The Rain in Spain

As you can see, I’ve added a countdown calendar to the blog on the left-hand side. Right now it stands at 20 weeks!

Equipment testing continues, this time with an eye towards the weather.

We tested our water-proof regime a few weeks ago on a hike round and round Snake Lake. Although we probably didn’t go any further than about five miles, the rain was really pelting down. Needless to say, some issues were discovered.

I wore my Marmot rain jacket and deployed the pack’s built-in rain cover. I took the added precaution of lining the inside of the pack’s main compartment with a hefty garbage bag, closed tight with a large binder clip.

First, the good news: nothing in the pack’s main compartment was the slightest bit wet.

The bag’s rain cover did its job, though I could see that had I been out for, say, four or five hours in that kind of rain, it may very well have soaked through. I was especially concerned to see that water was pooling on the top and in some of the inevitable crevices.

So for light rain or a short cloudburst, the pack’s cover should do nicely.

I did notice that water was trickling down between my rain jacket and the pack, and I could see that with a sustained downpour, water would enter the pack that way.

After some thought, I took the plunge and purchased a Ferrino Trekker Poncho from Amazon. It came highly recommended, was on sale at the time, and with Amazon Prime shipping it was in my hands within a week.

This thing is great. It fits over body and pack, and it’s ridiculously light. It even comes with its own mesh bag. I can’t wait to try it out!