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What do you all use for light weight rain gear. Something that wont break the bank would be good.

good lightweight rain gear breaks the bank...

get a poncho with reasonably thick plastic. All you will need for 95% of AZ trips.

I just found an old Sierra West poncho in the garage. Not super light weight, but it will work until I can upgrade.

I generally carry Marmot Precip. It's what used to be very light and it won't break the bank, like the lightest newer products. I carry a poncho once in a while, but I don't like it as much in cooler weather.

Steve Hall wrote:What do you all use for light weight rain gear. Something that wont break the bank would be good.

I really like my Marmot Precip pants and jacket. I paid about 100 for the jacket from REI and around 40 or so for the pants from one of the online stores on clearance.

I use an umbrella most often. Sweating in a rain jacket to keep out fresh water seems odd unless it's cold. The good stuff says it's breathable but when the humidity is 100% that's not going to happen. The jacket is beneficial under 60 degrees or so in keeping your core warm despite not being really dry.

The $1-5 emergency ponchos or a trash bag is a good bare minimum option.

I have a ten? year old o2 cycling rainwear jacket, similar to https://jet.com/product/O2-Rainwear-201 ... dc2bd23937
It's held up well, scrunches up small but it won't keep you dry during heavy rain.

The umbrella is especially nice for hail, pounding rain and intermittent rain. Also used as shade equally as much if not more in the 100+ days of summer.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4257&hilit=umbrella

skillpore wrote:55 gallon trash bag.

I hear that it doubles as a sleeping bag

Steve Hall wrote:What do you all use for light weight rain gear. Something that wont break the bank would be good.

I only have the Marmot Precip jacket and it works great. I have spent 4 hours in a giant plastic lawn & garden leaf bag and in a torrential rain, it's like a condo. Have used military surplus poncho for years but can be a bit heavy. If you want to do it one time, go Marmot, otherwise lawn & garden.

If you are on trails that have been relatively recently maintained, FroggToggs/DriDucks make good, cheap ($12 to $30, usually), light sets of raingear—but they aren't very durable when contacting thorns. The $5 REI ponchos have also served me well for a basic emergency backup.

If I know it's going to be raining for sure, I take my real (not cheap) rain pants and my windbreaker that doubles as a rain jacket. (At some point I'll buy a real fancy rain jacket, but so far this is still working for me.)

On a trail or open terrain I use a silnylon poncho. Covers pack and cameras. I have tie offs on it that double as a fly like set up for my bivy if rainy and I want a cooking area. Or if it's cold and want to keep frost off my stuff.
Off trail I have an older set of Red Ledge pants and jacket, the pants now have a few gorilla tape strips on them from getting snagged. Ponchos don't work on off trail.

I'm with Joe on umbrellas - my Go Lite is both light and strong, and most of the time it allows you to do things rain gear would never let you (photography, cooking, watercolor paintings, etc.). The downside is high winds, when it can yank you around and still not keep you dry. It also gets as much use in summer - hiking in the shade rules.
As backup in unpredictable weather I carry a cheap, lite weight poncho. It's a hassle off trail, but unless I move to Seattle it's good enough.

I have never heard of someone backpacking with an umbrella, though I guess it makes sense. It would be a lot faster to pull out and open an umbrella than to stop and put on a poncho.

ya I use the golite umbrella too. It's really nice when it's hailing and like Joe, I hate wearing a rain jacket because of the humidity. And as Barrett says, the wind is really the only problem. I do use it a lot for shade as well. In fact, one time when we were hiking on that trail between Barnhardt to the Divide we wanted to take a break but there was no shade except one saguaro. There were two people and one dog. One person got the saguaro and me and Lilo sat under the umbrella.

The other thing I carry is a small car visor as you can use it for protection from the rain or hail as well or to sit on if there is wet ground.

The Golite website isn't loading for me. How much do the umbrellas cost?

The price has almost doubled from when I got it
http://gossamergear.com/chrome-umbrella.html

That said the thing is built to last. I've used it as a hiking stick and bushwhacker too.

fashion warning
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=19085

I was at Wal-mart last night and they had a disposal parka $1.97

Well, I guess Golite when out of business. Any of you have experience with other light weight umbrellas?

I got mine at Gossamer Gear. It's essentially the same. Joe Bartels listed the link above.

Somebody else made their umbrellas, and they are still being made. I'm sure someone here knows where to find them.