Nylon Tarp Poncho

The Sea to Summit Nylon Tarp Poncho is a hooded rain poncho made from 70D nylon with fully taped seams, cut long enough to cover you and a large backpack, and it opens out flat into a 253 x 137 cm tarp shelter when you stop.

What it does

Two jobs from one piece of fabric. On the track it is your rainwear and your pack cover at once: the long back panel drops over a full-sized pack, so the harness, the hip belt and everything inside stay under the same roof you do. In camp it unsnaps, lies flat and becomes a tarp for two. One item in the lid pocket instead of a jacket, a pack cover and a fly.

It earns its place on day walks in the Gold Coast hinterland where the afternoon storm is a matter of when, and as the emergency shelter that lives at the bottom of the pack on longer trips.

Waterproofing

The fabric is 70 denier nylon with a polyurethane coating on the inside rated to a 2,000 mm hydrostatic head, and a PFC-free water-repellent finish on the outside so rain beads and runs off. Every seam is double stitched and tape sealed, including the hood.

The hood is built from three panels with a wide brim, so it turns with your head and keeps the drips off your face. The fabric itself does not breathe, and it does not need to: a poncho is open at the sides and the hem, so air moves through it in a way no rain jacket allows. On a warm, wet Queensland climb that airflow is the whole appeal.

In gusty weather, run a belt or an accessory strap around your waist over the poncho to stop it flapping.

As a shelter

Laid flat the Nylon Tarp Poncho measures 253 x 137 cm, which is enough roof for two people sitting out a storm or one person sleeping with their pack beside them. Pitch it with a trekking pole and a few lengths of cord, or string it between two trees. Pair it with a Sea to Summit bug tent and you have a light shelter for warm-weather trips.

Weight and packed size

It packs into its own oval stuff sack at 19 x 8 x 8 cm, about the size of a rolled pair of thermals, and the oval shape sits flat against the rest of your load instead of rolling around in the pack.

We stock the Nylon version as the hard-wearing choice: 70D fabric takes being sat on, pitched over rough ground and stuffed away wet. If every gram counts, the Ultra-Sil Nano Tarp Poncho is the lighter, smaller sibling.

Looking after it

Shake it off and hang it to dry before it goes back in the stuff sack for storage. A coated fabric packed away damp is how mildew starts.