Last year whilst walking with my lovely walking companion Claire, we got caught in a big downpour of rain. I think the blog post was titled......10km swim. From Montefiascone to Bolsena it just rained and rained and rained.
As we were leaving Montefiascone there was a sudden increase of water coming out of the sky and bouncing of the pavements as it landed. At a road junction we paused to let a car pass, but as we stopped it stopped and the passenger window by us started to lower. I bobbed down to see through the window and the lovely Italian lady driver uttered something to me and promptly leant over to the back seat, picked up her umbrella and offered it to us.
Grazie, grazie we called and Italian / English we mentioned that we were ok and totally dry. Well we were at the point. That is one of many generous gestures I / we have received as we walked through Italy. A lovely place and such wonderful people.
That day continued to be a mixture of heavy deluges of rain and some light drizzle but before we entered Bolsena the rain stopped. Once in our accommodation it was time to reflect on the day and assess whether either of us were still dry.
Much to our amazement we were predominantly dry, we'd both worn breathable waterproof trousers and with the exception of the odd spot, they had served us well. The jackets however were a different story, Claire was mostly dry but needed to think of an alternative for future walks. Myself, well I was dry but the day had been very humid so although my jacket was breathable there was still an element of moisture that stayed inside my jacket. I was a wee bit damp but on the whole had kept reasonably dry.
Below are three Poncho designs that we trialed this year.
Mine on the left. Pros: The poncho was easy to put on, I found putting the poncho on first and then putting my rucksack on under it was the best way to apply it. The Poncho has its own pocket to live in and becomes a pocket for the wearer. It kept me dry despite the intensity of the rain. With it being a big open space humidity was not a problem so no perspiration when wearing it.
Cons: Sleeves were too short
Price - it was donated to me
Of the three ponchos Sue, in the middle had the best design overall and it can be bought from Decathlon and the make is Quechua mountain trekking rain cape £16. It also comes in its own bag so won't take up too much space in a rucksack.
I think the next time we walk together we will all have a Quechua rain cape in our bag.
With a poncho in your bag all you need to add is your waterproof trousers to stay totally dry.....
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