The Army Poncho

[m0244]

I haven't broken it out of my stuff to measure yet, but I was curious if anyone here used them for anything at all, they pack a wee bit heavy are rectangular and will barely cover a person.

I went through 5 months of outdoor training in GA and FL and the poncho used as a tarp was nearly a daily routine. In Florida we snuck it quite high on our priority for bedding down. Having it stretched up before a storm made all the difference in the comfort level and energy conservation for the next day or so. We slept on the ground always, and if a storm snuck up on us before being able to set up by locating appropriate trees, we were usually forced to simply lay under it semi protected but still wet and miserable.

Of all the things we learned the hard way I never saw anyone construct a ridge line, mainly due to the water it allowed in but I didn't know that too is preventable. Most set-ups were 4-6 guy lines stretching it out with a stick in the middle, or a tie from the hood up to a tree to prevent catching water. (All poncho hoods are tied in a knot, no one ever actually wears them as a poncho)

In the last few months I've been reading about UL hiking/camping, and I'm torn between ordering a superfly, HG W/ doors, or HG winter palace W/ doors.

Having packed around 60-90lb of useless weight I know the value some equipment adds to the comfort but also the benefit of paying for lighter more compressable gear. I would like something durable yet light, and fit for hammock camping or to use for sleeping on the ground, camo color is a personal preference for privacy and stealthyness. I guess at this point I'm trying to decide between the normal HG or the winter, unless someone wants to try and talk me into the WBSF?

What is the weight difference between all 3 in camp pattern?

[humer91]

I went through 5 months of outdoor training in GA and FL

Sounds like someone went through the Ranger School...

[humer91]

Ihave a WB Superfly in digicam that i love. VERY roomy, i can stand up in it and change (in privacy), or drop it to the ground if the weather is extreme. The pictures on the Warbonnet site dont do the digicam justice, sorta reminds me of a mix of the desert and forest marpat. The Superfly easily packs down smaller than a 32oz Nalgene bottle at a weight of 19oz according to the website.

[SilvrSurfr]

HG Standard 7.5 oz. $340
HG Winter Palace 10 oz. $460
Warbonnet Superfly Digicam 19 oz. $155

I've owned two out of the three (never owned a Superfly). I'm also not a camo fan (adds an ounce of weight to the HG Standard and 1.5 to Winter Palace). I started out with the HG Standard - HG used to call it a 4-season tarp but I just found the tarp too skimpy to consider it a 4-season tarp, at least not when used with an 11 ft. hammock. I upgraded to the HG Winter Palace, which is roughly the dimensions of the Superfly.

If you're a hiker, like foul weather but want to stay dry, and have the money, I'd go with the Winter Palace. The HG Standard is more of a minimalist tarp (though the doors are definitely a worthwhile addition), but could be considered 4-season if you're sleeping on the ground. If the cost of cuben fiber boggles your mind, then the Superfly is the ticket.

[SirMarkos]

I'm a big fan of camo patterns myself. And my girlfriend owns the SF. I love it, but I don't really dig the digicam pattern. So I made my own tarp. You could too if you are even mildly good with a thread injector.



https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...=Multicam+Tarp

[sargevining]

Having packed around 60-90lb of useless weight I know the value some equipment adds to the comfort but also the benefit of paying for lighter more compressable gear. I would like something durable yet light, and fit for hammock camping or to use for sleeping on the ground, camo color is a personal preference for privacy and stealthyness. I guess at this point I'm trying to decide between the normal HG or the winter, unless someone wants to try and talk me into the WBSF?

Most tarps made by the cottage manufacturers, and some of the bigger manufacturers make very good shelters, but poor rain wear. Tarps used for hammock camping will work as well as tarp tents if used for ground camping, but not all tarp tents will work for hammock camping--and this includes shelter adaptations of an Army Poncho or something similar. This argues for carrying the poncho as rain wear only--you already have a superior emergency shelter in your tarp.

Tarp coverage for rain protection should be at least two feet longer than the ridgeline of your hammock. Diamond shapes can be used if the hammock is hung high, tight up against the tarp ridgeline. It should protect you from vertical rainfall, but there are no guarantees that it will protect you from wind blown rain or inundations. The challenge to adequate hammock shelter for weather and climates where night time temperatures can be expected to be under 70 degrees is blocking the movement of air under your hammock which will contribute to convection cooling that will make keeping warm more difficult. In this scenario, a tarp that might adequately protect you from rain (some tarps in a diamond configuration, for instance) might negatively affect your health or comfort due to cooling from even moderate air movement----possibly even from the movement of the air beneath you as your natural body movements cause the hammock to swing back and forth. Add to that the geometry involved in having to sleep diagonally in the hammock and there is there is the possibility that either the head, feet, or both will end up outside the footprint of the tarp.

The best solution for both conditions, in my opinion and experience, is a rectangular or hex shaped tarp at least two feet longer than your hammock's ridgeline, and with sides of at least 42" from peak to bottom edge, and in winter 60" is preferred. A rectangular tarp has an advantage in that the corners can be brought down to the center:

pic_11.jpg

or crossed over to attach to the opposite corner's ground attachment

CANOEDAD2-250410-193713.JPG

To close off the ends for rain and wind protection.

A good entry level tarp is the Hennessy Hex, but most of the cottage manufacturers who advertise here have good alternatives in that price range. The Toxaway comes to mind. Finding a tarp with superior water resistant properties in any non-repeating camo patter is nearly impossible, DIY is your best bet there. Keep in mind, however that fabrics with a DWR (Durable Water Resistant) coating will lose their water resistant properties over time as they are merely a coating. The best available is the Epsilon fabric Sir Markos is using (and with which I'm making my winter tarp. Your best bet for stealthy camping is one of the earth tone sil nylon (siliconized nylon) in OD or coyote that you'll find when surfing the cottage vendor sites.

For several years, I carried a silnylon poncho as rain wear:

http://www.moontrail.com/exped-bivy-poncho-ul.php

Its light, even more adaptable than an issue poncho, but difficult to find and a little pricey when you do.

I've since decided that carrying a poncho is redundant as shelter and, in Southeast Texas, using a poncho when as rain wear makes one just as wet from perspiration as from rain. I've since moved to a wearing a pair of gaiters if I think it will rain and carrying one of these:

http://www.golite.com/Chrome-Dome-Tr...ella-P928.aspx

as protection from both rain and sun.

Now, if anyone wants to make me an offer on that Exped Bivy Poncho, I don't really need it--------

[m0244]

Superfly ordered, I found a thread that sold me on it, just over 1lb isn't that bad for what it is capable of providing and the weight i'm used to. I should easily be able to keep a overnight pack 20-30lb. Maybe one day I'll upgrade to cuben and have a decent back-up or loaner in the superfly if I decide I need to save more weight but I doubt it will come to that.

[Owl]

I have spent far, far more nights than I can care to remember in a "ranger roll". Wrapped in a woobie and a poncho, or under the poncho on top of my pad, wrapped in my woobie. I still have both...but no longer really use either at all for hammock camping.

I still carry and use the poncho as a poncho...more now than I did when I was in and used my wet weather gear or in later years, my goretex.

The poncho is really too small for any decent coverage larger than a human body itself.

[soysos]

I use mine as a tarp all the time. I set it up diagonally two points to the ground and two points on a guyline. If it's windy I'll make a lean to. If I expect heavy rain I'll carry two ans snap them together.

[Steve Summersell]

Here's the Rothco knockoff poncho rigged for quick deploy on my ENO. Makes a good quick "weather shield" but I wouldn't trust it in a downpour.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1413042447.286801.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1413042502.751060.jpg.