Poncho-- nylon or plastic?

[murphydog201]

What are the practical differences between a nylon and plastic poncho, besides the fact that the nylon ones are more expensive? I'm planning to bring a nylon one that covers me and the backpack. I'm debating whether I also need a lightweight rainjacket to cover my forearms that stick out of the poncho.

[Covey]

The nylon poncho's are usually made of a woven material which has a much better "non-rip" performance than the plastic ones.

When you are struggling to get in to (or under!) the poncho, it tends to snag on the pack, and you want to make sure that the material does not tear when you are putting it on or taking it off.

Some poncho's have small pockets in the bottom edges so that you can put pebbles in to weigh it down when it is windy. The Queen is said to have small lead weights in the bottom hems of her dresses to avoid a Marilyn Monroe incident!

Make sure that the poncho is designed to go over a pack as well as you!

You could buy a rain jacket, or you could just keep your arms inside the poncho! The thin rain jackets don't do much for keeping you warm and my advice would be to carry a fleece rather than a separate rain jacket.

If you are walking in the rain, you are likely to get as wet inside the jacket from sweat as from the rain outside. Rain jackets made with fabric such as Gortex will not pass the moisture out through the fabric fast enough to stop you getting wet on the inside. The Gortex rain jackets tend to be fine if you are just wandering around town, but if you are doing hard exercise such as walking with a pack on your back for hours on end, you are going to get wet both inside and out. The poncho allows much better air flow around the body and gets rid of the moisture faster.

[John Hussey]

What are the practical differences between a nylon and plastic poncho, besides the fact that the nylon ones are more expensive? I'm planning to bring a nylon one that covers me and the backpack. I'm debating whether I also need a lightweight rainjacket to cover my forearms that stick out of the poncho.

Nylon ones will last longer and not tear as they flap wildly in the wind. They are an ideal choice for warmer, even cooler weather, but not cold weather. Most heat is lost by the walking and climbing hiker from convection.

The hiker looses body heat from conduction, convection, radiation, evaporation and respiration but the greatest loss is from convection and the greatest killer is wind.

And, convective heat loss occurs in response to wind (active convection) and the chimney effect of air movement in clothing (passive convection). Windproof clothing, worn over insulating clothing capable of trapping dead air, provides protection against the convective heat loss. The value of a very thin wind shirt to block the wind for outdoor activities cannot be emphasized enough. The wind shirt should be highly breathable (to minimize overheating and speed moisture vapor movement out of the clothing system) and very thin, so as not to contribute significantly to the insulative value of a clothing system. One's clothing should be chosen to control (not just prevent or minimize) passive convection (the chimney effect). Clothing with adjustable cuffs and hems that can be opened or closed and clothing with long pit zips provides the most versatility ? open or close each, or some, or none, either to preserve heat or to vent heat and cool down and minimize overheating. The faster one walks the hotter one becomes and the inside thin clothing layers trap warm air, gather one's body moisture upon it, and move it towards the outer layers and, outside, through clothing openings.

One can in deed, by correctly choosing one's clothing, walk for days on end in the cold, pouring rain and stay quite dry. You will likely have to do so while walking The Camino in spring, winter or fall. In summer, you can just walk in the rain and get wet. It refreshes and cools you down and you dry quickly, if it is hot enough. And, Spain in summer can get quite hot, especially if you are from a northern latitude and not quite accustomed to the heat.

A good, lightweight combination for staying dry in cooler weather is first a synthetic tee shirt upon your bare torso, then a wind shirt, like a British Buffalo or Paramo, or US Marmot, or others, then a very lightweight rain covering with hood, at least partially zipped in front and especially made with long pit zips, where most of one's heat will be exited while staying dry. In fact leave the zips fully open always and only close them when you become chilled when you wish to keep the warmth in..

Staying dry while backpacking in the cold rain is really quite simple-with the correct (and newer) clothing choices- and knowing very well how to use them. There has always been the old belief there was nothing one could do but become wet while walking in the rain, that either one was wet from the falling rain or one's exuding sweat. But this came about before the advent of newer clothing, when all the outer wear was impermeable slickers. Things have changed, and for once, for the better.