Heat Exhaustion

Old Saying: No matter how far down the wrong path you’ve gone, turn back.

David T: Thanks for the detail about your “sunbrella”. I have been tinkering with umbrellas for a couple of years. I’m not 100% happy with any of them (yet), but I often carry some kind or another.

One of my favorites is the Umbrella Hat that I have discussed elsewhere. The one that I like best so far is small-ish, like 24″ across if I recall correctly, has a soft headband (important), and no vent (the vented kind adds weight with little added functionality). My hat is good up to about 7 mph wind. I have added split-rings to the tips of four of the spines so that I can quickly clip on guylines for stronger wind, although my testing has been limited.

I also carry a MontBell Rain Umbrero. It’s super light (<2oz) and packable, works for both rain and sun. It has a unique harness that keeps the hat entirely off my head for maximum ventilation, and it also creates 4-point guylines for wind resistance. It is a candidate for the “world’s best hat”.

I’ve never been quite happy with lightweight umbrellas attached to my pack. I love your cargo shirt+epaulets idea but, as you say, there are always cases where I cannot adjust the thing the way that I want. I don’t want to sacrifice a trekking pole to carry the umbrella in my hand, so I remain frustrated.

The most satisfying thing I have so far is a “chair umbrella“. It works very well, but  the clamp is heavy, so the entire thing weighs a pound. That’s more than double the weight of a lightweight umbrella, but it works. Tradeoffs.

Terry’s photo looks a bit like the chair umbrella, but it might be lighter weight than the 7 ounce clamp that mine uses.

an umbrella was designed to be held by your hand with the cover over you.  And designed to fold up when you g out of the rain.

maybe that isn’t such a good format for hiking

maybe a rectangle of tubing or fiberglass rod or carbon fiber rod with waterproof fabric between.  Over your head.  That would be attached to your pack with a couple vertical pieces.  Something like that.

A canopy.

maybe that isn’t such a good format for hiking

Maybe not, but as was proved by literally every Victorian woman ever, I can easily manipulate a parasol…and let’s be honest: that’s what we’re talking about, here, regarding sun-umbrellas.  I can switch it between hands, give it to someone else, drop it, easily collapse it, store it, bash it over the heads of moustachioed highwaymen, and possibly even use it as protection against the sun with a lot more adjustability than would be offered by most other solutions.

defend yourself against wildlife

a standard umbrella is definitely more flexible

if the umbrella is attached to your pack, you can only use it when you’re carrying your pack

defend yourself against wildlife

I’ve actually done that, in opposition to some very food-motivated seagulls…which may not actually qualify as “wildlife” now that I think about it. 🤔

Seagulls poop in your food, then eat it when you throw it away.

Umbrella would have been a better choice compared to my 1lb camp chair that I chauffeured around the entire day…