Another crucial piece of technical gear to tote with you? You might be skeptical at first, but only long enough until you pop open your GoLite Chrome Dome and find shelter from the rain or shine.

Whether bike touring, trekking, adventure racing, or even just running errands around the city, you will wonder how you ever got along without a technical umbrella. The biggest surprise I found was how nice it was in sunny conditions, the reflective surface of the umbrella creates a perfect source of shade, drastically reducing temperatures underneath it´s canopy. Sometimes, while camping in the desert or altiplano outside the tent, I´d want to sleep in after the sun rose but the overwhelming sun forced me to get up. With the umbrella I could quickly open up a shelter from the heat and sun burning down on my face.

Obviously, it´s best suited to protect you from the the rain. Although, there are some remarkably effective breathable fabrics in the jackets these days, there is still contact between the fabric and your body, a limitation that inevitably creates a more humid environment, that makes the temperatures more extreme. The beauty of the umbrella is that it eliminates that contact.

Combined with a large sil-nylon tarp, you can make a highly effective and esily set-up bivy type shelter using the umbrella as the support. Additionally, with a few velcro straps you can attach it to the shoulder strap of a backpack, etc. and use it hands free whether you are cooking or hiking around.

At a mere 10 oz. (less than most rain jackets) GoLite lives up to it´s name, it´s reputaion closely tied with the ultralight backpacking community. The design is tremendously strong with it´s high density fiberglass ribs and highly flexibl (practically unbreakable handle) and holds up to some pretty windy conditions, but it´s performance in the rain is reduced drastically in windy conditions, but can still be perfectly functional when combined with a soft shell top.

Most backpacking/bikepacking setups can accomodate the full umbrella, but for other travelers they might be more interested in the newer collapsable model that is easily packed away and still weighs in at a mere 12 oz.

When I had to patch a flat during a deluge of rain and could simply pop open the umbrella and create a rain free space, I realized exactly how crucial a trekking umbrella can be. This is one piece of gear you will find yourself using at home and on your next adventure.