Poncho

Ponchos have been used by the Native American peoples of the Andes, Patagonia, and the Valley of Mexico since pre-Hispanic times, in places now under the territory of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, and have also become familiar in parts of the U.S. A rain poncho is made from a watertight material designed to keep the body dry from the rain.

In its simplest form, the poncho is essentially a single large sheet of fabric with an opening in the center for the head.

As traditional clothing, the local names and variants are: The poncho was first used on a regular basis in the 1850s for irregular U.S. military forces operating on the U.S. Western Plains.

While originally intended for cavalry forces, they were widely used by infantry as well; Major General Sherman's Union troops, lightly equipped and living off procurement demand from the local populace, wore ponchos during wet weather encountered during the march through Confederate Georgia to the sea.

[8] Two years later, both the Army and the Marines were forced to issue waterproof rubberized cloth ponchos with high neck collars during the Philippine–American War in 1900.

[7] With the entry of the United States into World War I, both doughboys and Marines in France wore the poncho; it was preferred over the raincoat for its ability to keep both the wearer and his pack dry, as well as serving as a roof for a makeshift shelter.

During World War II, the German Army (Wehrmacht) issued the Zeltbahn (see Shelter half), a poncho that could be combined to form tents.