Ya know, I realized I just thought about my backpack and my Jeep. Thanks to bacpacjac & joel I realize I EDC a super compressed heat sheet and have an collapsible UL umbrella in the Jeep. AND my wifes van has kids ponchos, umbrellas, and full weather kit for adults.

Moral of the story, it's one thing to be prepared, another to know your assets. Geesh.

Living in the PNW---ALWAYS!

I'm with Comms. I grew up in Southern California. You know, the place where it normally rains every 8 months?

Usually you know the rain is coming. So obviously then I would.

But, since I work indoors most of the time, I don't care about being a little wet from the door of the building to the car. If I'm cold, well, big deal. I'm still sheltered, the car has a heater, and worst case scenario I pull my space blanket or garbage bag out.

If I'm camping or something, then yeah, obviously.

Not EDC because urban dweller. Goretex suit and hat part of BOB. Golf umbrella in vehicle when appropriate; often a rainy day hiking companion.

I'm curious about the "urban dwellers". Do you not go outside? (I'm not being sacastic. I know some people in downtown Toronto who can get from home, to work and to shops and restaurants in between without going outside.)

As an urban dweller, I embrace the outside between insides. But EDCing a rainsuit or umbrella is unnecessary in my part of California and impractical; they just do not fit in wallet or pocket very well.

When rain is upon us, then I usually wear a coat that can deal with the wet and put an umbrella in the car in case the rain is torrential. Both coat and umbrella become nuisances for which few inside places are set up well.

Agreed, it's impractical. I walk 30 feet from my front door to my car, and maybe 50 yards from my car to work. Usually it's not raining. If I think it will (ie, weather report or incoming clouds) then of course I carry a rain jacket. But it's not all that often that we get rain.

If I totally misjudge the weather and get rained on, so what? I'm in an urban environment. It's easy enough to find a warm place or if need be, go buy some dry clothes or go home and change. I don't carry a backpack around with a change of clothes.

Urbanus Habito Homo Sapien or the shorter version Homo Urbanus have gone on to become the worlds dominant hominid species. Over reliance on electrically generated energy and petroleum fuels is the main characteristic of this new hominid species. Some of the sub species of Homo Urbanus can now live their lives without the need to interact with the general natural environment possibly as a way of progressing to the next level of civilisation called a full Type 1 civilisation only to discover they didn't like getting damp when the petroleum ran out and didn't have a brolly to hand.

Oops. I was going to stash my rain jacket in my pack today but in my hurry I decided it was going to be too nice of a day to warrant it. It's 7:15 pm and raining and I am still at the office. I have my Tilley hat and umbrella at my desk -- looks like it's going to be used tonight.