The serape is a 34 oz poncho, great coat, sleeping bag and blanket. Here is my initial review.
I have been working on getting outfitted for camping and working on my bob. Since I live in Florida much of the time I can camp outside without a sleeping. When I do need one it need not be overly heavy. I am for the moment in Carbondale, Il so my bob needed an update. I had seen the HPG Serape online and thought it was a great idea. Since it could be used for several different things I ordered one before heading to IL.
The quality of the serape is really good. It is made in Ecuador with us materials. The stitching is good there is one spot with two lose threads. I’ll have to check again and take some pics. All the materials are of good quality and it feels as if it should last for a long time.
I got in about a week ago and excitedly began messing around with it. The most obvious use of the serape is as a poncho. I walked outside in thin pajamas and a t-shirt on in twenty-degree weather with quite a lot of wind and felt warm.
I then took it inside and tried it out as a blanket. It is generously sized and easily covers a queen-sized bed. It feels comfortable on the skin and is very lightweight.
The greatcoat mode is nice for even more warmth and I guess maneuverability. It is easy to change. All it requires is that one basically draw the coat together and zip it up. You have the be careful with how low you zip it however or there is a risk of the coat tripping you up or putting strain on the coat. There are a pair of draw cords on the interior that allow you to tighten it up. I’m wearing it presently inside my room, the temperature is set at 67 degrees and I am comfortable in it. I have worn it outside in the same twenty-degree weather during snowfall and it was really comfortable for me. Because of the bungee cords you can shorten the length so it looks more like a traditional jacket except a tad stranger. I just went outside to see how comfortable I felt. It is 29 degrees with a bit of wind. I felt mostly comfortable with the hood up. Because I was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt my arms felt a bit cold so I just stuck them into the coat. With the coat on I felt no restriction in my movement.
The final use of the serape is as a sleeping bag. I have spent the least amount of time using it such. It is half zip bag. You just fold the coat in half and zip it up. It feels comfortable enough but I have yet to sleep in it. I think I might try tonight. You can leave the bottom of the bag open to sleep in your boots.
I slept in the serape the other night. I turned the heat off and left the door open to cool my place down. I was going to leave the windows open overnight but since I don't have any of those bug net windows things I had to close it. I felt comfortable all night although it wasn't really all that cold inside. I was wearing pjs and t-shirt and I imagine with a jacket and thermals on you could go pretty low in temps and still feel fine. I'll have to try and sleep outside one day. I am just waiting for my tent to come in.
Here are some pics of it rolled up, I don't have the proper sized stuff sack for it, it could be compressed much further.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6...42fcb8ca_b.jpg
I plan on testing it further and updating the thread as I go along. There are some pics of it being worn as the greatcoat on the hpg forum with an explanation on how that works.
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