What about a light weight umbrella??

[JamesMc]

I'm with scrub master. Walking without a sturdy fibreglass framed umbrella in Tasmania's wet weather is madness. Used with care, they provide protection from wind as well as rain. Lightweight umbrellas don't last. I know - I've destroyed quite a few.

Not so good in scrub though. If you're scrub bashing in the rain I think you're just going to have to use the "I might be wet, but it's OK because I'm warm" theory.

Also, a silver coloured umbrella give tremendous protection from sun in hot weather. It can reduce your drinking needs by several litres per day.

JamesMc

[luke_vic]

Walking without a sturdy fibreglass framed umbrella in Tasmania's wet weather is madness.

James, are you serious on this??? I don't doubt it just not sure if it's tongue in cheek or not?

[JamesMc]

Walking without a sturdy fibreglass framed umbrella in Tasmania's wet weather is madness.

James, are you serious on this??? I don't doubt it just not sure if it's tongue in cheek or not?

Yes, perfectly serious.

After a couple of decades getting wet in oil japara, dry japara, proofed nylon, and Goertex, I'm convinced the secret to keeping dry is to use an umbrella. It needs to be big enough to cover your pack so the water coming off it does not run down your back. An umbrella does not work in the scrub, though if you're walking on a track with wet bushes hanging over, you can put the umbrella out front to knock the water off. It's too much hard work handling an umbrella in very strong wind, but in moderate wind it does provide great protection. It helps if you can adjust you walking plans to be somewhere seltered when the weather is really bad, but that also applies if you are depending on a rain coat. Often that's not possible, so you have to resort to a rain coat and just try to stay warm.

I've been walking with an umbrella for about ten years, but normally also carry a rain coat in case of scrub or extreme wind. If it's very wet and windy, I also wear Goretext. The umbrella keeps the Goretex half dry so it can breath, and I stay perfectly dry inside.

Early days were experiments with light weight compact umbrellas. Walking under one was much more pleasant than walking in the rain, until it broke in the wind. For example an extremely wet winter walk along the overland track. The umbrella broke at Frog Flats, and by the time we got to Pelion Hut I was as wet and miserable as all my companions in raincoats. Umbrella fixed at the hut then I was dry for the rest of the walk. Another example, walking from Harrys Bluff via High Round Mountain to the Old River Mouth in extreme heat with no water to be found. A very pleasant walk under a silver umbrella, but those with nothing but hats for sun protection looked like they were about to die from heat exhaustion.

The discovery of sturdy fibreglass framed umbrellas was a breakthrough in wet weather bushwalking. Unless you are extremely rough with the pole, they are virtually unbreakable (though sometimes need a bit of sewing). The fibreglass spars are flexible so if the wind gets under the umbrella it just turns inside out. You can then pop it back the right way and keep walking. When it's not raining, you can use the umbrella as a walking stick. You can get a perfectly good umbrella for about $8 at Bunnings if you can put up with being a walking advertisment. No good for sun protection though.

My guess is that until someone markets a special bushwalkers' umbrella through specialist gear shops that costs hundreds of dollars, most bushwalkers will continue to laugh at those of us using umbrellas. If you do pass someone with an umbrella in the bush, look closely and notice how dry they are.

JamesMc

[Son of a Beach]

I'm wondering how people can get so wet in a good raincoat. I recently (and accidentally) soaked my goretex raincoat in water overnight while out bush, and after putting it on and walking in the rain the next day, it was perfectly dry inside after only a couple of hours (and the weather was rather cold with a substantial amount of snow having fallen overnight).

I have a reputation for attracting rain when I go bushwalking, but my raincoat always keeps me dry. When it stopped keeping me dry, I sent it back for a warranty replacement.

I've no problem with people using umbrellas while bushwalking (although I can't relate to it personally), but I do wonder how people can get really wet in a good raincoat.

PS. Not to say that I never get wet in my raincoat. There are some situations where neither raincoat nor umbrella will keep you dry, and raincoats are certainly more sweaty than umbrellas.

[ILUVSWTAS]

What kind of jacket do you have Nik??

Most of the people I know admit to finding it very hard to stay dry when it's raining. It's almost impossible to stay dry if scrub bashing in the wet. We do most of our walking in the Southwest which may have something to do with it?? But I'd sure be interested in seeing what style your Goretex was!!

[Son of a Beach]

Yes, you can certainly get sweaty in any coat and scrub bashing ends up getting water in too, but for the kind of walking where an umbrella would be suitable, I find that a good rain coat keeps me dry with sweat being the only issue (and of course an umbrella is much more 'breathable' than a coat). I've added a PS. to my previous post to clarify.

My coat is a Paddy Pallin Vista - a simple long rain coat that is very good at keeping me dry most of the time.

[JamesMc]

I'm wondering how people can get so wet in a good raincoat.... When it stopped keeping me dry, I sent it back for a warranty replacement.

I once had an unsatisfactory experience with returning a Goretex raincoat on warranty. It was a few years old, but had absolutely minimal days' use, though quite a bit of that was in scoparia. It went back to Gore, who tested it and said that it was suffering from many pin-holes, consistent with it having been in contact with prickly vegetation, and consequently they would not honour the "guarantee to keep you dry". It was a heavy weight Goretex identified as being for hiking, rather than, say, golfing. Ultimately that's when I decided there had to be a better way...

Scoparia is one reason why we get wet in raincoats, sweat is another.

JamesMc

[ILUVSWTAS]

Just about everything I own is scorparia holed.....

[Taurë-rana]

I try to go bushbashing in good weather only - skin is cheaper to repair than Gore-tex!

[ILUVSWTAS]

Pretty hard to organise that on multiday trips Rachel!!

[Son of a Beach]

I'm wondering how people can get so wet in a good raincoat.... When it stopped keeping me dry, I sent it back for a warranty replacement.

I once had an unsatisfactory experience with returning a Goretex raincoat on warranty. It was a few years old, but had absolutely minimal days' use, though quite a bit of that was in scoparia. It went back to Gore, who tested it and said that it was suffering from many pin-holes, consistent with it having been in contact with prickly vegetation, and consequently they would not honour the "guarantee to keep you dry". It was a heavy weight Goretex identified as being for hiking, rather than, say, golfing. Ultimately that's when I decided there had to be a better way...

Scoparia is one reason why we get wet in raincoats, sweat is another.

JamesMc

Yep, understood. They only paid for half the replacement for mine, for the same reason... many tiny holes they found, presumably from Scoparia. I've been a lot more careful with the new one around scoparia, that's for sure!

[corvus]

Interesting topic regading Scoparia and getting wet in Goretex,my PP Vagabond has kept me dry for many years (washed /reproofed regularly)only get wet from sweat as I don't get Scoparia holes in the important places by avoiding more than waist high stuff.
Am I to believe that some of you have the bottle to walk through head high Scoparia thus causing pin hole problems ,I can only ask why
corvus

[Taurë-rana]

Pretty hard to organise that on multiday trips Rachel!!

You've just got to get a bit more friendly with Hughie!
Although I must admit to not having been on many multi-day trips in recent years, and I didn't have Gore-tex when I was walking previously - just japaras that got wet anyway. Actually thinking about it, I was pushing through Scoparia in my Gore-tex on NE Ridge for a short time, didn't even think about what it might do to my jacket. Thinking about all my long ago multi-day trips though, I don't remember all that much rain, and the main scrub bashing trips were side trips from a base camp up mountains so we wouldn't have gone in the rain anyway.

[Taurë-rana]

Walking through head high Scoparia isn't very difficult for me corvus.

[Son of a Beach]

Interesting topic regading Scoparia and getting wet in Goretex,my PP Vagabond has kept me dry for many years (washed /reproofed regularly)only get wet from sweat as I don't get Scoparia holes in the important places by avoiding more than waist high stuff.
Am I to believe that some of you have the bottle to walk through head high Scoparia thus causing pin hole problems ,I can only ask why
corvus

There are some places where there's no choice. If you want to get there, you have to walk through head high Scoparia .

It was not obvious to me that this could wreck goretex at first, as I always thought the goretex outer layer was pretty tough, but the tiny Scoparia spines get right between the threads, and ruin the delicate layer underneath.

In fact the Scoparia grows a lot higher than head high. It actually is a really lovely plant when it's so high that it forms its own alpine rain forest canopy with open ground to walk through underneath (Goon Moor being the best example I've seen).

[melinda]

Hi guys,
Maybe you could use your umbrella as a shield out in front of you to stop your Goretex jackets getting holes in them?
Melinda

[Son of a Beach]

Hi guys,
Maybe you could use your umbrella as a shield out in front of you to stop your Goretex jackets getting holes in them?
Melinda

Now that's a good idea!

[Earwig]

I decided to see if i could find a lightweight hiking umbrella but haven't had much luck so I thought I'd buy a regular one and just drill a few holes in it to lighten the weight. Should help with the wind resistance too.