Poncho use (multiple)

imported
#1

Dear Everyone,

Year ago, when I first started hiking, I began with an old worn-out military poncho which was given to me.I patched it up and re-waterproofed it.

Over time, I’ve come to marvel at the poncho as a marvellous, multiple-use piece of equipment with a very low weight.

As raingear, it was excellent. It kept me dry, it was long and offered full coverage, it covered my pack, and its breathability was adjustible to whatever I wanted.

It was also used as a perfect rainfly for my cheap $30.00 starter tent–and got me through Haleakala National Park in Hawaii (and other places on the Islands), The Pacific Crest Trail, and The Grand Canyon.

I would like to hear from people who use ponchos today. And I’d like to know the following things about them:

  1. How long have you been using ponchos?

  2. Regarding your current poncho, what is its size, what is it made of, and what does it weigh?

  3. What do you use your poncho for? For example: as raingear, as shelter (ie, like a tarp or rainfly), as a ground sheet for your sleeping bag or tent, as a pack cover, or as something else?

  4. Regarding the use you make of your poncho, where do you find it succeeds best?

  5. As a multiple use piece of equipment, where would you rank it(ie, top 5, top 10, above what and below what)?

Thanks. Now don’t hold back!

Sincerely–Conan.

Conan

#2

Yes, I used it on the AT as well.

It was great during the early evening and night-time torrential torrential downpours in the Southern states.

It was great also during the cold, drizzly, wind-whipping days, which are peculiar to no particular place.

Sincerely–Conan.

Conan

#3

If I could find this poncho, I would buy it.Pictures from a JMT journal.

Any ideas as to brand?

Pumpkin Poncho

I would day hike with something like this and use it as a shelter or villa at lunch. Ponchos are too heavy for longer hikes.

Clark Fork in Western Montana “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word.”

Clark Fork

#4

Don’t all ponchos look like that? And as for too heavy,you can get 4 ounce ponchos, which are lighter than any rain jacket in existence. Where is this “too heavy” coming from?

AD

Alphonse Deluxe

#5

I use the Integral Designs sil-poncho as poncho, tarp, tent and groundcloth. 10 oz for 8’x 5’ of coverage. $75.00 means you can’t beat it. Compare that to tent and rainjacket prices. So far, so good.Benefits: 48 oz reduced to 10 oz, $400.00 reduced to $75.00. Can’t beat it.

Trailman

#6

One time I was sitting in a hollow in South Carolina while the rain poured down. A fire was in front of me, miraculously staying lit. I sat on a log, my ensolite pad under my butt. My poncho, shed the rain effortlessly, and provided full coverage. The brim of the hood kept my face dry. Literally, I was, snug as a bug on a rug.

Nothing like a poncho in the rain.

Makes a good tarp too.

Blisters

#7

Ponchos are the original design of all clothing. The original multi-purpose garb, infinitely useful and flexible. That they’re still around says something: they work.

Jabber

Jabber

#8

campmoor sil-nylon tarp, $45.00, 8.5 ounces. ultralite rain gear and shelter.

started with ponchos. tried jackets but goretex doesn’t work past a point and is too expensive and too heavy.

this is a good piece of multiuse gear. can’t think of one with more uses unless its a multitool but that gets used about once a year.

squeak

#9

The bottom line is that no one can cut that Grandma Gatewood approach anymore. You remember, she had a shower curtain for a raincoat and shelter when it rained. No one is that tough or single minded anymore.

Historian

#10

Historian, see Pony Express’s journal. He did it.

jugs

#11

i didn’t see this thread until after posting on the “rain” thread!

I’ll admit it, i’m a BIG fan of ponchos! (does anyone know where that name came from?)

Here are my answers to Conan’s Questions:

(1) ever since i can remember… 5 thru-hikes and many other adventures around the world.

(2) I use the $1 ‘emergency’ poncho that comes in those oh-so fashionable flourescent colors! It’s smallish (only small packs fit under it), it’s plastic, and its about 2 ounces. (don’t have a scale) I currently have a flouro - blaze orange one (now there’s another use i hadn’t even thought of).

(3) i use it in long term rain situations for rain protection for me and my pack. I don’t mind if my pack gets wet in shorter rain squalls (my sleeping bag and clothes are always in kitchen trash bags anyway), but in long, multi-day rain storms, i prefer to keep everything as dry as possible (see “rain” post above) for weight reasons and to keep my sleeping bag dry (i use my frameless pack under my feet at night b/c i use a short, torso-length sleeping pad)

I discovered a new use for the poncho last year on the PCT. In glissading situations where it’s not steep enough to slide on pants, the poncho works like one of those saucer type sleds! (i got at least a few hundred extra vertical feet and up to an 1/8 mile more glissade distance on the poncho)

(4)Long term, multi-day rain situations

(5) In terms of a price/weight/utility ratio, i would rank my poncho #1 by a long shot!

*** these cheap emergency poncho’s are easily ripped on branches or in high wind situations - so you have to be more carefull with them. Ductape works quite well in patching the rips. Since they are so inexpensive, i put replacements occasionally in maildrops, when i’m on a thru-hike***

Sincerely,

freebird

freebird