Coleman Emergency Poncho Review

I wouldn't use it as a permanent rain coat for outdoor adventures, but the Emergency Poncho from Coleman does come in handy from time to time and is a nice thing to have in an emergency kit for your vehicle or your backpack.

There isn't much to this poncho. It's made from a plastic fabric and is square-shaped. There's an opening with a plastic hood roughly in the middle. Just slip it over your head and the poncho falls around you covering up the majority of your upper body. It only weighs a few ounces and is very easy to fold up and pack. The plastic material is somewhat durable, but will degrade over time and it's easy enough to tear or rip if you aren't careful.

I suppose you do stay drier than you would if you weren't wearing the poncho, however it's not really a jacket and it doesn't fit you quite the way a jacket would and so you do end up at least getting damp in the process of wearing it, especially in windy conditions since the poncho tends to blow around and you aren't covered that well. If you don't have anything else though this poncho is better than nothing. It's also good to use to cover a backpack or some other object and in my case, I use it when I'm backcountry camping as a floor mat to put between my camping mattress and the floor of the tent.

I keep one of these ponchos in each of our vehicles since there's nothing worse than being stuck somewhere with vehicle problems in the rain. It's not the best option, but it's cheap and small enough to slip in a glove compartment. That and I use it as a floor mat for my tent when I'm camping. The poncho is light and easy to pack. It gives me an extra bit of protection between the floor of the tent and my mattress.

My Take

You won't stay completely dry, but the Emergency Poncho does offer some protection from the elements in an emergency. It is easy to pack, inexpensive and I like to carry one with me when backpacking and use it as a floor mat in my tent. I wouldn't don't really recommend this poncho as a rain coat, but in a pinch it works and it does make for a great base layer in your tent.