I used to carry a sil-nylon poncho as a ground cloth, figuring that it would do double duty as rain gear and pack cover. It worked fine as a ground cloth except it was really slippery but as a poncho it would just blow around and was really hard to take on and off by myself.
In the “How to hike the CDT” video, one of the hikers interviewed gave the following instructions for using a poncho: Tie the back of the poncho to the bottom of your pack, flip up the rest behind your neck. When you want the poncho on, just reach back and pull it over your head and secure with the waist belt of your pack. When you start getting too hot just un-lash your belt and pull the poncho up over your head and store behind your neck again.
That’s a really functional way to wear a poncho, however I have stopped using a ground cloth so I don’t carry it anymore.
