ULA-Equipment Rain Wrap
Initial Report March 16,
2007
Field Report May 22, 2007
Long Term Report July 24,
2007
Update: August 2007
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in
(1.65 m)
Weight: 165 lb (77
kg)
E-mail
address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western
West Virginia, U.S.A.
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Backpacking Background:
Pursuing
a long-time interest, I started backpacking 3 years ago, beginning with
day-hiking and single overnights. Currently
I’m mostly a ‘weekend warrior’, but managed a
week long section
of the Appalachian Trail (AT) last year. I
hike and backpack mainly in the hills and valleys of
West Virginia,
but will be section hiking more of the AT this year.
I’m usually a hammock sleeper, but will soon be testing a
Tarptent. In general my backpacking style is
lightweight and
minimalist, and I try to cut as much pack weight as I can without
sacrificing
warmth, comfort, or safety.
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Initial
Report - March 16, 2007
Product
Information:
Manufacturer: Ultralight Adventure
Equipment (ULA-Equipment)
Manufacturer Website: http://www.ula-equipment.com
Year of manufacture: 2007
Product: Rain Wrap
Size tested: L (large)
Color: Blue
MSRP: $25 US
Manufacturer's stated size: ~32 x ~54 in
(81 x 137 cm); stuffed size: 5.25 x 4 x 2.5 in (13.5 x 10 x 6.5
cm)
Measured size: 32.5 x 62.5 in (83 x 159 cm); stuffed size:
5.25 x 3.5 x 2.5 in (13.5 x 9 x 6.5 cm)
Manufacturer's stated weight: large 3.2 oz (91 g); medium 2.9 oz
(82 g)
Measured weight: large 3.1 oz (88 g)
Construction details: silicon nylon fabric
flat elastic
draw cord style waistband
Velcro adjustment/closure tabs
corner stakeout loops
integrated stuff sack
Product Description:
The ULA-Equipment Rain Wrap is a simple rectangle of silicon nylon
fabric with a folded over hem at the bottom, an encased elastic
draw cord at the top, a 3/4 in (2 cm) wide Velcro fastener at the
waistband, and two 1/2 in (1.5 cm) wide Velcro fasteners to fasten the
sides together. The waistband Velcro is a little over 4 1/2 in
(11.5 cm) long, and the side fasteners around 4 in (10 cm) long.
Three of the corners have a 1.5 in (4 cm) long loop of 3/8 in (1 cm)
wide elastic, and the fourth has a plastic D-ring, so the Rain Wrap can
be staked out for use as a ground cloth, or flooring for a tarp or
vestibule. The Rain Wrap has a 4.5 x 6 in (11.5 x 15 cm)
rectangle of silicon nylon sewn to the bottom left side which serves as
an integrated stuff sack - I simply turn it inside out and stuff the
Rain Wrap inside it for compact storage. An extra strip of Velcro
(the softer loop side part) is sewn to the stuff sack to allow it to be
fastened, and a
plastic glove hook attached to an additional loop of elastic extends
from the top to allow the stuffed Rain Wrap to be fastened to my pack
or a belt loop. A size label and a logo label with the company
name, website address, physical address, and telephone number extends
from the side of the stuffed Rain Wrap. The label also states
"Made in the USA".
The flat elastic draw cord at the waist is sewn into place on the left
side, and pulls through a metal grommet on the right side to allow the
cord to be drawn tighter. A yellow plastic toggle can be slid up
and down the cord to hold the draw cord in the desired position.
A small thin D-ring is sewn into the loose end of the draw cord.
The smaller D-ring and the toggle can be slid through the larger D-ring
at the waist to hold excess cord out of the way.
Initial
Impressions:
The Rain Wrap appears to be well made. I see a few minor
irregularities in the stitching and a minor bit of puckering of the
fabric in the integrated stuff sack area, which seems to be fairly
typical of items constructed of silnylon in my experience. Having
attempted to repair a small area of a silnylon tarp in the past, I know
how difficult it can be to hold the slippery material in place in order
to keep all stitching even, so I don't regard this as a flaw. I'm
very impressed with the detail that went into the design, such as
positioning the Velcro fasteners so that the hook side of one piece can
be used both to fasten the Rain Wrap at the bottom and to hold the
stuff sack closed, requiring only an extra piece of loop side fastener
for weight savings; the simple yet effective draw cord; and even the
way the labels are sewn into the stuff sack so they are visible when
the Rain Wrap is stuffed, and out of the way when it is being worn.
I'm
pleased with the fit - the waist cord adjusts extensively, and feels
comfortable. When worn around my waist, the wrap hits just above
my ankles - a good length for me, since I don't normally wear
gaiters. And, if I am brave enough to do so, the wrap is long
enough to wear as the manufacturer suggests, as a 'modesty wrap' while
doing laundry at resupply stops on longer trips. For the most
part the Rain Wrap is what I expected from the manufacturer website,
although the blue is more of a navy color than the bright blue pictured
on the website, for which I am glad since I prefer muted colors when
hiking.
I've already found an additional multi-use for the Rain Wrap. My
three year old grandson Daykota thinks it's a great 'Superhero' cape!
My only real concern at this time is whether the strips of Velcro that
hold the Rain Wrap closed in the front will prove effective enough to
hold it closed in windy conditions. At this time, I believe the
advantages the Rain Skirt has are that it will be easier and hopefully
faster to employ in the rain than rain pants, which even with side zips
take some time to don, that it should provide better ventilation than
pants in warmer temperatures; and that it takes much less space to pack
than any of my rain pants.
This concludes my Initial Report.
Field Report - May 22, 2007
Field Conditions:
In late March I hiked about 10 mi (16 km) of the
Appalachian Trail (AT) in the Grayson Highlands area of Virginia, where
elevations were around 3500 to 5000 ft (1100 to 1500 m).
Temperatures
ranged from around 50-70 F (10-20 C). Although I carried the ULA
Rain Wrap in my pack, and used it as a ground cover for our lunch
break, I did not need to use it for rain protection, since the weather
was dry.
In
April I carried the Rain Wrap while hiking about 70 mi (113 km) of the
AT in Tennessee and North Carolina. This included several
'slackpack'
hikes (which are basically long dayhikes) while staying in a hostel in
Erwin, Tennessee, and on an overnight backpacking trip with a stay at
Curley Maple Gap Shelter. The overnight trip was approximately 9
mi
(15 km) and the slackpacks ranged from 11 to 22 mi (18 to 35 km).
Temperatures ranged from an overnight low of about 20 F (-7 C) on the
overnight to a high of about 60 F (16 C). Elevations ranged from
1700 to 5500 ft
(500 m to 1700 m), with over 12000 ft (3700 m) of elevation gain, and a
similar amount of elevation loss over entire section. Most of the
days were sunny
or partially cloudy, so I only used the Rain Wrap as a ground cover for
rest stops those days. I did use it as a wrap during part of one
snowy 20 mi (32 km)
slackpack.
I also used the Rain Wrap as a ground cover only for a short overnight
backpacking trip of about 3 mi (5 km) in southern
West Virginia in late April, where the overnight low was 35 F (2 C),
and the day time high was about 65 F (18 C) with no
precipitation, but high humidity.
In May I used the Rain Wrap on a rainy overnight backpacking trip in
central West Virginia. The distance was short, only about 2 mi (3
km), with rain all of the way to camp and during most of the
night. The low temperature was around 40 F (4 C) and the high
about 70 F
(21 C). The elevation
ranged from 700 to 900 ft (200 to 300 m). The trail was mainly
mud and
wet vegetation (grass and weeds).
Use and findings:
I've greatly enjoyed the Rain Wrap as a ground cover, and for the way
it packs up in a neat compact package that I can stow in a small corner
of my pack. It's compact enough that I can actually store it
inside my rain jacket pocket (with the rain jacket itself also stored
in there) to keep both pieces together. I've also just clipped it
to a small loop on the front of one of my pairs of hiking pants for one
hike, but I didn't like the way it bounced around when I carried it
there. Most of the time I store it inside my self-stowed rain
jacket in the outside pocket of my pack for easy access. A few
times I didn't feel like storing it back inside it's own little
integrated stuff sack (although this is a simple process it takes a few
seconds) and just loosely stuffed it into the outer pocket
or even inside my pack.
The Rain Wrap is very easy to deploy into a ground cover suitable for
seating up to two people, or comfortable for me to recline on by
myself. (See photo below, taken during lunch break near 'The
Scales' on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia).
It's worked very well to keep me dry when the ground is damp or wet,
and to give me a place to keep my gear from getting muddy. The
Rain Wrap also worked well to shed snow and keep it off my legs when I
used it as a wrap on my Appalachian Trail trip. I did find I
needed to pull it up at the front when climbing steeper terrain or
stepping up on large rocks so it didn't get caught in my shoes and trip
me.
Unfortunately, I wasn't as pleased with its performance in the steady
rain I experienced on the May backpacking overnight. I found the
rain dripped steadily from the hem of the Rain Wrap directly onto my
lower pants legs and shoes, and ended up soaking them and my wool
socks, none of which dried overnight in the rainy conditions. The
temperatures dropped down into the 40 F (4 C), and with wet feet, I
grew chilled. Fortunately I had a warm bag and dry socks to sleep
in, but putting cold wet shoes and socks on in the morning chill was
not my idea of fun. I found the Rain Wrap slightly restricted my
stride at times, and while the terrain wasn't so steep that I needed to
hold the hem up to avoid tripping on it, the bottom edge sometimes
separated as I took a longer stride to step up small rises in the
trail. This trip also showed how easily the Rain Wrap dries
though, since it was the only clothing I had worn that was dry by
morning (including my normally quick drying Epic rain jacket). I
also found another use for it; the terrain I was sleeping on sloped
slightly sideways under my Tarptent floor, and I found I could roll the
Rain Wrap and stuff it under the low edge of my sleeping pad to
alleviate the pad slipping to the downhill side. Another positive
was that it was very nice to have the Rain Wrap on when I sat on a wet
log to cook dinner, since my bottom side stayed nice and dry without
having to fuss with trying to keep a trash bag or foam pad in place on
the log for a 'sit pad'.
After the rainy backpacking trip, I've concluded that gaiters may be
needed for all but light precipitation. While I already own a
pair, they're intended more for cold weather use and are rather heavy
at 6.7 oz (190 g), in which case any weight savings from the ULA Rain
Wrap over my normal rain pants would be lost, so I am thinking of
purchasing a lighter, lower pair for summer use. This would allow
me to still save some weight over full rain pants and at the same time
keep debris out of my trail shoes, so this may prove a good
solution. At any rate, I hope to be able to test the Rain Wrap
with gaiters during the next rainy hike to see if my shoes, socks, and
lower pants legs can stay dry.
The Rain Wrap seems to stay pretty clean for the most part. It's
easy to just brush away any bits of dry grass or other debris that
clings to it after using it as a ground cover. The light mud that
I've found on it so far has been easy to just wipe away with a damp
cloth or on the lower part of my pants legs, which are usually dirty
from hiking anyway. Even after my last trip when a little more
mud than usual was clinging to the Rain Wrap from my using it as a
ground cloth as I packed up, it was easy to just wipe the Rain Wrap
clean when I got home.
Conclusion so far:
So far I love the light weight and convenience of having a handy ground
cloth at the ready, and the ease of deploying the Rain Wrap quickly for
light unexpected showers, but I need to see if it is practical to use
the Rain Wrap with gaiters to keep me drier in steady rain.
Long Term Report - July 24,
2007
Field Use:
Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to use the ULA Rain Wrap for
weather protection during the last two months. This is both good
and bad - good because it meant I had great weather on my trips, but
bad since I did not get the opportunity to see how the Rain Wrap would
perform with a set of gaiters.
I did carry the Rain Wrap on several trips, most notably two overnight
trips. The first was an overnight base camping trip in southern
West Virginia, with temperatures in the 60 - 90 F
(15-30 C) range, and elevation around 1800 ft (550 m). I did not
need to use the wrap at all, since I was staying in a platform tent and
simply sat on the foam mattress or the edge of the tent platform when I
wanted to sit, and the weather was clear and dry so I did not need rain
protection. The second was a short overnight backpacking trip in
western West Virginia, with temperatures in the 60 - 80 F (15-25
C) range, elevation around 900 ft (300 m). I hiked only about 3
mi (5 km), and carried the Rain Wrap in the front pocket of my GoLite
Quest pack. The skies threatened storms, but they never
materialized. I used the Rain Wrap for lounging around a bit
outside my Tarptent.
I also carried the Rain Wrap on several short (3-5 mi/5-8 km) day
hikes, mostly in western West Virginia, using it as a ground cover to
sit on, but again the weather did not cooperate to allow me to actually
test it in the rain. We've been experiencing near drought
conditions, and it seemed every time I could actually fit a hike in the
weather was fine, or threatening storms did not materialize until after
the hike. The few times it actually rained, I had something else
I needed to do, and wasn't able to hike.
During one warm weather hike, I carried only a water bottle, a wind
jacket, and the Rain Wrap, fastening the hook of the stuffed Rain Wrap
to a grosgrain loop on the stuffed wind jacket, and simply dangling the
two across my fingertips to carry them in one hand with the water
bottle. I found this was not a good thing to do, as the hook of
the Rain Wrap shredded the grosgrain ribbon loop on the wind
shirt. On other hikes I carried the Rain Wrap inside a fanny
pack, a day pack, and even in the cargo pockets of my convertible nylon
hiking pants.
Conclusions:
My first and foremost conclusion is that testing rain gear is the best
way to insure the weather will be good when I plan a trip!
I do really like the way the Rain Wrap packs up small and can be
stuffed anywhere in my pack, or even fit inside a cargo pants
pocket. I really like using it as a 'lounging pad', since it is
long enough that I can stretch out and not worry about picking up leaf
litter or mud on my pants, and even take off my shoes and keep my socks
clean. I like that it is easy to wipe mud off the surface or
shake leaf litter loose to keep it clean.
I will continue to carry the ULA Rain Wrap as my primary lower body
rain protection for my next few trips, at least until cooler fall
weather sets in. I hope to experience some rain to test whether
the Rain Wrap will work with gaiters to keep my socks and feet drier,
and plan to update my report if/when this should occur. In the
meantime, I foresee carrying the Rain Wrap on warm weather trips where
rain isn't really expected as 'just in case' rain wear, but packing
rain pants for trips where rain is expected. I'm a little torn
about carrying the Rain Wrap along with the rain pants - it sure is
nice to lounge around the camp fire on it, and it's a lot lighter than
a 'camp chair', but in those circumstances it doesn't really serve a
multi-use function or save me any pack weight.
This concludes my Long Term Report.
Thanks to ULA-Equipment
and BackpackGearTest
for
the
opportunity to test the Rain Wrap.
Update - August 2007:
At the end of July I had the opportunity to use the ULA Rain Wrap on an
additional backpacking trip that turned out to be quite different than
my previous experiences. On this weekend trek in the Dolly Sods
Wilderness in the eastern West Virginia mountains, it rained both
evenings/nights, and the morning of one day. Overnight
temperatures dipped to around 55 F (13 C), with daytime highs around 75
F (18 C). My pack weight was about 23 lb (10 kg), including
food and 2 L of water.
I wore the Rain Wrap both evenings as I moved around camp in the rain,
and found it convenient to sit on the wet ground wearing the wrap,
without the need for a sit pad to keep my pants seat from getting
soaked. I also wore the Rain Wrap with a pair of Integral Designs
eVent Shortie Gaiters while hiking in the rain the second day of the
trip. Although the gaiters helped keep my feet from becoming
quite as soaked as they were on my earlier experience hiking in the
rain, my pants legs still became very wet in the area about halfway
down from my knees, since there was still a gap between the bottom of
the Rain Wrap and the top of the short gaiters; and my shoes and socks
eventually still became wet - just not as soaked as previously.
With the weather being warmer than my previous rainy hike, this wasn't
more than a slight inconvenience.
I also found the Rain Wrap useful to keep my pants drier after the rain
stopped, since there was a lot of moisture clinging to brush and tall
grass along the trail that would have soaked my pants legs if I hadn't
been wearing the Rain Wrap. It was convenient to be able to
quickly don and remove the wrap without having to pass it over my shoes
- it can be deployed in a matter of seconds when the need arises.
On the second night of the trip, I found one more multi-use for the
Rain Wrap - I wrapped my damp shirt, rain jacket, and muddy pants up in
the Rain Wrap and stored them at the bottom of the tent, which kept all
the moisture and dirt away from my nice, dry down quilt. Since I
normally toss and turn a lot at night, it was nice not to worry about
dirt or moisture transferring to the quilt.
In conclusion, I find the Rain Wrap very useful for warm weather hikes
as rain gear, and multi-use enough that I am leaning toward making it a
permanent part of my backpacking kit, even when weather is chilly
enough that I feel rain pants are needed.
Read more reviews of Ultralight Adventure Equipment gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
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