Montbell Trekking Umbrella durability
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I used a GoLite Chrome Dome for the Appalachian Trail.
Not sure about the Montebel since i have never seen one.The Chrome dome took a while to get use to.
In fact, the only reason i began using a trekking umbrella at all was seeing the general failure of raingear on long distance hikes and the few folks still smiling after 5 days of rain had umbrellas.
Major caveat: Umbrella users were still smiling although non users were equally wet.
Alas, the brella will only keep the top of your head and perhaps a bit of your shoulders dry.
Staying dry in the wilderness in a real storm is not the purpose of a trekking umbrella.. staying sane IS.
end caveat..On the internet, everyone will tell you your umbrella will get shredded.
On the AT everyone you meet is gonna tell you the umbrella will get shredded.
In reality your trekking umbrella will survive being inverted, nearly struck by lightning (it has plastic tines not metal the main advantage of trekking over generic), being crushed when you exit your tarp in a hurry to answer natures call.
The chrome color will fade, and you might get a drip or two around the central nexus after about 2,000 miles, but it will still function to keep you smiling.
Smiling under the rainiest of days.
Smiling even though the rest of you is wet.
You will still have your eyes, ears, skull open to the air while hiking in rain, hail (thats really fun with an umbrella), and snow.All in all, the only true value that makes carrying the 8 ounces worth it, for me, is the smile it puts on my face.
They wont keep you dry. They will block wind at a break or under your tarp.
Taking a dump under an umbrealla in driving rain in the woods is a sublime beautiful thing.
One thing they wont do is fall apart very easily.
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I had to doff the umbrella just before i took this picture and grab a tree just after as the wind picked up until the trees bagan to fall around me.
The main reason i never attached my brolly to my pack strap was so i could deploy and un-deploy it at will.
It takes training but even in heavy wind you can tilt the leading edge about 10 degrees down and the brolly actually creates it's own lift in a controlled fashion.
The lift stiffens the panels and makes it stable.
Slight movements of the wrist fine tune the brella and you end up "flying" it in a controlled manner even in very high winds.
Beyond a certain threshold you simply doff it.It is fussy.
You wont like it the first, second, or twentieth time you use one.
Perhaps you never will.For some folks the value is worth the effort… but there is most definitely effort involved in using a trekking umbrella.
Nother great use.. stopping to retrieve a snack from deep inside your pack in the rain.
Yea, you should have pulled it out earlier but you ate that one already as second breakfast.Also used my parasol to cover my stinky pack in heavy rain in Connecticut while i went inside a restaurant to have scrambled eggs and Belgian waffles.
Tarp don't have a front door? Stuff the umbrella under the windward side and deploy.
Hot day? It is 50 degrees cooler on the surface of your skin under the shade of an umbrella as opposed to direct sunlight.
The top of your pack stays cooler too.
YES, i measured that.
.Can't speak for the Montebell mind you but if it has the same ABS plastic construction of the GoLite you should be fine.
My buddy Snorkel said she broke a chrome dome before.
Lint and PI never said if they did or not.
Mine inverted in heavy wind at least a dozen times with no damage, simply popped it back into shape.
Remember, these trekking umbrellas are made of ABS plastic, not metal. The tines can be bent 90 degrees or more without breaking.I found the umbrella useful and durbale for me but..
The real question is; whether it is worth the trouble and weight for YOU.
PS why can't i spell? I went to public school in Cali.. watched the filmstrips.. why can't i spell? anyhow, thats the edit..ing
I used a GoLite Chrome Dome for the Appalachian Trail.
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