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If you are caught out in the rain without any rainwear, raingear and nowhere to hide out, how can you minimalize the damage?

I've seen things like:

  • holding a bag over the head

  • wearing a plastic bag on the head

  • keeping the head down

Obviously planning ahead would be ideal, but...:

What methods are there to avoid general wetness when you're caught off guard.

Mou某
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    A garbage bag makes an ok raincoat if needed. – Jon Custer May 31 '18 at 15:24
  • Clarification about "caught off guard." If you're surprised, wouldn't it be fair to say that you don't have any gear, including rain gear (poncho, coat, umbrella, tarp, or plastic bag) or any tools that could help build a shelter, such as a pocket knife? – Don Branson May 31 '18 at 16:50
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    @DonBranson Yes, that was the idea. – Mou某 May 31 '18 at 16:52
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    Not a real duplicate, but a cross site almost Dupe: https://lifehacks.stackexchange.com/q/261/19058 – Willeke May 31 '18 at 17:30
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    Many times I do not bother to get my rain gear out when I know it will just be a short time of rain or a light rain. In reasonably warm weather you are often more wet on the inside of your rain jacket than you would be without one. – Willeke May 31 '18 at 17:41
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    There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything. -Yamamoto Tsunetomo – StrongBad May 31 '18 at 20:01
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    "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." "Don't do that, then." – Mark May 31 '18 at 20:09
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    Over on the cycling Stack, we get questions like this "I'm falling, how can I best prepare for hitting the road ?" and the standard reply is something like "you've already made your mistake, your goal now is to get out with as little damage/injury as possible" In this case your mistake has already been made, you came unprepared so now all you can do is minimise the effects. Next time, come better equipped. – Criggie Jun 01 '18 at 03:55
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    Is it warm or cold outside? – gerrit Jun 01 '18 at 09:24
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    I guess I'm not too clear with what you're asking. If you're caught in a rainstorm with nothing, then you get wet. There's really no way to minimize damage; you're going to get soaked. – johnVonTrapp Jun 01 '18 at 17:21
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    Is there a question on whether it is better to run through the rain or walk? :) – Wilf Jun 02 '18 at 08:56

5 Answers5

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Strip off.

Your skin is waterproof. Assuming it's warm (because if it wasn't, you'd have proper gear, right?) then you're not going to freeze, especially if you're walking. So take off everything you can afford to be seen without (because getting arrested for flashing is a downer) and stash it in your pack.

When the sun comes out again, you can air dry as you go, or you can sacrifice some item of clothing as an impromptu towel.

I've done substantial amounts of summer walking in the UK wearing only a pair of shorts, most notably on the West Highland Way in Scotland where it rained sideways 4 days out of 6. If your work rate is high enough, you stay warm from the inside in spite of the water running off your skin.

Graham
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    This solution works great in Hawaii, but Scotland?!? – ab2 May 31 '18 at 23:32
  • but if there is no where to hide, where will he keep this things ? Would be the same as just wearing them. – Nigel Fds Jun 01 '18 at 01:32
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    @NigelFds, rolled or folded clothing doesn't get wet anywhere near as fast as worn clothing. Something about the difference in surface-area-to-volume ratio. – Mark Jun 01 '18 at 02:23
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    "because getting arrested for flashing is a downer"...but jails are heated and have dry blankets... – DJohnM Jun 01 '18 at 03:29
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    Is it better to have less clothes than more with respect to the possibility of hypothermia? – Ricketyship Jun 01 '18 at 06:01
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    When it's 3°C and windy this seems like a good recipe to succumb to the wet-cold spiral. – gerrit Jun 01 '18 at 09:33
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    @gerrit if it's 3C it can actually snow, or hail. Getting wet will not be your biggest problem. – Nelson Jun 01 '18 at 12:05
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    @ab2 The west coast of Scotland can be surprisingly mild. At the time, breathable waterproofs were expensive and I was only a kid so I didn't have much spare money. It was a choice between getting soaked from rain or getting soaked in the condensation inside my waterproofs. :) Of course it depends on the conditions, and on the one day where it was colder, I did button myself up. – Graham Jun 01 '18 at 21:55
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    @gerrit If it's 3°C out, I wouldn't expect the situation to arise because you're going to have appropriate gear, aren't you? The question requires you to be caught out with the weather changing, but that's only going to happen if the day starts off hot; and then it's reasonable to assume the temperature will still be warm. – Graham Jun 01 '18 at 21:58
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    @Graham I may be out in the mountains in sunny 10°C, which can feel pleasantly warm with a powerful high-altitude sun, then a storm arrives and temperature suddenly drops to 3°C with sunshine turning to sleet. I think we can cut a long discussion short by anyone who ventures out into mountains in a humid climate without proper weather protection is being foolish. – gerrit Jun 01 '18 at 23:29
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    @gerrit Agreed. :) – Graham Jun 02 '18 at 22:25
  • "I've done substantial amounts of summer walking in the UK wearing only a pair of shorts" The other day it poured down and my neighbour was chopping down a small tree in nothing but his swimming trunks. Perhaps its a British thing? – Pharap Jun 03 '18 at 22:42
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    @Pharap Eccentricity, perhaps. :) Although I believe it's also SOP in the US for river crossings - strip, cross, and dress again on the other side. Brits get precious little decent weather though, so we'll put up with a lot if we can still pretend it's summer. (Off-topic but in the spirit of the great British double entendre - did your neighbour have wood when he'd finished? ;) – Graham Jun 03 '18 at 23:39
  • @Nelson I disagree. At 3C, getting wet (even from snow or hail) is a sure way to loose a lot of heat very fast. At that temperature, the single best thing you can do to remain warm is to stay dry. – njzk2 Feb 05 '22 at 16:24
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So, if you're caught off-guard, you won't have anything with you that offers direct protection, such as: raincoat, poncho, garbage bag, tarp, or any other portable shelter. It also means that you won't have any tools along that might help you build a shelter, such as a pocket knife. Some might have one, some not, but let's assume you don't. Some of these options will reduce your wetness, but not eliminate it. Some of these are not quick solutions and wouldn't be fast enough to help for a quick downpour.

Therefore, you'll need to quickly consider your environment, and look for what is available. The possibilities will differ greatly:

City/Suburbs:

  • alcove of a building, or hopefully you can go inside (you're probably not thinking of this environment, but for completeness)
  • if there is a building, find the wall which is most out of the wind. Stand against the wall, as flat against the wall as possible, and you will be out of the worst of the rain. It will work with big trees as well, but trees mostly have branches which will either help or hinder (drops.)

Forest:

  • under an evergreen of some kind. If there's lightning, be careful here. Definitely avoid the taller trees in that case, but that may not be enough.
  • a cave would be great
  • a cliff might help, either because it's overhanging, or because the wind is blowing the right direction
  • gather dead branches to build a quick wickiup, and cover it with leaves
  • if it's a genuine survival situation, use your hands to break boughs from evergreens and make a shelter

There will be environments where there's no good solution if you're caught off guard. These might include open plains, desert, etc.

Willeke
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Don Branson
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My experience as a cyclist is that getting wet doesn't matter (because skin is waterproof): what matters is getting cold. So the goal is to stay warm enough.

Your warmth is affected by your exercise (producing heat) and insulation/clothing (retaining heat).

To keep warm, keep exercising: if you stop and take shelter (when already soaking) then you'll get cold[er]. It may be better to keep on keeping on (even in the wet) until you reach an indoor shelter.

In dry weather you might keep your jacket unzipped (to stay cool and avoid sweating); if you're drenched in rain, staying cool and sweat-free is less important, instead you might zip up to keep warm.

ChrisW
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Get out.

You can quickly cool down when it's raining out, in particular when the rain is horizontal and it's 4°C outside. You say there's no shelter anywhere near. Then walk as fast as you can to somewhere not near. I infer yours must be a day trip, for surely you're not out on a multi-night backpacking trip in a cold & wet climate without any raingear or night shelter.

Locate the closest shelter, be it a bus stop, a pub, your car, or even a house if you trust strangers and they trust you. Even if they don't invite you in, you might hide under a ledge. Walk to such shelter as fast as you reasonably can, be it one, two, or three hours march. The wet-cold spiral is real and bad for you.

P.S. It amazes me how often I see people in England out in the rain without proper rain protection. This is England, it rains. I don't recall seeing the same in Netherlands, Sweden, or Norway. In the USA too, right on the peak of Mt. Marcy, I remember seeing hikers without any rain gear caught out in heavy rain. A sure way to catch a cold or worse.

gerrit
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    In England, rain is usually just a light ten-minute shower. By the time you've realised it's more than that, you're thinking "f*** it, I'm already wet." – David Richerby Jun 01 '18 at 13:32
  • @DavidRicherby In the Lake District, where hikers are statistically likely to be, this shower can be heavy and be closer to 100 rather than 10 minutes. A dreary march drizzle going on for hours is also very English. – gerrit Jun 01 '18 at 14:11
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    OK, sure, in the Lake District, I don't understand people not having wet-weather gear. There, the situation is that not raining is usually just a ten-minute dry spell and you don't bother taking off your rain gear because "f*** it, it'll be raining again before I've repacked it." ;-) – David Richerby Jun 01 '18 at 14:27
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A waterproof map made of a rubber-like paper. I keep one in my backpack for going to the library. It is very small and light-weight when folded and very big when opened up. This is much more durable than a garbage bag. Trails Illustrated have them. They can also serve as something to sit on if really need to do so, and the area is wet. They dry fast, as well.

Planet.Megan
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