What a waterproof jacket really costs per day on the hill

Price divided by days, and nothing else

Start with the days. Someone who walks two weekends a month in the hills is out about 30 days a year once weather and other commitments are taken off. Someone who walks a long weekend each season is nearer 20. Write that number down before you look at any jacket, because it is the denominator in every calculation that follows.

Now divide. An example £180 jacket worn 30 days a year and kept 6 years covers 180 days of use, which is £1.00 a day. The same jacket replaced after two years covers 60 days and costs £3.00 a day — three times as much for the same garment. The decision that moves the number is how long you keep it, not what you pay.

This also reframes the cheap option. An example £80 jacket is cheaper on the shelf, and at 60 days of use it costs £1.33 a day, which is more than the £180 jacket does at 180 days. A jacket that lasts is not a luxury purchase; it is the arithmetic working in your favour.

Upkeep is small, and leaving it out is expensive

A waterproof needs washing in a detergent that does not leave residue, and reproofing when water stops beading on the outer fabric. On example figures, a £10 bottle of technical wash covering about 5 washes is £2 a wash, and three washes a year is £6. A £12 bottle of wash-in reproofer that treats two garments is £6 a garment, used about once a year. Together that is about £12 a year.

Over 6 years that is £72. Added to the example £180 jacket, the total becomes £252 across 180 days of use, which is £1.40 a day rather than £1.00. The upkeep adds 40 pence a day and it is the thing that gets the jacket to year six in the first place.

The reason to count it is that skipping it does not save £12 a year. A shell that wets out feels cold and clammy and gets replaced early, which moves you from the £1.00 column to the £3.00 column. Spending £72 to avoid spending £180 again is the best-value line in this guide.

• Technical wash: about £10 a bottle covering about 5 washes, so about £2 a wash
• Three washes a year, which matches roughly 30 days of use: about £6 a year
• Wash-in reproofer: about £12 a bottle treating two garments, so about £6 each
• Reproof about once a year once water stops beading: about £6 a year
• Running total: about £12 a year, or £72 over 6 years
• £180 jacket plus £72 of upkeep over 180 days of use is £1.40 a day

VAT is already inside the shelf price, except on children's sizes

Consumer prices in the United Kingdom include VAT, and the standard rate is 20%, which has applied since 4 January 2011. On an example £180 adult jacket, £30 of what you hand over is VAT: £180 divided by 1.2 is £150, and £180 minus £150 is £30.

Children's clothing is zero-rated, which means the same style in a child's size carries no VAT at all. That is not a discount a seller is offering; it is the rate HMRC applies to the category. It is worth knowing before you assume that a child's jacket at £100 and an adult's at £120 reflect different quality.

The practical use of this is in comparing a UK seller with one quoting a price excluding tax. A quoted £150 excluding VAT is £180 including it, and a £180 shelf price is the honest comparison figure.

Buying from outside the United Kingdom changes the total

A jacket that looks cheaper on an overseas site often is not once it lands. For goods sent to Great Britain, HMRC charges no customs duty on non-excise goods worth £135 or less, and duty may apply above that. VAT is charged at the rate that applies to the goods, so 20% on an adult jacket. Gifts worth £39 or less are not charged VAT.

The figures that catch people are the ones outside the goods price. The carrier adds a handling fee for clearing the parcel, and the duty rate above £135 depends on the commodity code, which you look up in the Trade Tariff service rather than assuming a single percentage.

So an example £160 jacket bought abroad crosses the £135 line, attracts VAT on the landed value, may attract duty, and carries a handling fee on top. Put each of those four lines into the landed-cost calculator on this site before comparing it with a £180 UK shelf price, because the £180 already has its tax inside it.

1. Write down the goods price in sterling at the rate your card will use
2. Add the shipping charge, because the customs value is based on more than the goods alone
3. Apply 20% VAT to the landed value for adult clothing
4. Check whether the total crosses the £135 threshold above which duty can apply
5. Add the carrier's handling fee, which is charged separately from the tax
6. Compare that total with the UK shelf price, which already includes its VAT

Date every price you write down

Prices move, and the move is large enough over a year to invalidate a comparison made from memory. The Office for National Statistics put the CPI annual inflation rate at 3.5% for September 2026 in the bulletin released on 21 October 2026. On that rate, a £180 figure noted a year ago corresponds to about £186 today.

That is why every example in this guide carries a date and the word example. A price checked in a different season, for a different size, at a different seller is not evidence about today, and a guide that presents it as evidence is wrong in a way no reader can see.

The habit worth copying is to write the date next to any price you record. A note that reads "£180, checked 2026-11-03" stays useful; one that reads "about £180" stops being useful within months and quietly misleads you afterwards.

Before you buy

• Count the days you were actually out in the past twelve months and write the number down
• Divide each jacket's price by days a year times years you expect to keep it
• Add about £12 a year for technical wash and reproofer to every option before comparing
• Remember the shelf price already includes 20% VAT, and children's sizes carry none
• For an overseas purchase, add shipping, VAT, possible duty above £135 and the carrier handling fee
• Write the date beside every price you note down, and treat anything older than a season as stale
• Put your own figures into the cost-per-use and landed-cost calculators rather than using the examples here

Questions readers ask

Should I subtract resale value from the price?

Yes, when there is a realistic resale. If an example £320 jacket sells for £90 after 6 years, the cost to you is £230 across 180 days, which is £1.28 a day rather than £1.78. Shells with visible abrasion or a failed DWR rarely sell, so count resale only for garments you have actually maintained and kept clean.

Is a sale price always the cheaper option?

Only if the jacket lasts as long. A £80 shell bought at half price costs £40, which over 60 days of use is £0.67 a day — genuinely cheap. The same purchase is poor value if a soft hood and untaped seams mean it is replaced in two seasons. Divide by expected days of use before deciding, not by the percentage reduction.

How many days a year do most hill walkers actually use a shell?

Write down your own figure rather than using an average, because the number drives every calculation here. Count the days you were out in the last twelve months, then subtract the dry ones where the jacket stayed in the pack. Twenty to thirty days is a common range for someone walking two weekends a month in the British hills.

Does washing a waterproof shorten its life?

The opposite. Dirt and body oils on the face fabric are what cause wetting out, and the manufacturer's own care instructions specify washing rather than avoiding it. The £12 a year of technical wash and reproofer in this guide is the spend that gets a jacket from year three to year six, which halves its cost per day out.

Sources

1. GOV.UK — VAT rates on different goods and services (20% standard rate, children's clothing zero-rated) — checked 2026-11-03
2. GOV.UK — Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad: tax and duty (£135 threshold, £39 gift threshold) — checked 2026-11-03
3. Office for National Statistics — Inflation and price indices (CPI annual rate 3.5%, September 2026, released 21 October 2026) — checked 2026-11-03