and I would have missed you!"
"Morning Chrisie" Megan responded "I should have guessed you wouldn't want to miss today, but are you sure your gear is up to it - you had a bit of a soaking last time"
the other girl smiled ruefully "That was just a miss-calculation of the strength of that overflowing third floor gutter" she responded, "but I'm well up for it today - got some wicked new proofing on my scarves - look!" and as she spoke she shook her head releasing a torrent of large droplets from the surface of the large silky headscarf protecting her.
"So I see" said Megan, with a slight hint of jealousy - truth be told she had always secretly admired the other girls luxurious huge silk scarf with its white red black and gold hermes style patterning, and it now looked as though it had waterproofing to match the best of her own scarves.
"New coat as well" Chrissie added - completely waterproof, it's a dream!"
"Snap" laughed Megan, revealing her own Malvern coat - identical apart from the colours, hers in grey and Chrissies in dark blue. "I just need to put on my gloves" Megan added
"No hurry" her friend responded "I'll just wait here enjoying the weather!" Chrissie stood away from the protection of the doorway, the now torrential rain making no impact at all on her impressive rainwear. Megan noticed that her friend had also sensibly masked her face with a similar patterned proofed scarf. She quickly pulled back the sleeves of her last two coats, and pulled on a pair of thin black thermal lining gloves. Black rubber gloves were the next layer, with the cuffs pulled tightly over the sleeves of the olive green latex lined trenchcoat. A final pair of black cotton gloves, also rainproofed, were then added, and the velcro cuff straps of her grey Malvern mac secured tightly over them. She took a small shoulder bag from the hall stand. Keys, cash, small mirror, and a compact video camera with a tiny tripod to record the days events.
"Ready then" she announced, and without further ado, stepped out to join her friend in the steadily increasing downpour.
The heavy rain was hammering down onto her head and shoulders and bouncing up from the pavement, wherever it wasn't splashing into the rapidly deepening puddles.
"Any plans?" asked Chrissie, knowing full well that Megan would have mapped out the day in some detail.
"I thought we could start in town" responded her friend, "check out some of those gutters that caught you out last time, then maybe walk through the park and have a look at the waterfall, but we should get down to the sea front by two o-clock - it's high tide, and the storm should be at its peak, so a stroll along the prom should be quite exciting"
"Oh my gosh" responded her friend, "I hadn't thought of that - the waves should be all over the promenade, with the wind and rain we'll be getting soaked from every possible angle! Plus we'll have been out in this for at least four hours by then." She shook her head laughing, and again the droplets of water sprayed from the still untouched surface of her scarf.
"That's great waterproofing" Megan said admiringly "I thought it would have started to give way with the force of this rain, but it looks as good as ever!" She looked on fascinated as the pounding rain literally bounced from the shiny surface and ran in streams from the resilient material. The two friends had started to walk along the road into town, but had stopped automatically after 15 minutes progress through the intensifying driving rain. They had come to a halt without even needing to speak to each other. The bus-stop they were paused at had a huge and rapidly increasing puddle immediately next to it. The girls waited in anticipation, arm in arm, with their backs to the oncoming traffic. They had stood for about five minutes next to the spreading flood - now over the curb of the pavement and beginning to cover the feet of their rubber boots. They stood alone in the downpour, the other four or five women that had been waiting had retreated under the cover of the shelter, most looking uncomfortably wet, despite what would normally have been effective trench coats, pvc Mac's, scarves and shawls protecting them. Megan could see Chrissie was getting frustrated by the careful drivers slowly edging around the flood and only causing it to wash up over the ankles of their rainboots like a gently rising tide.
She was about to suggest they move on, when suddenly their patience was doubly rewarded. A white transit van bore down on the flood at speed - probably deliberately targeting the friends, and immediately following, with his view clearly obscured, was a large lorry. The wave that crashed over them from the transit was enough to cover them in water from head to foot, but the lorry following immediately behind almost knocked them off their feet with the force of the solid wall of water smashing over them twice in rapid succession. Chrisie gave a little woop as they grinned at each other, water cascading off of scarves and coats
"That was worth waiting for" Megan smiled happily at her friend, as the huddled group of bus passengers under the shelter looked in disbelief at the two girls - apparently both soaked through completely, water streaming from every part of their clothing, but seemingly untroubled by their plight, laughing as they hugged each other in their outwardly saturated rainwear.
"Let’s move on" said Megan "I think we've just given the woman in the burberry a heart attack!" She stood back and looked admiringly at her friend’s head protection "that scarf of yours is still shedding water -it's letting it through a little right on the crown , but that's got to be the best proofing ever!"
Her friend smiled back at her, adjusting the scarf and edging it forward "I could be outdoing you today then - I'm wearing eight scarves as good as this one, plus the Malvern and a cagoule hood" 18 layers thought Megan - she didn't have the heart to tell Chrissie that her own protection was now up to 29 proofed layers! The girls continued to make their way along the road towards the town centre. They walked close to the curb to make the most of the spray from the passing cars and lorries, but nothing was going to come close to that delicious deluge that had completely engulfed them at the bus stop. Megan looked at the other girl - smiling at her from beneath the scarves and hood surrounding her head and face, and gave a little shiver of anticipation
"This could be the day" she said, "The day everything we've ever fantasised about comes all together - are we ready for it?"
"I reckon we are retorted Chrisie "look how hard it's raining now, and we haven't even noticed it!" It was true. The rain wasn't just heavy, it was a torrential downpour of the intensity that would usually only last a couple of minutes, but had already continued for at least the ten minutes since they left the bus stop. They had been out for almost an hour already, completely exposed to some of the heaviest rain they had ever experienced. The road was flooded to two or three inches already, the drains completely unable to cope with the amount of water. Cars crept slowly past, the waves washing up the girls legs enough to start soaking the hems of their coats. Megan nudged her friend, and pointed to an alleyway across the road, barely visible through the spray and rain
B "Recognise that?" She asked meaningfully "That's your Waterloo" she joked "the place your last efforts to stay dry met their match"
"I don't think it's going to worry me today" responded Chrisie, "not with what we've been through already. This is much more intense rain than I've ever experienced, and we've only been out just over an hour. My old outfit would have been soaked through to the bone by now, but I reckon we can both go all the way today"
"Lets do this one then replied Megan - first trick is to get across the road" The two friends peered through the deluge - the road looked clear, so they linked arms and started the long wade across to the other side through water at least a foot deep and well over the hems of both their coats. They paused at the mouth of the alley
"Oh my word" Chrisie said in a hushed tone "that is completely awesome". The alleyway was an almost solid wall of water, crashing down with immense force from three stories above, where the combined water from the roofs both side had completely overwhelmed any attempt by the gutters to contain it. "I think this may need a bit extra" said Megan, and she eased the edges of her scarves, together with the balaclava and cagoule, across her face and over her nose, completely covering herself, leaving only the small slit where her eyes could be seen. She took the large pair of glasses from her bag, and carefully slid them on so that not a millimetre of unprotected face was visible.
"I'm with you there" responded Chrisie, as she pulled the edges of another black and gold silk scarf across her face so that they covered it as completely as Megan's, and added her own eye protection. "Let's do this" she said, and arms linked, heads bowed low, the girls walked purposefully into the almost solid maelstrom of water.
It was like walking into a brick wall. Megan admitted later that she really hadn't believed her clothing would be able to hold out against the relentless deluge. Heads down, the girls could see nothing but a curtain of water in front of their faces, could hear nothing but the constant crashing roar around their heads, they hung on to each other for support. One minute passed. Two minutes, then it was five. Still the relentless cascade smashed against the girls protective layers, and still they resisted any penetration. Megan tugged her friend's arm as a signal to move through the alleyway to the other end, and as they emerged they barely noticed the still torrential driving rain still hammering down on them. Megan looked closely at Chrisie's scarves - the spray had beaded on the surface of the black and gold scarf she had pulled across her face, the large round lensed glasses were spotted with spray, and the proofing of the superb silk square had finally given out, but the edge of the Malvern hood had not been collapsed by the pressure of water. She was sure that behind the protecting surfaces of the scarves across her face, her friend would still be smiling.
She pulled her own protection down to clear her mouth "Still smiling then?" she asked. Chrisie lowered the edges of hr scarf to respond
"That was amazing" she gasped "I just can't believe I'm still dry after all that. I think it must have got through the fastenings at the front of my new Malvern, but nowhere near enough to get through the Burberry as well".
"I wondered what you were wearing as a second layer" Megan responded "I've stuck with my old faithful M&S trench - nothings getting past that!"
"What's the plan now" queried Chrisie.
Her friend paused to consider her answer "well, first we've got to go back through that" she said with a nod towards the alleyway, "but as for the park, the waterfall will be nothing compared with what we've just been through - I vote we continue through the town with the occasional detour, and head slowly towards the seafront - I definitely want to be there for high tide"
"OK" her friend responded, let's find out just how good our rainwear really is!" With that she re-arranged her face mask and marched straight back through the torrent, barely pausing as the icy cold water completely engulfed her once again. Megan followed, pulling her scarf mask up to cover her face and nose, this time determined to really savour the experience, pausing as the pouring water completely surrounded her, smashing relentlessly down on her head and shoulders. The water battered against her multi-scarfed head - she stopped to feel the pounding water hammering down. The pressure was unreal, even through over 20 layers of heavily proofed material she could still feel the torrent slamming onto her head. "How on earth am I staying dry through this" she thought, I really can't believe how good these Malvern coats are. 20,000mm proofing was well in excess of most waterproof coats, where 5,000mm was generally accepted as fully waterproof! She had read all the online reviews - customer after customer praising the exceptional quality and the total waterproofing, but today was far above and beyond what anyone could reasonably expect - but two hours in to the most extreme conditions, and they were still giving complete protection. Megan raised her head slightly from the bowed position she had automatically assumed as she entered the deluge.
The edge of the Malvern’s hood, together with the scarves tied over it remained rigidly resisting the torrent, and she could see through the curtain of water surrounding her face, the amazing sight of Chrissie's headscarves, battered but unbowed as the water literally bounced from the shining saturated surface - she realised with growing excitement that her own scarf covered head must appear exactly the same. The two friends looked at each other through the deluge, linked arms, and walked out from the alleyway into the still pouring rain - headscarves and raincoats apparently soaked and shining with total water saturation. As they came into the town centre there were more people, all struggling against the power of the rain. Expensive trenchcoats and rain hats soaking wet, even completely waterproof PVC coats letting rain in as they blew around in the wind and gaps opened up.
They paused to look at their reflection in a darkened shop window "We look totally soaked to the skin" Chrissie grinned "Three of my ultimate proofed silk scarves in my outer layer, and they're all completely soaked through - I can see from the way they are clinging around my head. Thank goodness for the Malvern hood - the hem may be soaked, but I'm sure the hood is still not wet through"
"I think it works a bit like the pressure tests for waterproof clothing - even if the three storey cascade gets through, after you come out of it,the quality of the scarves is so good that the ordinary rain still can't get through"
"Nothing ordinary about this rain" Chrisie responded "It's still heavier than anything I've ever been out in!" Megan had to agree - clearly her outer layer of scarves was soaked through in the same way Chrisie’s had been. She was confident that the continuing torrential rain would make little further impression on either of them, but the high tide at the promenade was an unknown - could they stand up to water coming at them from all angles, and possibly waves over the top of their boots - she just didn't know. It was scary and exciting at the same time and in just over an hour they would know the answer!
Another hour, trudging through the relentless rain, heads bowed against the wind that continued to drive the ferocious downpour straight at them. Megan's coat seemed heavy and stiff - she guessed that the lining was by now totally soaked, although she was still completely dry, the layers beneath still holding firm. She worried though - would the rain be able to run down inside her boots, what if it worked it's way past the edges of her rubber gloves, her hands could be feeling wet, maybe her feet, or the rain could soak through her face masking layers, but so far everything was working perfectly, three hours of complete almost unbelievable saturation, and both girls were still completely dry beneath their layers of protection. The promenade beckoned - the steps leading down were awash like a miniature waterfall. A sudden gust of wind slammed a mixture of rain and spray directly into their faces, but the masking held out, and the large glasses they both wore to protect their eyes acted almost like goggles, completely preventing any spray getting into their eyes. Megan turned her back to the wind, bent her head, and made a final adjustment to her masks, ensuring they completely covered her nose and covering the edge with her glasses Chrissie followed her lead - usually they would avoid covering their noses, because of steaming their glasses, but Megan thought that would not be an issue that day, as a wave struck the sea wall just as they stepped onto the promenade, flinging the seawater high into the air, and crashing it down onto the friends. Water streamed from their scarves, down the front of their faces, but was completely repelled by the well proofed masks.
This was going to work exulted Megan, as another wave crashed over them, and the water gushed at least a foot deep over their boots. They looked along the promenade ahead, and could see a few others clearly dressed to enjoy a totally protected walk in the storm. A couple passed them wearing matching PVC rainsuits- hoods and collars covering them well, but not giving the complete face protection that the girls enjoyed, plus they had to hold their hoods in place against the ferociously gusting wind, whereas Megan and Chrissie's scarves held firm against everything thrown against them. Another wave crashed into the sea wall, sending a solid wall of water smashing into the two girls, but still their waterproof layers held, a mixture of rain and sea spray streaming from the saturated surfaces of scarves and raincoats as the friends held on to each other to stay upright against the ferocious onslaught - then Megan felt it, the moment of penetration, only slight at first, but as the rain and spray continued its relentless attack it was inevitable.
As she had feared, the water had found its way past the cuffs of one of her gloves, and her hand was getting wetter by the second. Her masking was also beginning to break down under the onslaught, water working its way around her face and under her chin. She would have to head for home and rethink those parts of her protection that had failed her - but what about Chrissie? Megan turned to her friend, their masked faces almost touching as the rain and spray deluged down
"I have to go" she shouted " my protection is breaking down, I'm starting to get wet" Chrissie pulled her mask down to reveal that she too was suffering a breakdown of her protection
"Me too" she grimaced "I guess our masks need a rethink and improvement - let's head for home". The two friends turned away from the sea and with heads bowed against the driving rain, they headed up the stairway back into the town. Megan turned for a final look, and was amazed to see a figure through the spray and crashing waves, holding the railings, looking out into the maelstrom, but dressed like the two of them, long beige raincoat, heavy large headscarf, rainboots, and water cascading from every part of her - she must be wearing some formidable protection to look out in such an exposed position. As they made their way home through the still extreme weather, Megan vowed to herself that she would be better prepared the next time, and able to take her place standing beside the lone figure defying the elements!