<DIV>I only have a poncho. It covers my pack and myself. In Spain last year I had to buy an umbrella too because my spectacles don't have windshield wipers!</DIV>
<DIV>I didn't need rain pants because my poncho is long. It doesn't matter if your quick-dry pants get wet. However after so long, my gortex boots got wet inside from drip-down. So this year I found a pair of goretex socks to wear over my regular socks in a downpour. If your boots get really soaked inside they may take a few days to dry out completely. Some people had gaiters. But my goretex socks don't weigh nearly as much as gaiters.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I've been wondering why people take nice knives. Maybe I don't need one because I seldom eat meat? A plain old plastic knife was all I needed last year, to cut cheese or maybe an apple to share. I used to have a leatherman's tool for backpacking/tenting alone in the desert but I ended up giving it away. What do people do with their Swiss army knives? They are a bit heavy. I do have very small folding scissors for bandages and nail clipping. They are handy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Deanna<BR><BR><B><I>Kathy and Phil Dahl-Bredine <kpdbaPRODIGY.NET.MX></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Frank,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From your list that on the archives, it looks like you only took that rain poncho, rather than rain jacket and rain pants. Is that correct? We've been told by several people that you really need the rain pants, or you'll get quite drenched in the donwnpours that can come in May, and it could also be quite chilly to be wet.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for yor thoughts,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kathy</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>