Hiking with umbrella?
Posted: Tue 05 Jul, 2011 9:22 am
Curious to know what everyone's thought on using a umbrella on your hikes, and what brand. particularly in hot climates.
Reading overseas forums and notice umbrellas appear to be popular with some hikers. I used to use a Umbrella on my walks in my twenties, I've started hiking again in the past year after a 20 year break. I don't know why it's taken so long to get back into hiking, I guess I've forgotten just how great it is.
I use to carry almost 10 kg in photographic gear on my hikes, where I found an umbrella came in handy, particularly when it rained. I could still setup a tripod and take photos in torrential rain using my umbrella.
Lately I been reading up on ultralight backpacking, and came upon a couple of interesting subjects on weight, in particular on a mention when it rains, how water soaked into your backpack can increase the weight your carrying by a surprisingly high amount. Many use pack liners, including myself and allow our packs exposed to the elements. Many overseas hikers also use a umbrella on there walks as well as pack liners, the extra weight of a umbrella actually works out lighter overall after it rains because your pack is not saturated with water. I guess this will also depend on the pack your carrying. I'm currently using a One Planet McMillan made of canvas. On some of my recent hikes during heavy rain, I've noticed just how heavy my pack feels when it's soaked.
You could always use a pack cover to help overcome a soaked pack, but the use of a umbrella in my case has some huge benefits such as shelter from the heat in our QLD summer. Recently on a 4 day hike at Fraser Island we has two days where the temp got to 36 degrees celcius, on this day I hiked from Kingfisher Bay Resort to Lake Mckenzie, with a km left to go into camp, I struggled to complete, the heat knocked the life out of me, I had to lay down for an hour after that walk to recover from the heat. I often wonder if I had an umbrella if this would have been the case.
Reading overseas forums and notice umbrellas appear to be popular with some hikers. I used to use a Umbrella on my walks in my twenties, I've started hiking again in the past year after a 20 year break. I don't know why it's taken so long to get back into hiking, I guess I've forgotten just how great it is.
I use to carry almost 10 kg in photographic gear on my hikes, where I found an umbrella came in handy, particularly when it rained. I could still setup a tripod and take photos in torrential rain using my umbrella.
Lately I been reading up on ultralight backpacking, and came upon a couple of interesting subjects on weight, in particular on a mention when it rains, how water soaked into your backpack can increase the weight your carrying by a surprisingly high amount. Many use pack liners, including myself and allow our packs exposed to the elements. Many overseas hikers also use a umbrella on there walks as well as pack liners, the extra weight of a umbrella actually works out lighter overall after it rains because your pack is not saturated with water. I guess this will also depend on the pack your carrying. I'm currently using a One Planet McMillan made of canvas. On some of my recent hikes during heavy rain, I've noticed just how heavy my pack feels when it's soaked.
You could always use a pack cover to help overcome a soaked pack, but the use of a umbrella in my case has some huge benefits such as shelter from the heat in our QLD summer. Recently on a 4 day hike at Fraser Island we has two days where the temp got to 36 degrees celcius, on this day I hiked from Kingfisher Bay Resort to Lake Mckenzie, with a km left to go into camp, I struggled to complete, the heat knocked the life out of me, I had to lay down for an hour after that walk to recover from the heat. I often wonder if I had an umbrella if this would have been the case.
