Reader Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5

Please see Will's review on this product: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/golite_ultra_lite_poncho_tarp_review.html

Below are my comments on the review, as well as some additional comments.

1- There is no need for a waist cord, with this tarp-poncho or others. It is MUCH more effective to take the corners of the back half of the poncho and tie them around one's waist. This improves fit (it conforms to the body better, and it won't flare out if it's windy or if the poncho gets snagged by overgrown brush); eliminates feet/legs from getting caught up in hanging back of the poncho when you kick back; protects one's pack better (the back half of the poncho wraps around it nicely); and reduces the possibility that a branch sticking out into the trail could snag the poncho and give you whiplash or tear the fabric, or both.

2- Will is right about the hood cinch cord, and this is easily improved by re-threading the cord loop with 2mm p-cord and refitting it with a cinch lock. This saves a little bit of weight too.

3- You cave save additional weight by removing the Velcro patches (6 total, each about 1.5"x3"), which for a 6' person with a pack are not necessary. For a shorter person, or for someone not wearing a pack, they may be a useful feature. You will need to seal the holes left by the needle with seam sealer. Another way to save some weight is, as mentioned, to remove the extra fabric used in installing the snaps.

4- If a pool of rainwater is collecting in the hood when pitched A-frame style, then you are not pitching it optimally. I suggest either stringing the hood to a tree above, or pulling it off to the side with a 3' guyline and stake.

5- If pitched lean-to style, you can mostly eliminate flapping by increasing the tension along the top length by either hanging something from the top middle stake loop (like a cookpot) or using a 3' guyline to stake it down, which is what I usually do. This latter option improves weather resistance too, because you become less vulnerable from wind and rain from that direction.

6- As far as the extra weight of the fabric, I will only say that I used my tarp-poncho on the entire Colorado Trail and then for 5,000+ miles on the C2C. It never ripped and never lost its waterproofness.

Rating: 3 / 5

I bought this on eBay after seeing Andrew's success on the C2C with it, so I figured the strong fabric would be tough enough to withstand the worst that the desert could throw at it.

First off, I love the low weight and versatility of the poncho/tarp concept. It rarely rains in AZ, and I believe this would stand up to a typical desert shower, however I never wore the poncho in rain. It was room enough to wait out an afternoon shower in Colorado in my sleeping bag, with really no space underneath to do anything but lay down flat. This tarp just wasn't for me, the space restictions and wanting to go to a lighter yet bigger spinnaker tarp left me to sell it back on eBay where I first bought it, and I will soon be sewing my own tarp

Edited by fairweather8588 on 05/25/2007 17:16:53 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

I like mine, I slept under it and worn it several times in rainy conditions. Consider using the "extra fabric used in installing the snaps" for binding the poncho arround you with a piece of paracord + cord locker wich works fine for me.