Traveling With an Umbrella

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Traveling With an Umbrella

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A have recently come under the opinion that traveling with an umbrella is awesome. Until about a month ago I had shunned the idea since I thought it would be cumbersome to carry around. Now that I have tried it for a month I find it to be one of my most used items. It really only has three major uses, but they are good ones.

Why Traveling With an Umbrella is AwesomeIt Protects Me From the Rain

This is the most obvious up-side for traveling with an umbrella – of course it keeps off the rain – that’s why umbrellas were invented. Previous to the umbrella my rain protection consisted of a poncho or gortex-style raincoat coupled with rain-pants and waterproof socks if needed. I still carry all those items because they are very useful in other circumstances, but in most cases when it rains I pull out the umbrella. It is quicker to deploy and more commonly used amongst the general population – I don’t like standing out and a guy in a poncho doesn’t blend in during a light shower.

Traveling with an Umbrella - Survive Travel

Keeping you dry from the rain is the obvious advantage of an umbrella. Image Courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

It Protects me From the Sun

When the sun is beating down you can put on a hat, but it doesn’t really cast that much shadow unless you use a big goofy looking one. Also, covering your head traps the heat in and that is not ideal on a hot day.

Another option is to slap on some sunscreen, but I really don’t like the feeling of it. It is greasy, dust sticks to you more and it clogs your pores which means you don’t self cool as efficiently.

Once again the umbrella is ideal. Easy to deploy and casts a big shadow. It may not be popular to use an umbrella for the sun in some western countries but in most other places it is normal.

Umbrella’s make excellent sun protection.

It is a Good Improvised Weapon

An umbrella is almost the perfect improvised weapon. Use it compacted and it makes a pretty good club. If you want more reach just extend it (not opened) and hold it by the non-handle side, then swing the bulb-like handle into your target.

The best thing about it is that it can pass almost all security checks unquestioned.

Besides being an actual weapon I use it frequently when training. It makes sense to actually train with the weapon you are most likely to use.

An umbrella will be accepted through nearly all security checks. Image Courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

Drawbacks of Traveling With an Umbrella

One of the biggest drawbacks of the umbrella is that is ties up one of your hands. If venturing into the wild it is often necessary to have both hands free to negotiate the wilderness, climb stuff etc.

For me, the hand thing is really the only drawback. Since the umbrella fits into the side pocket of my day-pack it doesn’t affect my packing. It is also light enough that it doesn’t affect weight on my back.

So if the traveling with an umbrela is so awesome, why to I still keep the other stuff?

The poncho comes in handy for many other reasons, one of the biggest being a ground sheet. It can also be an emergency shelter or blanket.

The rain jacket is great for warmth and makes a decent travel pillow.

An umbrella can not do the job of the waterproof socks.

In very heavy rain only the combination of poncho or raincoat with the rainpants and waterproof socks can keep you really dry.

My small bucket hat also makes a good emergency rag.

My sunscreen is a really small tube and sometimes I go to the beach.

What To Look for In a Travel Umbrella

There is no need to buy some over-priced so-called “travel umbrella”. I tried three different styles before settling on the right combination and the one I settled on (similar to these ones) I bought in market in China and it set me back about $5usd… of course, China is pretty cheap. Maybe you’ll pay 10usd.

Basically there are only two conditions I have for a good travel umbrella.

1. Compact-able

A compact-able umbrella is easier to travel with and is lighter than the non-compact type. For the convenience you sacrifice three things:

a) Non-compact style umbrellas can be much bigger.

b) A non-compact umbrella can be used as a walking stick.

c) A non-compact umbrella is more effective as an improvised weapon because you can thrust with it. When thrusting with a compact-able umbrella it just collapses.

I feel that these three downfalls of traveling with an umbrellathat is compact-able are out-weighed by the convenience.

It’s true that they are not as big, but they are big enough.

I don’t need a walking stick, and if I was hiking and felt I did need one I could just pick up a stick of the ground.

I doubt I will ever actually need to use it in a fight, because in all my years of travel I have never been in a fight. If that situation does arise then I’ll just remember not to thrust. A good swing is good enough.

A compact-able one is easiest to travel with.

2. A Big Top

The top being the part that covers you. I walked into the shop and asked for the biggest one they had. It is not huge, but it is big enough to protect me and my bag in light to medium rain. If the rain gets any heavier I’ll just pull out my poncho.