Umbrella

CDT thruhikers? Umbrellas.
Southern section of the PCT? Umbrellas.
Arizona trail? Umbrellas.
Park rangers giving daily tours in the Grand Canyon? Umbrellas.

There are two classes of people who don’t use umbrellas for sun protection: people doing things other than going from point A to point B (fishing, hunting, climbing, working, etc.), and retards who simply don’t know any better.

>50+ UPF
>silver heat-reflective surface
>black underside to absorb heat
>totally ventilated, more so than any other option

Umbrella. I’ve been taking one on every hike for around 20 years. It started with the GoLite Chrome Dome, which is still produced under various names.

>actually waterproof and 100% vented
>great for rain in warmer temps
>only option for hot, rainy days
>best shade, hands down
>can knock down spider webs early in the morning
>extra rain protection for some shelters
>can squat behind it when shitting
>wind barrier for stoves

Its best uses are diametric opposites; rain and sun. And it’s best suited for when you experience both at the same time (devil’s beating his wife).

Those bullshit off and on showers where it alternates between sort of raining, kinda, but not really, then it stops but you know it’s gonna start again, but doesn’t, until it does… yeah, fuck a rain jacket in that shit.

Surprisingly good in a hard downpour. Obviously conditions dictate what’s best.

That’s 5 mile road walk turned out to be a treeless death march, but the umbrella made it tolerable.

But the best part is snt how it performs, but how cozy it is. You know how when you’re under a tarp in the rain, and it’s pattering down, and falling all around you, and you’re just super comfy in your own little dry space? It’s like you’re in the rain and outside, but tecknickally and acktchually NOT in the rain. You get that same comfy coziness while walking.

Pic was years ago, during a moderate rain storm that alternated between light and moderate with bretty good wind.