It's been a very long time since I've done any desert hiking, but I'm thinking a lot about travelling out West to do some again, probably just day-hiking or a short overnight mixed with car camping at most.

In doing a bit of unrelated research for my niece who's taken up backpacking in the often rainy Pacific Northwest, I came across umbrellas that clip to pack straps for hands-free use. Some of them appear to silver and/or reflective. Would this actually prove a useful item for desert hiking?

Back in the day, I also used to carry a cheapo, lightweight foam ground pad to lie on for protection from stickers, rocks and such, and to provide a little insulation from the heat of the ground. An afternoon nap is just about my favorite wilderness activity, so I thought it was pretty useful to have along.

I've also taken up using two hiking poles when backpacking with heavier loads, but I've never used them in really sandy, loose conditions. I have the smallish snow baskets for them, but would they work well enough in the sand, or would they just be a useless frustration?

I was thinking that I could use them to rig a sunshade with a Heetsheet, and I guess I'd need to bring along a few stuff sacks or something to use as sand anchors. But if hiking poles are a bother, I could substitute a few even lighter tent pole sections instead. Does anybody have field experience rigging up this sort of sunshade in the desert and know what works best, doesn't work well, or isn't worth the bother, either for a routine trial rest or for emergency? Any advice welcome. Thanks.