A cheap piece of kit worth the money... Emergency poncho

I have a few of those in my pack, I have never needed them but always brought them. I read an article a while back about a group of hikers on a trail who got trapped in some rain, they were on the trail and couldn't make it back and the rain/cold weather ended up killing one of them and putting he other two in hypothermic conditions. Something as simple as one of these may have saved their lives. Sometimes you're out on a trail and it's bright and sunny and all of the sudden a storm moves in!

Also they are great when paired with a couple sticks for making a raft!
 
My wife keeps a few of them in the trunk of her car and pops them in the purse if it looks like rain as we head out for a soccer practice or game. Occasionally they get used, end up balled in the trunk upon return , and I toss them in the big blue can when I find them a week or three later. For a few bucks it's cheap insurance, and the alternative is an expensive poncho that ends up all moldy because Saturday morning at the soccer field turned into saturday afternoon at the gymnastics practice which turned into Sunday... and next thing you know it's been two weeks since anyone has been in the trunk. Sometimes, cheaper is better in todays modern hectic fast-paced life. (but that's a whole 'nother can of worms/ thread)
 
neeman said:
Large Leaf Garbage bags make even cheaper ponchos
They work very well indeed

In the late 70s, I used to take city folk from Manhattan out to the Catskills.
They had no spare change for gear, and the very large garbage bags worked very well for rain gear
Click to expand...

Very similar to the emergency poncho, but a little more versatility is the 55 Gallon Drum Liner in my opinion. Here is my list of uses below with a link on details...

- Poncho
- Insulated "jacket"
- Shelter
- Tube Tent
- Signaling Device
- Mattress
- Duvet
- Dry Storage
- Water Collector
- Water Carrier
- Transpiration Bag
- Wound Irrigation
- Cordage (not so good, but works)
- Glue (not so good, but works)
- Water Purification (rock boil)

http://masterwoodsman.com/2013/trash-bag-guide-to-survival/
 
I went canoeing again yesterday and it was hot and cloudless. I camped last night on a gravel bar under star studded skies. This morning, after I had a liesurely breakfast, packed up and got on the river, the rain set in. And out came the el-cheapo poncho for it's second use.

It rained all day, alternating between a light sprinkle and a hard driving rain that sent others scurrying to find shelter. Not one person I came across had rain gear. Not one. All of them were soaked to the skin and chilled to the bone. I offered to help one young family with two kids, but dad said they were fine, in spite of the kids shivering while huddled under soaked cotton towels.

I sent the outfitter back upstream in his airboat looking for them because they never caught back up with me after I last saw them 2 1/2 hours from the takeout. I left them huddled under a bluff beside the river. I didn't have spare ponchos (or even trash bags), but could have offered hot drinks all around and dried the kids and put them in fleece jackets that stay warm when wet.

I will be buying a half dozen more of these to stash in my river gear though. I think mine, even after it's second use, much heavier than the first, will still be quite usable after drying it and rerolling it. And I'll be on the lookout for more used fleece jackets in kids' sizes.
 
Many of you recall this one:

An Illinois man and his two young sons have died after going missing overnight on a hiking trail in Reynolds County, Missouri.

Reynolds County Coroner Jess McSpadden says the Decareaux's are from Waterloo, Illinois.

According to Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Volner, David Decareaux 36 and his boys, 10-year-old Dominic and 8-year-old Grant, were hiking on the Ozark Trail near Black, Missouri.
Volner says the hikers left camp Saturday around 11 a.m. When they left, it was around 60 degrees. And the three were wearing light clothing and had no rain gear.
However, Volner says the weather changed that afternoon with cooler weather, heavy rains and flash flooding occurring.

Around 2 p.m., a passerby in the Sutton's Bluff area last saw Decareaux and his boys.

Then around 6-7 p.m., the camping lodge contacted the sheriff's office concerned about the Decareaux and boys' safety. The sheriff arrived at the lodge and talked to the Decareaux's wife. She said it wasn't uncommon for her husband to hunker down during a storm to let it pass.

A search ensued from that time until midnight. Volner says areas of the trail were impassable due to water. The search resumed at 7 a.m. Sunday, and Decareaux and his sons were found on the trail several hours later.
When the hikers were found, they were soaking wet. Temperatures had dropped into the 20s.

The sheriff says the David Decareaux was pronounced dead at the scene. Decareaux's sons were taken to an Ellington hospital and administered CPR before being pronounced deceased.

A passerby in a car asked them if they wanted a ride because he noticed the man and his children were wet. The father declined the ride back to the lodge and instead told the driver they would "tough it out." It's speculated that the father was disoriented from hypothermia.

It is reported that the father and kids actually walked pass the lodge and kept walking for another 30 minutes.

Their 4 month old lab survived and was by the families side when they were discovered.
Click to expand...
 
Good to be prepared. It would be easy to keep some garbage bags and a couple of the real flimsy emergency ponchos with gear in a canoe. As mentioned about, it could save a life.

Codger, you're using the heavier one, correct (on the left side photo)? I have one just like it and use it fishing when necessary in rainy weather.... or as part of my gear in my kayak.
 
Heavier? I don't have the other, only the first, Ozark Trails, but it is pretty thin. Like a cheap sandwich baggie. I've not dried and examined it since I got home this evening, so it may well now have some punctures and tears I didn't notice on the river. I do know that I stayed dry in near constant rain for over four hours. Except for the condensation inside of course. These two trips are my first experience with using them. Way back when, I had the cheap red vinyl ponchos and they were crap compared to these, more expensive and seemingly less durable. I did do some of that "portage" stuff this time, basicly dragging my laden canoe around downed trees and other obstructions, so I could well have damaged it on the bushes and branches I passed. Nonetheless, I do believe I was the envy of the others on the river today (one-eyed man king in the land of the blind sorta thing). But it would have been better to have been able to toss them their own ponchos from a thwart bag.
 
rick melear said:
Solid flat grind blade and a good Water purifier and I good
Click to expand...

Wut? :confused:

Edit to add relative content:

The poncho dried completely today, inside and out. No holes or seam tears, so it is good to go for a third usage. I folded it more carefully this time and fit it into a small zip-seal bag close to the size of the original non-reusable polybag it came in. And after this weekend's experience on the river with wet kids, searched the web and found them available cheap from several different sources. I will be stocking up my canoeing drybox with at least a half dozen.

No luck yet on scoring another (third) Patagonia/L.L. Bean fleece zip jacket, so I only have the two. The oldest came from a Goodwill store in excellent condition, but began looking ratty after years of wear at work and in the woods and on the river. So I found the second, newer one on eBay some time back. Both are copies of the original "Patagonia Pile" I bought many years ago on sale from an outdoor store in Little Rock. I was and continue to be impressed with how warm it is, even soaking wet. And it can be fairly well dried, even when sopping wet, by slinging it like a dead cat. My goal is to be prepared to warm up two other people without giving up my own warmies. I'm looking out for some fleece or other synthetic toboggans/beanies on sale or used as well for this same use.

LLBeanFleece.jpg
 
Last edited:
I nearly always pack one of those inexpensive ER ponchos. There is one right under the Mylar blanket.



They make good backups for people who forgot their raingear or even myself however never intentionally plan to use one as primary rain gear. The small pack down size makes them ideal for small possibilities kits.

 
Been a few years since I had one in my inventory, and I damn near forgot about them, but now I may have to get some approximation of the ol Mart poncho back in my lineup. Thanks!
 
My search turned up prices online from .98 cents up. Seems like I gave less that $2 for this one at WalMart last year. And yes, I still carry a rain shelter in my drybox in addition to the emergency poncho. I was just quite impressed with it's usability this first and second use. Light duty, yes. But useful and durable far beyond it's cost.
 
Very useful item and would be much appreciated by a kid in a family canoe outing for that unexpected rain event. You know, us adults are supposed to think of everything in advance and have it ready when they need it.

The one I use cost I believe about $6 or so as I recall. It is a bit heavier duty with a detachable hood. It is not like the ones that are essentially like a baggie big enough to throw over ya. I would rather have the baggie type over a garbage bag however.

I noticed that my wife bought four or five of the really cheap ones in the last few weeks. They appeared inside my garage. They were for kids of course.

For work stuff, I used to tough it out getting wet, use a poncho, or heavy rain gear. Getting soft lately with the purchase of a golf type umbrella that now stays in my work vehicile. Wouldn't take that umbrellas on a canoe trip, but my wife might. :)
 
I have always had a couple cheapies in the trunk of any vehicle I have owned since able to drive(dad's teaching) along with other emergency gear.
have loaned out many times and used a few times myself.

When I am dayhiking etc, always have a shell jacket but have always had a drum liner or light plastic poncho for sitting on or shelter.

good cheap useful gear
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top