GoLite Poncho Tarp

I love poncho tarping, but I have a couple of questions before I can fully recommend it as a good fit for you.

First, do you have other tarp experience? You're in a pretty damp part of the country, and it's helpful to have experience with larger tarps that aren't so picky about site selection and getting the perfect pitch for the conditions. Keeping things dry and comfortable is definitely a bit different when tarping vs tenting.

Also, if you don't already have one, you'll need to buy or make a good bivy. Poncho tarps simply cannot keep all moisture away from your bag or quilt in big windy storms, and unless you have a good bivy your sleeping bag will be soaked by the end of the night (also a good argument for using synthetic insulation when using a poncho tarp).

I would recommend a water resistant wind shirt in place of your paclite shell because they are lighter and more versatile, but if you really want to keep the raincoat as part of your system it seems like a regular tarp would fill your needs at less weight. A poncho doesn't really offer good leg protection for all day rain, so I would be more likely to use a wind shirt with rain pants under a poncho than a rain coat and no rain pants. (I actually just use water resistant wind shell top and bottom most of the time.)

All that being said, I bought an Equinox poncho tarp for $25 or $30 off gear swap just to experiment, and fell in love with the setup. I love how close to nature you feel under a small tarp (though some people feel too exposed) and I get a real rush riding out a big storm under it.

Good luck!

-David

David,

Thanks for the insights. I've got the equinox bivy also in my sights for the near future. I've only very limited tarp experience but, personality wise I don't think I have any issues with the feeling of exposure that seems to frighten some people away from tarps.

Also, good idea about the windshirt combo. Seems like maybe ditching the gortex, and using, a windshirt, water resistant bottoms of some kind(dry ducks?) and the poncho would be better off. I also like the idea of some at least water resistant top in case I have to get wet while pitching the poncho as a tarp. (i know this can be done theoretically with the gatewood or others without getting wet.)

As I mentioned, I'm a bit short on budget for all this stuff, so I'm trying to experiment with the least $$ possible.

Thanks!!

as david mentioned the entire point of the poncho tarp is so that you dont need to bring a rain jacket, else you might as well bring a very light tarp

however if you do get a tarp, might as well be a poncho one as the weight isnt too much higher than normal tarps ;)

you need to be able to handle 2 things

1. hiking with a poncho … not for some people, as it can get in the way

2. camping with a tarp … again may not be for some people

i would just get a 3$ poly 13 oz tarp and experiment with that first and see how you like it … then get the poncho tarp if you are willing to ditch the rain jacket on those trips youll carry it

conside the fact as well that you can get a 6 oz rain jacket and a 3 oz tarp for the same weight as a silnylon poncho tarp ….

You might be able to find a used poncho tarp or bivy for a good price on gear swap if you post a want ad. A word of caution, Equinox uses questionable fabric, and mine leaked like a sieve (really, water ran right through it) before I coated it with silicon, and I had to sew on additional guyline attachment points before it could be pitched properly. Golite, ID, MLD or any other brand that uses quality fabrics and construction should be trail worthy with less effort.

Ive been reasonably happy with the hooded Golite Ether wind shirt to keep me dryish while pitching the tarp and making bathroom runs after it's pitched. For pants I use the 2.4oz Montbell U.L. Wind Pants and have been pleased with their performance, but driducks would probably work great as well. It's pretty much just a fact of life that in one or more days of sustained rain you and your stuff are going to get a bit wet, and these conditions are especially challenging with a poncho tarp.

While you're first experimenting with the poncho/bivy combo you may be more comfortable using your current rain gear for a while. That way there would be less pressure while you're setting up camp, or if you find you need to change your pitch to suit the conditions. If you decide poncho tarping is your thing, you could then work on dialing in your shell layers to something lighter and more versatile.

n/m

The tarp for my hammock doubles as my cape. I've only had to pitch in the rain a couple of times. I bought a 2 oz. disposable poncho to wear while setting up, and for short excursions away from my hang.

That's where the wind shells with good dwr come into play. You have to move fast, but if you're proficient in your setup and do as much as you can before getting out from under the poncho you can minimize how wet you get. (Assuming I don't screw up, I don't feel like I get much wetter than using rain gear and a regular tarp.) Practice is definitely the key–preferably practice when it's dry or not raining buckets.

Unless I'm wearing eVent, I feel like I get pretty wet from sweat when hiking in full rain gear, so it's not much of a trade off for me.

mine is a ID which is very similar to the Golite one (size/materials/weight) as mentioned you definitely want a bivy- my choice was the MLD Superlight, provides pretty good wet protection from spray, adds a little to the temp rating of my bag and provides netting for bugs- all for ~ 6 oz- not too shabby :)

I also agree that a windshirt w/ a good DWR makes more sense than a rain jacket as the whole idea of a poncho/tarp is combining two items into one

definitely practice your pitches at home- there is a good thread floating around (w/ pics) of the various pitch options

the poncho/tarp gives me shelter and rain gear for just a little over a pound (poncho/tarp, bivy, guys/stakes)

David – again, thanks for the advice. Also for the warning on equinox. I've been attracted to their prices, but figured there must have been a catch. Still might be worth a shot via a vendor who is return friendly.

Mike – MLD superlight looks pretty nice. Been on my wishlist for a while. Also good to hear from a pro poncho/tarp voice. Seems like the opinions go either way about the durability of wearing your shelter around all day and potentially damaging it and leaving yourself exposed. Ah well, nothing a patch and duct tape cant fix.

I just posted a wtb on the gear swap…curious what comes up.

Thanks again all!

You may have already seen this, but here is a link to a BPL article that specifically deals with poncho tarps:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/poncho_tarp_techniques_gear_inclement_conditions.html

Good stuff for anyone considering poncho tarps, with a good rundown of advantages and disadvantages, and techniques to deal with the disadvantages.

The GoLite poncho is well made and is good rain gear. Ponchos make for very small tarp shelters and aren't really effective unless paired with a bivy bag of some sort. I do carry the poncho as emergency shelter for day hikes.

I use a Gatewood Cape and it provides much more shelter than a poncho, with 360 degree coverage and a door, and uses just one pole and 6 stakes. There is a bug nest available too.

My experience with the Golite poncho is similar, and I too prefer the Gatewood Cape in scenarios where I am (or even might) want it as shelter as well as raingear.
If just raingear, then I like the Golite better; it's just simpler.

If pitched in sort of "sloped pup tent" fashion, the poncho I find is long enough, barely, but pretty minimal on width. I've used it without a bivy, but tent to pitch it pretty low, with the foot ends staked to the ground and a short trekking pole holding the middle of the end off the ground, and the head end higher up, but still not all that high. In this configuration it's not that comfortable, I can't sit up inside it, for example, and there's still some risk of wind-blown rain. The Gatewood Cape is much much better as a tent, albeit can feel a little "short" to some, i.e., keeping both your head and the foot end of your sleeping bag from touching the actual (single walled) tent fabric.

The G.C. is adequate as a poncho, in some ways nice — that front zipper can be great at times.

Note also that if you do much or any bushwhacking, it can add to your pucker factor in wet weather if you're putting both your raingear and shelter at risk when pushing through brush or lots of blowdowns on an established trail.

I'm fairly tall, so I found the Gatewood Cape to be quite uncomfortable, and a bit more finicky to get pitched just right. Even the Golite poncho is a little short for me, which is why I was happy to mod an equinox extension poncho for the extra length.

If pitched as a half-pyramid or modified half pyramid, I can easily sit up under it, and find that with good site selection I can weather most storms this way without having to pitch it lower to the ground. It does take a bit more care and effort than the simplest pitches of the Gatewood though.

I will absolutely admit that for people with a bit less height, the Gatewood provides excellent protection from the elements, even to the point where a bivy wouldn't be needed on most sorts of trips.

I’ve been happy with my Equinox extended poncho, once I added the extra tie-outs in the center of the short ends. No problems with the material.

I personally can’t buy in to combining this with an extra bivy. If I thought I would need more protection, I’d bring my Equinox 8’ x 10’ tarp, instead.

In either case I use a GG polcryo ground cloth and bring a wind shirt.

geoff

Could anyway post a photo of the golite poncho used while carrying a backpack.
I searched all over the web but couldn't find one …

thanks a lot !