Muleymadness
I thought I read in the original post that you were a tree stand hunter. Sorry, my mistake.
I have been writing/complaining about this issue for many years and while we have gotten closer (thanks to Sitka Gear) we are not there yet. Although, I was told last week at SHOT by some industry people very high up the chain of command that we are there but it will require a little more maintenance then we are used to. Meaning we will have to renew the exterior DWR more often. And when we do get it, it will come from Sitka Gear.
We (hunters) need waterproof, windproof, vapor permeable (breathable), lightweight, highly durable and quiet shells in camo or stealthy solid colors. We have all that but it has proven very difficult to put quiet and lightweight together in the same garment. You can have quiet but it won't be lightweight and lightweight but it won't be quiet. You just can't have both yet.
So, to answer your question I recommend several shell jackets for trigger pullers but none of them is what I would call quiet and under 25 ounces because that simply doesn't exist...yet.
Go to the SHELL LAYER section of my site for specifics but basically here they are. Each has matching pants or bibs.
Arcteryx Theta AR in Nighthawk (Gore-Tex)
Wild Things Tactical Hard Shell SO 1.0 in Multicam (eVent)
Kuiu Chugach in Verde (Toray)
Sitka Gear Stormfront in Moss or Open Country (Gore-Tex)
Sitka Gear Dewpoint in Lead or Open Country (Gore-Tex)
Sitka Gear Coldfront in Open Country or Charcoal(Gore-Tex Softshell) is quieter but heavier.
My favorite for hunting is Sitka Gear. They are tougher, I prefer the stealthy solid colors, and I think the Gore-Tex performs better than anything else on the market. They (Gore-Tex) also has the best warranty/service in the business.
I think what we will get in the near future short of a major technological breakthrough is a proper Gore-Tex shell with a micro-fleece exterior (like the current Sitka Gear Whitetail line or Cabelas MTO50 rain gear) but it will be a very stripped down feature set to account for the extra weight of the quieter fabric. This will require us to renew the DWR on the exterior more often so the water beads up and runs off.
Getting exactly what we want is a very tall order and the biggest company in the business has been working on it for a long time. We are close but not quite there yet.
Wade
www.HardcoreOutdoor.com