Converting Groundsheet into a hoodless poncho

1) Headless ponchos definitely are NOT worthless!  Your umbrella will certainly work, and you probably have a hat too, for when the ‘brella is not practical.

2) Reinforcing w/DCF tape is smart.  Clear packing tape would work, in truth, but will look like crap and lose some effectiveness over time.  Cheap though.

An umbrella, windshirt, and water-resistant pack works great for me in steady rainfalls. If I expected a lot of blowing rain, I’d consider swapping the umbrella for a poncho plus a rain hat (lighter than any umbrella). I’m not a big fan of poncho hoods.

A simple slit might not work very well as a head hole. Consider mocking one up in much cheaper polycro or Tyvek before slicing into DCF. If a slit works, you’ll want to reinforce the ends with tape to stop the slice from getting longer.

would the resulting hole then let in too much water when it is in Groundsheet mode?

If you camp on wetter ground, or rain channels through your campsite, you’ll regret the head hole.

Check for pinholes every night and patch them with DCF tape. More holes means more water seeping through.

Good campsite selection can help with both problems. But sometimes we don’t get to choose an ideal campsite, or conditions change.

— Rex

One of the great strengths of DCF is its repairability. If you carry enough tape, you could close the slit in case of a wet campsite.

My Zpacks poncho/groundsheet has a zipper near the hood. I don’t yet know how waterproof it is. I wrap a bit of cord around the hood to minimize the opening. My plan is to make a lump under the hood in case of a wet night, this’ll maybe keep water away from the hood opening.

My hood is attached to the rest of the poncho with DCF tape. If you can get some DCF, it might be relatively simple to attach a DCF hood.

thanks for the replies! I’m going to make a cheap one out of polycro and see how that goes before cutting into the DCF.

my plans for it however are to cut a slit for the head to go through, then attach a small strip of DCF over it that I can snap close with camsnaps. I’ll probably use an old DCF stuff sack for that part.

If the DCF stuff sack is large enough for a head opening, maybe you could cut the bottom out of the stuff sack, and tape those bottom edges to the slit in the ground cloth.  It might make a nice turtle neck, but I have not tried this.  I do have an old MLD spinnaker poncho that is hoodless (with about 4 or 5 inches of turtleneck), which is what gave me the idea.

Stumbled across a similar project:

— Rex