BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi All,

We have our trek booked in August this year. I have been reading lots of conflicting opinions on what waterproof gear to bring. We have plenty of warm clothing ready, including down jackets etc and have been recommended by quite a few people to just take a Poncho style waterproof that will cover us and our bags in the event of rain... Any thoughts? This seems like a better option to me as we will all be in africa for over a month and don't really want to have to carry around more equipment than is necessary.
We are doing the Rongai route....

Any thoughts and opinions much appreciated!

Cheers

I had a pants/jacket set along, but you're right, it was heavy - it was vinyl (or whatever) not a fancy name-brand outfit. I never wore the pants, but I did use the jacket one day. Some of the others hand ponchos. It's possible you might be able to rent a poncho from your trekking company, as some in my group did.

I think the key things to consider are: covering your packs, breathability (my vinyl thing was rather crap in that regard), and interference. By interference, I mean, you want to be able to see your feet/the ground/etc, not be restricted by your rain gear. (Perhaps the 'interference' consideration is more for ponchos...)

(Also note that I did not take the Rongai route or go in August.)

Thanks for the info... I have asked our trekking company what they think is the best idea... They will hire us waterproofs i think, but i don't really want the extra expense if i can get away with adecent poncho...

Cheers

I've used gore tex breathable pants. They work very well on repelling water, but not so well for getting rid of heat.

At work, I use(used, now worn out) gore tex insulated ski pants, and well, they were great in the snow. Keeping heat in and water out was their job.

I've used high end ponchos, and cheap ponchos. Both keep the water out, the cheap vinyl ones have issues with durability. If you want to get fancy, you can get a groundcloth/poncho for a little more money from a camping store.

Bottom line. YOu can either stay dry, and get warm inside them, or get wetter. Or you can get a really waterproof backpack, trust it, and go with a goretex rain jacket that has breathing holes.

Every time I've trusted my backpack to keep out torrential rains, its failed me. So.. theres the fourth option.

Put all your things in waterproof sacs or one large waterproof liner., and stop worrying about your pack.

I had a North Face Gore Tex lightweight jacket which worked well - if you have to buy one make sure you get a colour and style that you'll more than likely wear again as they can be expensive.

I had a simple pair of waterproof trousers because I couldn't justify the cost of buying a Gore Tex pair. They worked well but we were lucky that it didn't rain when we climbed.

If you need any further tips and advice I've put together a website Trek Kili

I loved all my patagonia gear - they have a great pair of rain pants that take up little to no room and I put them on as soon as I got to the top. I would suggest a cover for your back pack and a good rain coat and windbreaker (combo). You never know what its like when you are walking through those beautiful clouds.

Thanks for all the info guys, we have decided to hire waterproofs off of our tour operator (Team Kilimanjaro), just to be on the safe side.

two months and counting...

It is amzing what one can get at a goodwill or 2nd hand store if you have one in the area. I got gortex rain pants, another waterproof pair , not gortex though, a down shell for under the rei rain wind jacket i also got there. And there is always tons and tons of fleece wear. Got my Fleece long johns there too. And i will leave all that behind with the porters and guides to use. Lighten my load for the rest of the journey! kh