US army poncho

[rapidboy]

I picked up a US army poncho at the end of last summer and used it a few times through the winter.
It works well as a poncho (it's lighter and packs smaller than the British army version).

I hadn't had a chance to try it as a shelter so i made some guy's through the week and tried it today.

Im going to carry it packed as a poncho with the guy's seperate rather than keeping them attached as it's going to be used more as a ponch than a shelter.
Even with having to tie on the guy's and the prussic loops it's up in 10 min's top's.

It packs up pretty small ,this has all the guy's stored inside.

Not as big as my usual British Army Basha but for the summer it should be fine with a bivi bag for light weight camping.

The eyelets seem good and strong.

My only concern is the hood.
I have never used a poncho as a shelter and the hood on this means that the ridge is not as straight and taught as a basha.
Im wondering if this will cause a problem when it rains ?

rb

 

[sandbender]

This is something I'd thought of trying rb, I hope it rains a lot so you can let me know how well it works

 

[mojofilter]

Why not just scrunch the hood up and tie it shut? A short bit of cord tied into a hangmans noose would do the job.

 

[mojofilter]

Why not just scrunch the hood up and tie it shut? A short bit of cord tied into a hangmans noose would do the job.

more like round the collar bit I think I mean

 

[innocent bystander]

I think you are meant to twist the hood and wrap the drawcord round the hood. Or something like that. It'd be fairly easy to tie it to the ridge line then. Maybe ?

 

[rapidboy]

Why not just scrunch the hood up and tie it shut? A short bit of cord tied into a hangmans noose would do the job.

I did tie the hood shut and i even added a little stone so it hangs down one side.
Im pretty sure that will stop water ingress but the problem is that the ridge is not taught and it actually sag's along the ridge creating a hollow that might fill with water and im concerned that that will add weight and pull the whole thing out of shape and perhaps even damage the eyelets.

I might try tying a short piece of cord to the hood and using that as a central loop to straighten it out.

 

[innocent bystander]

Just remembered where i saw it now :

http://www.equipped.com/21-76/ch5.pdf

The bit on improvised lean to's, describes how to do the hood. Fold length wise and then in thirds virticaly, followed by wrapping with the drawcord. You use a loop around the hood then, to tie to the ridge....

 

[rapidboy]

Just remembered where i saw it now :

http://www.equipped.com/21-76/ch5.pdf

The bit on improvised lean to's, describes how to do the hood. Fold length wise and then in thirds virticaly, followed by wrapping with the drawcord. You use a loop around the hood then, to tie to the ridge....

Cheers ,i will give it a try.

rb

 

[RovingArcher]

Cheers ,i will give it a try.

rb

Used as they illustrate, It works well. I havn't had any problems with the eyelets in all the years I've been using the poncho as shelter/shade. I usually have a couple of 55 gallon HD industrial grade drum liners with me and use them along with the poncho to help make it more waterproof, fill with leaves or pine needles for ground insulation or an insulated blanket, as well as several other uses for around camp.

 

[leon-1]

rb, I cant see a problem with it, before they issued the current basha we were all issued with poncho's and I never had a problem with the hood.

On some the old and more worn ones if you touched it water came through, but I never had problem with water ingress through the hood itself

 

[Kirruth]

I've taken a US army poncho (in plain olive) to all kinds of places, including Pakistan, India, and Japan. Really, a handy piece of kit, and I have never known the hood to leak (despite me being kind of...improvisational...in using the poncho for shelter).

 

[Jjv110]

I've used the same poncho quite a lot as well. I've never had a leaking problem with the hood. All you have to do is tie it up. It does get in the way a bit though as I never use it as a poncho, but only a basha. In fact the hood can come in quite handy if you want to attach a central guy line to a branch above. They are quite small though but way lighter than the British version. I would like to have a basha version of this poncho.
Also, in it's favour, there doesn't seem to be a layer that peels off the underside like some bashas.

Julian.

 

[Spacemonkey]

I have two which both together roll up smaller and lighter than my mate's basha, and when poppered together, they open up into quite a large basha shelter. I use the long thin bungees with mine, and always have two in the middle of the sides, to hold the poppered seam tight to stop leaks. Works fine! Also love the way that I have two waterproofs to throw over person and sack if caught in a sudden downpour.

 

[TAHAWK]

The comment on no layer to peel off made me wonder: is it possible this is silicon-impregnated rather than coated?