Whatever happened to ponchos?

[Palmer]

I just spent a pretty wet weekend in the woods of Pennsylvania, which caused me to start thinking about ponchos. My gore-tex knock-off jacket, pants, and boots did a pretty good job of keeping me reasonably dry, and I was especially impressed with the boots. However, by the end of the day, I was damp through and through, either from minor condensation or from minor seapage. With temps in the mid 40's, I was also pretty miserable.

Back in the days before gore-tex, I had a big poncho that my wife sewed from a kit that came from either Holubar or Frostline. The thing was completely waterproof, and the open design allowed some ventilation. It also covered my pack, which was nice.

Why don't I see backpackers using ponchos anymore? It seems to me that there are some advantages to a poncho - light weight, less complexity (no zippers to break), ability to be used as a tarp in an emergency - but that backpackers, at least "serious" backpackers, seem to have abandoned them. Am I missing something here?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[SGT Rock]

Som folks still use them. Jackets do bette in windy conditions and having a seperate cover for the pack can be a plus in wet conditions when you want to take your pack off. But there are people that go so light as to use a poncho as their shelter, pack cover, and rain gear.

[Toolshed]

Poncho's? Oh.... I got tired about 20 years ago of having my brains beat out of my by windlown snapping rivets anytime I was on a ridgeline. [sigh...]

[tlbj6142]

But there are people that go so light as to use a poncho as their shelter, pack cover, and rain gear.

I think you left out laundrywear. My brother used his rain fly as a "wrap" when doing laundry on his thru. So, I see no reason why a poncho couldn't be used for the same purposes.

[orangebug]

"Is that a real poncho, or is it a Sear's poncho?"

Frank Zappa
"We're Only in it for the Money"

[TDale]

That's all i carry for raingear. A cheap vinyl poncho. Does the packcover thing as well and a bit of cord around the middle solves the wind problem. Of course there are no gearhead points for a cheap vinyl poncho, no panache. You have to have at least a silnyl poncho for that.

[MicahDawgNC]

"Is that a real poncho, or is it a Sear's poncho?"

"hmmm....no foolin'." -FZ


good ref, orangebug. i appreciate that.

[verber]

Why don't I see backpackers using ponchos anymore?

We have all been brainwashed to believe that you need a bombproof gore-tex parka?!

There are still some people who still use ponchos... expecially among the super-ultralight set who use the poncho/tarp as raingear and their shelter. I tried this for a season and went back to a rain jacket. Why? When the wind was blowing I had the choice of getting wet from blowing winds or from sweat after I tied the poncho to my body to keep it from flapping. The poncho "sleeves" didn't good a good job keeping my arms dry when hiking with poles. I kept on catching my poncho in the brush. Basically it was very light but I didn't find it as effective. [And it's not that light. A Rainshield o2 jacket + spinnshelter tarp are only 4oz heavier and better for weathering a hard storm]

I also haven't been happy with Gore-Tex performance which is part of why I tried using a poncho again after twenty years. What do I use today? In light rain just my windshirt. I stay mostly dry and when the rain stops my body heat drys my shirt and windshirt out in less than 30 minutes. When facing longer / heavier rainstorms I have found that Rainshield O2 or a a Pearl Izumi shell made from eVENT seem significantly more comfortable / breathable than my old Gore-tex jacket. A trip earlier this year I happen to have both the O2 jacket (I wanted to try it out) and a poncho (my shelter). I used the poncho for the first half of the trip and I was getting quite wet from my sweat (it was around 50F with the wind really blowing). I switched to the O2 jacket. ~30 minutes later my supplex shirt was dry and I was a happy hiker.

[Pencil Pusher]

"The poets tell how Pancho fell, and Lefty's living in cheap hotels.
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold, and so the story ends we're told.
Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too.
He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old." -Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson

[Youngblood]

I think all rain protection has its strong points and limitations. If you realize what the limitations are and either work out a reasonable alternative or learn to live with it you will be happy, if not... well you probably won't be happy with it. I do recall one negative that I don't see listed above that I experienced when I briefly tried using one of the longer backpacking ponchos (one with the snapped extension in the back that would also cover a large backpack). And that was that it got in the way when I had to step up on objects that where raised a foot or so. I imagine it is the same problem folks would run into with long skirts or kilts, where you have to grab the front and pull it up so that you don't step on it. That was particularly annoying for me because I had a hiking pole in each hand, it was wet & slippery and since that usually meant I was going up hill, I didn't need another aggravation.

Youngblood

[kncats]

I tried a poncho the last time we went out just to see how it worked. The weight of my poncho was about the same as my Frogg Toggs and pack cover combined so I figured there wouldn't be any weight penalty or benefit. My pack cover however isn't particularly light, it's vinyl coated nylon. If I had a silnylon pack cover or used trash bags the poncho would have been heavier.

The poncho is a military issue one. Appears to be silicon coated nylon. It's long enough in the back to pretty much cover my pack. We had a steady rain for about 26 hours with the temps in the low 40's most of the day and dropping down to the upper 30's later in the day. Wasn't any wind to speak of.

All in all I was not happy using it. The parts of me that were covered by the poncho stayed plenty dry and because of the relatively cool temps sweating wasn't an issue. Without any wind though I think that the ventilation would have been good enough to prevent a sauna from building up inside even if it had been warmer. My legs from the knees down were soaked. That would have been all right during the summer, but with the low temps, especially later in the day, I would have preferred they were dry. They would have been in my normal rain suit. I hike with a single wooden hiking staff and the arm holding it was soaked along with the sleeve of my fleece. This also was not a good thing.

The worst part of using a poncho, and what'll prevent me from trying it again even in warmer weather, is the fact that you can't protect yourself and your pack at the same time unless you're wearing your pack. You can take the pack off with the poncho on but you can't shoulder it again unless you take the poncho off. The rain we were in wasn't coming down all that hard, but if it had been pouring I would have been a very unhappy camper.

[SGT Rock]

Military ponchos are coated nylon just for the record. A sil-nylon version is about 1/2 the weight.

[HikeLite]

kncats,

With practice you can take your pack off, rummage through it, and put it back on under a poncho.

[c.coyle]

I have an "extra-long" poncho from Campmor. I'm 6 foot even, and it goes down to my ankles. I didn't buy it for hiking, but for walking the hounds and going to football games (the extra length allows me to sweep it under my butt before I sit on wet bleachers).

I have used it (and other ponchos) for hiking, however. They can be cooler than parkas. On the other hand, you get wet when the wind blows, and they drip down your shins onto your socks, rendering "waterproof" footwear waterlogged. I guess gaiters would help with this, but I've never tried them.

They also snag on almost everything if you're bushwacking off the trail

[Footslogger]

Some of the newer silnylon poncho and combination pack-cover/ponchos are catching on with distance hikers. But, like Rock said, the poncho concept isn't all that hot in windy conditions. Also, unless the poncho hugs your body pretty tightly it will invariably catch on high and low lying branches.

I borrowed a silnylong ponco for a week on my thru-hike last year (Equinox model) and didn't like it much. It was probably the wrong size for me but I kept stepping on the front edge of the fabric and tripping. It was frustrating for me and I was glad to get my Frogg Toggs and dump the poncho.

I live out west now and the trails tend to be wider and have fewer trees and shrubs along side. I can see the possibility of a silnylon poncho being used under those conditions.

'Slogger
AT 2003