Codger_64
Moderator
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
- Messages
- 62,324
I used a bit of gear this weekend, on an overnighter canoe trip, that I have had for quite some time but never used. One of the el-cheapo Ozark Trails (Wal-Mart brand) emergency ponchos. I had purposely left my heavier old standby mil-surp nylon poncho at home, in spite of a good chance for thundershowers. My reasoning was that if a cloudburst downpour happened, I'd throw up my tarp and wait it out. But what happened, three times in as many hours, is a steady light sprinkle occured. Not enough to make me want to beach my canoe on a gravel bar and expend the effort to pitch the tarp. I wanted to keep paddling. But I didn't want to get soaked. So I pulled the light vinyl emergency poncho out and gave it a chance. It worked fine. It kept me dry, wasn't hard to put on or take off, didn't restrict my movement and didn't make me fear entanglement if I wound up in the water. The last is a big reason I don't like using the mil-surp on the water. The material is stout enough to make it difficult to quickly tear my way out of it if it became a sea anchor. But this couple of dollar item is thin as a sandwich baggie and no doubt I could rip it to shreds with my fingers, no river knife needed.
Once used and removed, it is not nearly as compact as when factory folded. But it did wad up nicely and stuff in my PFD mesh pocket for the next use. It is drying on the back porch and we'll see how small it will fold with a bit of time and attention on my living room floor. If it is too big to fit in a zip-loc sandwich bag, I'll toss it rather than keep it to reuse. I will be buying a few more to scatter around in my vehicles and canoeing gear anyway. For the less than $5 these things cost, they are a heck of a deal utility vs. money wise, if durability isn't a deciding factor. More durable is the cheap vinyl ones, though not greatly so. Better is mil-surp and best I would suppose would be something of space-age fabric by a boutique maker like Kifaru or Mountain Hardware, Patagonia or Cascade Designs. But for this particular use and portability, I don't think these can be beat. They can be found with many brandings, but always inexpensive. And fit unobtrusively in a pocket (or in my case, the lid of my ever-present river drybox).
Once used and removed, it is not nearly as compact as when factory folded. But it did wad up nicely and stuff in my PFD mesh pocket for the next use. It is drying on the back porch and we'll see how small it will fold with a bit of time and attention on my living room floor. If it is too big to fit in a zip-loc sandwich bag, I'll toss it rather than keep it to reuse. I will be buying a few more to scatter around in my vehicles and canoeing gear anyway. For the less than $5 these things cost, they are a heck of a deal utility vs. money wise, if durability isn't a deciding factor. More durable is the cheap vinyl ones, though not greatly so. Better is mil-surp and best I would suppose would be something of space-age fabric by a boutique maker like Kifaru or Mountain Hardware, Patagonia or Cascade Designs. But for this particular use and portability, I don't think these can be beat. They can be found with many brandings, but always inexpensive. And fit unobtrusively in a pocket (or in my case, the lid of my ever-present river drybox).
Last edited:
OK... these may not take a fire-licking well, but they are solid temp shelter material, tried and true. Ground, tarped, wrappped. I reserve the wetskin poncho for freezing rain and re-use these as necessary. Utilitarian to the core and a comfort in a storm.
ne time I used them with some duct tape to remove a very aggressive bee hive.The swarm of bees covered me like a blanket and it saved my hide.
