Ground Cloths or poncho tarps as rain gear

[urbansix]

...rain cape ...Much, much better than a poncho..

Can you elaborate? My ID poncho hangs to my ankles in front (I'm 5-8) and has a bungee hem to tuck in under the pack in back. Plus it doubles as a small tarp. Always open to refinement, though.

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

BillyBob,

I only use my poncho as the fly on the Hennessy. The fly needs to be kept close to the hammock to provide adequate coverage. I carry a rain jacket of some sort that becomes a hammock sock on the foot end of the hammock:

Driducks = 6.7 oz.
GoLite Ether = 3.5 oz.
silnylon pullover = 4.8 oz.

I gave my Marmot Precip to my wife for town use so it has been removed from my gear list. But IIRC it weighed about 12 oz. The Equinox UltraLight Silnylon Tarp/Poncho with a .5" belt weighs 9.4 oz. The poncho plus silnylon pullover are only about a 2 oz. penalty over a Marmot Precip, but provides MUCH more function.

The list above is a good example of trade-offs:

The DriDucks breath well enough to hike in and they are waterproof and cheap. But they are heavy and not durable.

The GoLite Ether breaths well enough to hike in and well enough that your wet clothes dry when you wear it around camp for warmth. But it is NOT waterproof. This a a great piece of gear and was my only raingear on my 4th of July hike - but I was never more than 3 hours from the car.

The silnylon pullover is durable and light, but steamy to hike in. This is my choice when bailing would be inconvenient. I have two made by Dancing Light - I am not aware of anyone that sells them today.

The rain gear for emergencies is a problem about like the ability to go to the ground. I have never had an unplanned night on the ground. I have never needed the rain gear for emergencies or calls of nature, but I often use the rain gear for camp chores or warmth around camp.

The thread "talk me into hanging" reminded me of something I used to consider doing but never got around to. Mainly because I couldn't see a way around certain problems.

Some folks ( Food? ) use their ponchos as tarps, others their ground cloths as rain gear. The weight savings of this approach is obvious. But how safe and practical is it, at least in areas of heavy rain and/or cold temps?

I am trying to picture a situation where you are well into a multi-day/week hike, and it has settled into a good all day and all night rain, maybe blowing rain with some cool temps. You set up camp after hiking all day in this blowing rain ( or snow).

You are laying under your tarp or floorless tent, and your GC is your rain gear, with your light down bag laid out on the GC, and you are snuggled in as the storm rages. Now you realize that you are about to suffer Montezuma's revenge. Or you just have to pee real bad. Or some emergency arises with one of your camp mates.

What do you do with your bag when you take the GC up from the soaking ground to put on as rain gear? When you get back from the call of nature, with your GC/rain gear soaked, how do you work out retrieving your bag and putting it on the wet GC, with out getting your bag soaked.

Or, in the case of the poncho---- if your poncho is now your tarp, whether over your hammock or over your GC, you are obviously not going to take it down unless all of your gear is packed up and protected from the rain. So, what do you do in the middle of the night in the storm, if you have to go or there is some emergency? Do you just strip down and go out in the cold rain completely unprotected? Then how do you handle getting back in your down bag once you are soaked?

I never looked into this approach, because it all sounded like a bit of a PITA, or worse:dangerous.

But there must be a way, since folks do it. How do folks handle these situations?

[Quoddy]

Can you elaborate? My ID poncho hangs to my ankles in front (I'm 5-8) and has a bungee hem to tuck in under the pack in back. Plus it doubles as a small tarp. Always open to refinement, though.

In the way it fits. Ponchos are gathered at the sides with open, or near open, arm areas. Capes totally enclose, and have a slight bungeed bottom if desired. I could never keep a poncho positioned for any length of time and also had wet areas which doesn't happen with a cape. Granted, capes are usually shorter, but that hasn't been a problem for me. I always felt that the cape gave me at least two or three times the ventilation that a poncho did. Granted, it can't be used as a tarp.

[Shadowmoss]

... I always felt that the cape gave me at least two or three times the ventilation that a poncho did. Granted, it can't be used as a tarp.

The Gatewood Cape can indeed be used as a tarp, or at least pitched as a tarp-type shelter. Check out the Six Moons Designs site. They also have a bug net/floored assembly that fits under it when it's pitched as a shelter if one is worried about that sort of thing (I am...) Total for both pieces that end up making a double wall (traditional) tent is right around 1 lb. That's why I'm thinking of using the GC as my main rain gear and knowing that I can use it to go to ground if I need to.