Rainproof Headgear to go with MYOG PolyCryo Poncho?

[Delmar O’Donnell]

I've been toying for some time with the idea of a MYOG poncho out of Window Shrink Film/PolyCryo. Mainly because I don't want to pay the 7 oz penalty for a real silnylon poncho, which I'll seldom use. Being in the deserts of Cali and AZ, rain may fall hard but is generally brief and passing (and this year, there's virtually none), so I don't need the protection of a PNW'er.

The more I think about it, I'd like to keep the Poncho dead simple. I think the head hole should be little more than a circle. Add a bit of velcro or snaps to close the sides, and call it done.

That leaves an exposed head. What do you think about buying/making something waterproof to wear on the head, instead of building/integrating a hood into the poncho? And what might that be? Any lightweight options you know of?

Good coverage but probably heavy:

.

Possibly the Marmot Precip Safari Hat?

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/marmot-precip-safari-hat-waterproof~p~53959/

…that would add back 3 oz.

My current headgear is inadequate, a baseball cap with a sun skirt around the back for shade.

Thanks.

[Glenn S]

Well, I guess I'll be the first to throw a crazy idea into the ring.

What about those disposable rain ponchos? cut the hood off, and maybe a bit of the shoulders, and with some velcro spots, it could attach to the poncho to keep the wind from blowing it open.

[David Gardner]

Hey Delmar,

Funny you should ask…I made a polycryo poncho for GGG 6.0 to also use as a ground sheet. I tried my hand at making a hood on it too. Thank god I didn't have to wear it, since it looks kind of ridiculous with bright yellow duct tape. Well, maybe it just looks ridiculous, period. If I make another one, I will use 3M's Scotch 2245-A "Tough" Heavy Duty All-Weather tape.

I copied the head pattern from a "real" poncho I have, which has flat left and right head-shaped profiles, joined at a seam along the top and back of the hood. The hole for your head to go through is a slice that goes front to back through the main body of the poncho, with tape on the edges to keep it from tearing.

In the pictures you can see that I made it to be worn with a pack, because without a pack the back hangs down all the way to the floor.

It doesn't breathe at all, and my head feels sweaty hot in it at room temperature. So a hat is probably the way to go.

[Ken Thompson]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/myog_wide_brimmed_rain_hat.html#.UyJ_hdxd1nE

[Nick Gatel]

Since you hike where the rain is "brief and passing" then you might look at the REI eVent baseball cap (if they still sell it).

Now you said you use a baseball cap and skirt for the sun. In the desert I prefer a wide brimmed hat (a Tilley LT-6). Why not get a decent hat and then make a rain cover for it from your polycro?

To be honest I would not consider polycro for a poncho in the desert. I hike in plenty of rain during Dec – Feb some years in the deserts, and there is a lot of plant life just waiting to attack polycro as you pass by. The polycro is going to blow around much more than other materials. But heck, it is cheap enough to experiment with.

[Bob Gross]

You could always make a hat out of aluminum foil.

–B.G.–

[Ken Thompson]

Intelligent people will always find a solution ;)

Right Nick?

[Nick Gatel]

I provided the solution. A decent sun hat with a polycro cover. Hat is dual use. Rain cover won't register on most scales :-)

[Adam Kilpatrick]

I like Nick's solution.

Desert vegetation isn't always very high though. With a good waist cord or so it shouldn't be hard to tuck up excess poncho out of the way. If you have to walk through a patch of scrub, just take it off. Getting wet for a period isn't the end of the world. You'll dry out soon enough in the low humidity later on. Or just wear a windshirt by itself if you also carry that (take your shirt/underlayers off, don't let them get wet).

[Redacted k]

Just use a disposable shower cap under/over your other hat. Cheap light done.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Great bunch of responses, much to ponder, thanks.

David beat me to the polycryo poncho I see. Nice work though. Looks like you put snaps on the sides? What kind, did they work? You can pull them apart without tearing the poly? You pretty happy with the poncho's functionality, other than the hot hood? Did you shower-test it? How does it function as a groundcloth, with the head hole? I thought a groundcloth was compromised if it had holes in it.

Nick: I do own a couple of Tilly hats, which I use for outdoor work, I never considered them for backpacking due to the cotton and 5.5 oz weight. Maybe I already own the solution, but I'm guessing your LT6 is a nylon hat? Yes, cactus will certainly shred polycryo. I'm not an accomplished and intrepid hiker like you, so don't plan much use for the poncho at all; for me this is an emergency contingency, pack-ballast if you will.** If I thought I'd be in the rain frequently, I'd go with a decent jacket. (currently I own frogg toggs which I'd take if rain were in the forecast.) But at some point you have to trust empiricism, and I just don't see much rain where I hike, so have targeted this area for lightening. I think we're all agreed that a poncho is not an ideal piece for hiking (altho it does ventilate) regardless of the material. So: This polycryo hat cover idea of yours, a good one. Do you envision elastic around the brim? How would you batten it down?

Adam: Yes, a windshirt (a Houdini) will be worn underneath; always carried and will be first on if rain starts to fall. The poncho is for over that. ((PS: Sent you a PM regards our previous conversation.))

Patrick: I will definitely try the showercap idea. That's the fastest solution!

Ken: Yes, my intelligence deficit, again. I'm not quite as bright as my avatar photo makes me look. We do what we can to cope.

Bob: If you don't stop controlling my thoughts, I will have to use the aluminum foil in my hat. Please stop, so I can hike lighter.

** Honestly, I'm extremely tempted to just use my tent's fly as my contingency poncho. Still need a rainproof hat, though.

[David Gardner]

"Looks like you put snaps on the sides? What kind, did they work? You can pull them apart without tearing the poly? You pretty happy with the poncho's functionality, other than the hot hood? Did you shower-test it? How does it function as a groundcloth, with the head hole? I thought a groundcloth was compromised if it had holes in it."

Yes, I used snaps, from a little snap kit I bought from my local hardware store. I grasp the duct tape they are installed through, and no tears so far.

I did test it when I first made it. It works fine as a poncho since there are no seams in the main body and the seam to the hood is well taped. Initially I took a nice warm shower, and the hood was too hot. Then I got the idea of running the shower cold like in real west coast rain rain. Our tap water comes out at about 65* F, and I found that with the cool water on the hood it cooled it down enough to be comfortable. Hopefully like it would feel when hiking in real rain. Probably still too hot for light rain or drizzles though.

It seems to work well as a ground cloth under normal conditions. The hood is laid down flat to cover the hole. Haven't had a chance to try it on the ground in the rain though, and I would imagine moisture could work its way through.

[John Almond]

patrat said: Just use a disposable shower cap under/over your other hat. Cheap light done.

That's what I've gone over to for cooler wet-weather backpacking. I use an adjustable-back visor as year-round face protection, with various things used under it as the weather requires. For cool, wet backpacking, that's a shower cap. For hot, dry, little-to-no overhead cover backpacking, that's a bandanna (French Foreign Legion style).

With a good neck dam on your hoodless poncho, it's awfully nice. You can see and hear much better than with an hood, and you give up very little in temperature management or face coverage.

It works.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Sorry to be dense, John, but:

"Adjustable back visor"…?

"Neck dam on your hoodless poncho"…?

Please elaborate?

[Anthony Huhn]

I think he means….
a visor with an adjustable back
and a neck gaitor (buff brand for instance)

Anthony

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Thanks Anthony. I read that all wrong. I was trying to grok a back-pointing visor that was adjustable…LOL.

[John Almond]

Delmar asked: Sorry to be dense, John, but:

"Adjustable back visor"…?

"Neck dam on your hoodless poncho"…?

Please elaborate?

Anthony was correct about the visor. Mine's got Velcro on the back that lets me adjust it when needed to size up or down depending on what headgear I've got going on at the time.

As far as the neck dam goes, though, that's a little trickier. You're going to want a way to cinch up the head hole of your poncho that doesn't let any cold water run between it and your neck.

I've found that a simple grosgrain drawstring channel works okay (not great, but okay), but I want to check out the possibility of making a sil flap underneath that with my next model to seal up better against my neck. It doesn't matter much above ~45º F or so, but below that even a little water feels very cold against my skin.

[Frank T]

Nick said: "Now you said you use a baseball cap and skirt for the sun. In the desert I prefer a wide brimmed hat (a Tilley LT-6). Why not get a decent hat and then make a rain cover for it from your polycro?"

I bookmarked one of these to use with my Tilley but never got around to buying it.

https://www.horseloverz.com/product/outerwear/362115-rain-hat-cover.html

I suppose something similar could be made out of polycro.

[Glenn S]

They make Tyvek hoods… They make Tyvek everything.
And they're so stylish too!

[Delmar O’Donnell]

If the KKK had nuns, that's what they'd look like!

Of course, that would also be the near perfect answer to my dilemma, so what's the source? I may be taking my vows soon.

EDIT n/m
http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/tyvek-large-hood-with-elastic.html
Cost of $1.21
http://www.uline.com/Product/ProductDetailRootItem.Aspx?modelnumber=S-14615
Cost of $1.40 and you have to order 20.

[Mario Caceres]

“…..** Honestly, I’m extremely tempted to use my tent fly as my contingency poncho”

Delmar, we are actually on the same path. I do have a cuben fiber pyramid tent I made last year that has a double zipper. When I built the tent the idea of the double zipper was so I could leave it slightly open on top (when conditions allowed) to aid with ventilation / minimize condensation.

This double zipper and the ability to make a small opening towards the top of the tent works well now that I intent to use this tent as a poncho as I can stick my head out thru that opening. Furthermore, if It gets a bit steamy while hiking with the poncho I can unzip temporarily to let the steam out.

When I tried this idea first, the tent walls were too long, so initially I considered folding them up with some plastic snaps (as some commercial tarp ponchos like Exped have), but I was not too keen of putting snaps in the middle of the walls panels as this would introduce a weak point for potential leaks, etc. So what I ended up doing was to take part of the material on top of the pyramid and make it like a knot and let it hang on the back (like a pony tail).

Now, all I have left to do is to get appropriate rain protection for my head, and this thread has had some interesting ideas. I may join the “KKK nun club” :-)

Cheers,

Mario

p.s I have the tent on my camping box in storage, but I’ll try to post some pictures later on as my explanation above may not be very clear

[Delmar O’Donnell]

> When I tried this idea first, the tent walls were too long, so initially I considered folding them up with some plastic snaps (as some commercial tarp ponchos like Exped have), but I was not too keen of putting snaps in the middle of the walls panels as this would introduce a weak point for potential leaks, etc. So what I ended up doing was to take part of the material on top of the pyramid and make it like a knot and let it hang on the back (like a pony tail).

I would like to see this in a photo when you get a chance. I'm dealing with the same issue, using a Hubba fly. Double-zip in the front. Lots of material in the back that needs to be gathered and shortened. The fly has several tie-out points around the perimeter and I simply gathered these in a plastic carabiner and hooked it to a short cord that hooked to another tie-out closer to the "neck" area of the fly. It made a shorter bag-like poncho. I look something like a GREEN FIG when I wear it. But coupled with a decent rainproof hood, it might work. I'm worried about gathering the material up at the bottom, though, because it creates a potential catchment. I can just hear myself saying to my friends: "Hey, hang on a second while I dump water out of my caboose." I need to shower-test this idea before proceeding.

The other problem is getting to it in a surprise rainstorm, since I roll the fly with the tent and my pad into a sushi roll. Which is why I'm exploring a dead-simple lightweight polycryo poncho to rest in the top of my pack.

[Daryl and Daryl]

"If the KKK had nuns, that's what they'd look like"

Thanks for the laugh. Perfect!

[Mario Caceres]

Hi Delmar,

Sorry for delay posting this pictures, but I went backpacking over the weekend.

These pictures show Mr Sad using my pyramid tent as it is. He is just sticking his sad head over the opening near the top created by unzipping the top slider on the double zipper. As a reference Mr Sad is about 5’9” and is wearing a fully loaded Golite Jam 50. The pyramid is a MYOG similar to a golite Shangri-La 3 (Hexagon) but a little larger.

As I mentioned before, if you gather part of the excess material from the top and make a “pony tail”….

….. Mr Sad becomes Mr Happy :-). I think taking a little less material on top would have be better, but this can be fine tuned without any problem.

Also I’m including a detail of the neck.

On the “fitting tests” I didn’t find the zipper (#3) uncomfortable at all. It actually fits snug against the skin, but I may wear some kind of neck protection to avoid any abrasion of my neck by the zipper teeth. I normally wear a Capilene with zip neck as my baselayer so it's turtle neck when is fully zipped can give me enough protection, otherwise a buff or a bandana can work too.

This set up should work with any pyramid tent with double zipper. To be honest, I haven’t tried this set up on the field yet, so how effective it is remains to be seen. But if it works it will allow me to leave my rain gear behind when I really need to shed some weight on my packload.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[Author]

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