Poncho, poncho/tarp materials

I can't comment on what would be the ultimate choice of material, but the current market of poncho/tarps are almost all silnylon- ID, Equinox, Golite, Sea to Summit and MLD- they range from ~ 8-10 oz

MLD does also offer a cuben version that is about half the weight (iirc)

I'm going to give a poncho/tarp a go next season for solo trips

I have silnylon and a spinn fabric poncho/tarp from MLD. Both are well crafted pieces of gear, but I prefer the silnylon one because it is wider.

Ron didn't make a wider spinn fabric tarp because as two pieces of fabric stitched together he was limited by the size of the fabric bolt, which for spinn was smaller than silnylon. I suppose he could have made a larger spinn poncho out of three pieces of fabric, but at some compromise to the strength of the item.

I originally ordered the spinn fabric because of weight, but in practice it did not provide quite enough weather protection when I used it as a tarp. So my recommendation is to first decide the function that is most important to you, and then find the fabric options that will serve that function. Make your choice from these.

For me the larger poncho has more functionality and the 1 oz weight difference an insignificant compromise.

Thanks for the comments. I was reading (if I remember correctly) that the Pakka is moving away from silnylon, so I am interested to see how people balance weight,"breathability,comfort and price.
Franco