Hiking vs regular umbrellas

[AK Granola]

I searched the forums a bit but nothing very recent on umbrellas. Are designated “hiking umbrellas” any better or lighter or sturdier than cheap umbrellas that fold up tiny? It’s one of those pieces of gear I wouldn’t normally carry, but they sure looked nice in Grand Canyon in the hot afternoon.

[Steve Thompson]

The hiking umbrellas, such as the old golite chrome dome have no metal pieces to bend.  I’ve had the wind, on multiple occasions flip mine inside out, and it has always recovered.

And as for “shade” they work wonders.  Desert southwest (including grand canyon), trail hiking (and even some x-country) hiking in the Sierra, just about anywhere lacking dense brush or forest cover, they work wonders.  Hiking in the sun without a hat makes it feel much cooler.

[DWR D]

Problem is… the better temperature times in many desert areas (spring and fall) are often high wind times…. high winds and umbrellas don’t play well together…

[DWR D]

the backpacking umbrellas tend to have that silver coating that reflects the sun and is more opaque than the city umbrellas…

The ones that fold up so small have many more ‘joints’ that allow that folding which makes them more likely to fail… I would think…

 

[Sam Farrington]

Yes, in high winds, a WPB bucket hat, covered by a WPB hood on the jacket, work much better for me than an umbrella.

[Mark V.]

I found my Gossamer Gear umbrella to be sturdier then the small compact umbrellas I used to steel from my wife. In addition, the dark underside and shiny outside makes for a much darker umbrella than the little ones. I have used my umbrella for rain too, without issues.

[David D]

Backpacking umbrellas typically are much lighter than usual compact ones.  My small regular compact umbrellas all weigh ~ 12 oz, ~ 37.5″ canopy & 22″ shaft. My Six Moons Silver Shadow Trekking Carbon Umbrella is 6.3 oz but has a fixed 25″ shaft and also has a full size 37.5″ canopy.  Of course it doesn’t compact down.  Gossamer and zpacks make in-use holders to attach to your pack or you could jury rig hydration clips

Here tested a reflective umbrella and found it a bit cooler, by just a few degrees.

My lightest compacting umbrella is a Sea to Summit pocket umbrella, 6oz, 32.5″ canopy.   Its shorter and the smaller canopy makes it less useful to attach to a backpack (and its more fragile).  I still take it on backcountry kayak trips for around camp use, its great for that.  It was recently discontinued though.

[Bill Budney]

My Six Moons Silver Shadow Trekking Carbon Umbrella is 6.3 oz but has a fixed 25″ shaft and also has a full size 37.5″ canopy.

In my limited experience, the shaft length is important for mounting an umbrella to pack straps. I have off-the-shelf umbrellas that don’t weigh much more, but they have 19″ shafts which is insufficient. The canopy touches my head, which is annoying. So, yeah, that 25″ shaft is appealing.

I recently bought an umbrella hat from Amazon and it is terrific. Most comfortable hat I own, because only the elastic band touches my head; the rest is fully ventilated. It works with a light pack, although it might interfere with something large lashed to the top of the pack. I would love to find one made with better materials.

[Jerry Adams]

umbrella hats are pretty close to bamboo asian hats, e.g.

[d k]

Bill, what size is your umbrella hat?  I see that they now have 37″ as well as 25″ diameter aluminized hats on Amazon.

[Mark Verber]

Montbell Umbrero Rain Hat  has been my goto hat for the last 2 years. 1.8oz folding hat which fully shades my face, ears, and neck. It’s fully waterproof but still provides the best ventilation of any hat I have used. It deforms but usable in 25mph winds. Montbell listing originally said provide protection from sun, but when I reached out to ask what’s its UPF was informed the indication of UV protection was a bug in their website. I addressed the lack of UV protection by coating the inside with a paint which fully blocks UV. I think it’s silly looking, and periodically have people point and laugh… but I have also received compliments and periodically have people chase me down to ask where they could purchase one for themselves. When walking the Camino we had around 90 people ask us where they could get their own and numerous people asking for either a selfie with us or to borrow it for a photo.

[Bill Budney]

Mark: That Umbrero hat looks perfect. Thanks for the link; others have mentioned it in the past but I couldn’t find it on Montbell’s American web site.

dk: I got one of each. The 25″ might be a convenient size (weighs 5oz/140g), although the headband has some hard plastic bits that are slightly uncomfortable. Wear it over a headband, or maybe replace the headband with some MYOG elastic. Or, perhaps better yet, get the Umbrero.

The 37″ hat has a comfortable elastic headband and is as large as a regular umbrella, so it gives me full coverage over my pack and torso. I’ve used it in wind gusts up to 5mph with no problems. The majority of Summer rain in my vicinity has little to no wind.

Timmermade has a picture of some kind of prototype hat on their Facebook page.

[Mark Verber]

On the US site it’s under women’s rain hats

https://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=25071&p_id=1128612&gen_cd=2

 

[David D]

Mark, nice find in the woman’s section.  Someone posted on line that Montbell Japan wouldn’t ship him the hat to the US.

Bill, ya, as I wrote to you a couple months back, even the S2S 22.5″ shaft was too short for a pack and is why I bought the Six Moons.  So IMO a standard drug store collapsible will be too short

[Mark Verber]

that’s odd.  A few months ago we did an order from MontBell.jp which included a couple of hats + some other items without a problem.

[Terran Terran]

I have an EuroSHIRM UL trekking umbrella.

25” shaft

37.5” width

I haven’t been happy with attaching it to the shoulder straps. It’s difficult to get into position, it flops around, pulls at the straps, and tends to hang too low. You have to open it before attaching or your heads in the way. I have found ways to attach it more securely, but it’s hard to adjust as the sun moves or the trail turns. It involves taking the pack off and putting it back on with an open umbrella.
I don’t want to hold it  and I use trekking poles. It mostly stays home.
I’ve often thought of a canopy coming off of the pack. It could be flipped up and flipped down. Umbrellas really aren’t designed for it. They’re an adaptation.

[Glen L]

You just hardly ever see anyone using umbrellas around here for sun or rain hiking. The hardcore groups use Tilley or Sunday Afternoon headgear. Did some remnants of Hurricane Hillary hiking with our super wide brim LTM2 Tilleys and while they make excellent shade they are good for light summer rains too when it’s too sweaty for full rain gear that will drench one inside anyway.

[AK Granola]

Where is “around here” Glen?

[Glen L]

Southern Arizona

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get an umbrella but girlfriend and I are finding the hats easy to manage with canyon and mountain bushwhacking but we have to keep them strapped down. The wind will affect an umbrella and it also affects these wide brim Tilleys. First trip on the way back from either Utah or northern Arizona we stopped for a tailgate lunch by the Gila River and a gust picked my new hat up off my head and put it down in the river. It sort of sat there in an eddy and then started to go. The river was muddy so I had no idea how deep but I plunged in fully dressed. It was knee deep and the hat was recovered. A dust devil snatched it in northern Arizona just as we entered our backpacking journey and once more and took it down a short canyon, turned right and went out of sight. Girlfriend found it so after that it is always strapped down. Tilley has a nice strap system.

We have seen a couple of road walkers with umbrellas but none on the trails anywhere. We’ve used the Tilleys in most of the western states, New Hampshire, New York, Canada and Mexico while backpacking and hiking but mostly in the southwest.

[hillnaut]

I’ve tried everything to fend off rain on hikes, and nothing compares to the combination of umbrella, waterproof socks, and a light wind jacket. Where I hike (southern New England), we can have wet summers with high humidity (70-80F and heavy downpours) like we’ve had this year. The trails are often tight footpaths through dense woods, so ponchos are out. They get snagged on trails that are only 1-2 ft. wide. WPB don’t actually work in this kind of heat. You’ll sweat out a WPB in a few minutes when it’s 80F and pouring buckets, even with ventilation.

I use a Victorinox Travel Edge Ultralight umbrella, which is actually made by a company called Knirps. It’s a perfect umbrella for backpacking as it’s light (105g on my scale) and is incredibly compact. Far more compact than the typical ultralight umbrella designed for thru hiking. I carry it on every hike, including day hikes, and even when there is a low expectation of rain. I’ve also used it for keeping deer flies off my head and pushing through thick brush on very narrow footpaths. It’s supposed to hold up to 50MPH wind, but I haven’t had to deal with that. Wind will invert it, but you simply face it toward the wind again and it will flip back to shape. It’s one of my favorite pieces of gear.

Even with this combo, there are still situations where I’ll get wet. On very narrow footpaths through thick woods, shrubs will rub against your torso and legs as you walk. That will soak you eventually in sustained precipitation. You’re only recourse is to stay warm and wear clothing/shoes that dry quickly. The alternative (e.g., WPB, poncho) will wet out from sweat, and I’d rather be wet from rain than salty sweat. That’s only going to clog the membrane on your WPB and make you feel even more miserable.

[Bill Budney]

Knirps ultralight umbrellas look terrific. How long is the shaft when extended? Many folding umbrellas have shafts too short to work on my pack (<20 inches/50 cm). Longer umbrellas work better (~24 inches/60 cm).

[AK Granola]

So with the Victorinox umbrella, you carry it in your hand all the time? I think that would be a deal breaker for me since I normally use trekking poles.

[David D]

hillnaut, how big is the canopy on that?  S2S pocket umbrella is 32.5″ which is better for tight trails but even lighter winds penetrate underneath compared to a full size

[jscott]

I found umbrellas to be  great idea that I could never make work. I even had a dedicated umbrella that attached to the frame of my Luxurylite pack–perfect! Except any wind would turn it inside out. I started hating having to fiddle with it all the time. I suppose if I didn’t use hiking poles, an umbrella might work. But I do use poles. As such, I use a Sunday Afternoons sun hat. Or a Simms long billed wrap around to keep rain off my glasses when wearing a hooded rain jacket.

[Dustin V]

I’m with you, @jscott I like the idea of a little microclimate around my head, but an umbrella  has some costs that I can’t quite overcome yet (one hand, wind). A wide hat seems like a workable compromise at half the cost.

I’ll probably grab one of the silver hiking umbrellas at some point, but it would mean changing some other stuff in my kit to take advantage of a bulky, but potentially multi-use item.

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