Rain Gear

There are two main options for protecting yourself from the rain: poncho or rain coat/pants/pack cover. Both approaches can be effective, although, neither is going to keep your feet dry.

Option 1: Rain coat, rain pants and a backpack Cover

There are three main advantages to this approach. First, rain pants are the best way to keep your legs dry, if that’s a priority to you. Second, a light rain coat can be used as a generic jacket during cold evenings or mornings. Third, during heavy winds, pants and a jacket don’t flap around as much as a poncho.

The biggest downside of this approach is that backpack covers aren’t great during heavy rains. You’ll find that even with a cover on, your pack contents will get wet. To mitigate this, hikers will often line the inside of their pack with a trash compactor bag or plastic garbage bag. That will help ensure contents of your pack are dry, even if the pack itself gets very wet.

The second downside of this approach is weight. The combined weight of a jacket, pants and a back cover will generally be more than a poncho.

Option 2: A poncho

My friends and I have found the option to work best for us.

You’ll need one that is large enough to cover you and your backpack and heavy enough to handle strong winds. Our model of choice is the Altus Atmospheric Poncho. We like it because:

• It’s long and cover most of your body
• It’s made of a heavy material that works well in he wind
• It has a zipper up the front which makes it easy to pull on and off
• It has full sleeves, so water doesn’t leak in along the sides.

The biggest downside of the Altus poncho is price. They used to run close to $80,, although prices seem to have come down in 2025. Here’s an example at this site. There may be other brands that work well too, but look for the same feature set.

FWIW… there doesn’t appear to be any good way to keep your feet and your hands dry. I think as a pilgrim you just need to accept this fact, and make the best of the situation.

Below is a picture of my friend Tess in her Altus poncho. As you can see, her whole body is covered except for her calves and feet. We make fun of hers because of the gross color she chose. Good news it’s also available in dark blue, red and black.