Umbrella hiking! What a fun topic, mostly because how funny is it to think of hikers holding umbrellas dancing down the trail singing songs and twirling about trees like the famous guy in "Singin' in the Rain"? Ha!!! Seriously though, I used a Go-Lite umbrella for the part of the LT I did. On one day it worked pretty well to keep me quite dry. I was only hiking with one pole at the time, so the awkwardness wasn't an issue. The most fatiguing thing by far is holding one's arm in the umbrella position for 6 miles. Not fun, really. But no problem with breathability, that's for sure. The other time we got heavy rain I opted for not getting it out at all and I got soaked and very cold as a result. That day I would have perferred raingear I think. The place I found the umbrella to be the most helpful was once in camp. After you're in your warm, dry camp clothes then drink down a bunch of water, a cup of hot chocolate and eat dinner and you have to make a trip to the woods/privy the last thing you want is to get soaked! It was great for the privy run. Many folks at the shelter were borrowing that umbrella! Also good if you have to fetch water and the rain's still coming down. Don't know if it will keep a place in my pack in the future though. Great for short day hikes in the summer, though.
T.Co.