[pct-l] weight of Golite Chrome Dome umbrella (and comparison with Montbell)

[Brian Lewis]

I think it was this forum where someone recently said that the Golite Chrome
Dome umbrella has gotten lighter.

Indeed. I just got mine today; the documentation lists it at 280 grams, 10
oz.  Mine weighs 225 grams, 7.9 oz.   Very nice to have something weigh less
than advertised!  You could probably save one or two more tenths of an oz by
removing the loop of cord from the handle if desired.

Since I also own the Montbell Ultralite Trekking Umbrella (didn't think
about the desert before buying that ... besides, I live in a rainy place)
--- I can't resist comparing them.  I'm sure this comparison has been made
before, but just in case I manage to state something a little differently or
something ... (the majority that don't care can stop reading now <g>):

The lighter Montbell umbrella weighs 5.3 oz if you leave off the cover
sleeve and unscrew a useless little bit of removeable plastic at the base
(and I replaced the cord loop at the top with a lighter cord).  The Montbell
packs much smaller, 9" long versus a bit over 25" long for the Golite.  And
it has a somewhat nifty loop at the top to allow you to hang the umbrella,
should that prove handy (?), which the Golite lacks.  But it's trickier to
open and close, and indeed offers a smaller diameter of coverage when
deployed.  Measuring the max ~diameter, from the fabric at one metal support
tip to another is about 34-1/4" for the Montbell, 31-1/2" if measured from
mid-fabric (between metal supports) edge to edge.  The equivalent
measurements for the Golite are 35" and 38-1/2".   A conservative estimate
of horizontal area covered is about 780 square inches for the Montbell and
960 square inches for the Golite; the Golite thus offers about 23% more
coverage area.

Handle lengths: Measuring from the bottom of handle to where the metal
support pieces fan out above is about 17" for the Montbell, and 5" longer or
about 22" for the Golite.

So, the Golite Chrome Dome --- apart from being silvery colored --- :

- is 2.x oz heavier (depending on how each of these is altered, I think it
will be a 2.4 oz different for me)

- it packs about 16" longer (they're surprisingly close in thickness when
closed).

- offers nearly 25% more coverage

- is much easier to open and close

More subjective feelings: of course if I don't expect to use it much on a
given trip, it's a no-brainer to want the Montbell.  The Golite feels like
it offers measurably more (generous) coverage, whereas you feel like you
would be huddling more under the Montbell.

It's surprising how much I like the ease of use of the Golite, and
contrariwise how tedious I find it to pack the Montbell back up, carefully
folding each of the metal rods back up.  I also suspect that the Montbell
might break sooner, it's just a more complicated arrangement; the flip side
of that, however, is that the Golite umbrella is so much longer that there's
a lot better chance of it getting damaged while carrying it on the pack ---
you'll likely want to pack it externally all the time, and there's a lot
more of it to get banged up.

Time will tell which (if indeed either) of these I want to carry on a
regular basis; like so many gear choices, there's not an obvious and simple
answer.



           Brian Lewis