Hungry Jack
Trail Wise!
Living and dying in 3/4 time...
Posts: 3,809 
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Post by Hungry Jack on Oct 7, 2016 9:05:31 GMT -8
Maybe the OP should tune in to Man V. Wild and watch Bear Grylls go up in the Rockies in winter, jump into a frozen lake, then strip naked and lie in the snow to dry off (yes it works well in powdery snow) and then build a fire while standing around it naked as his clothes dry!
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swmtnbackpacker
Trail Wise!
Back but probably posting soon under my real name ... Rico Sauve
Posts: 4,886
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Oct 7, 2016 22:11:07 GMT -8
Layered synthetics and an appropriate rain jacket on top (Britain's Montane for 3-season - figure they know about wet, right-O ? ... and Canada's Westcomb for winters). I also have water-resistant down hoody and adequately rated sleeping quilts retreating into the shelter (don't want to hang out in the rain with exposed synthetic or water-resistant down). Add some food and I'm good.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 8, 2016 1:23:25 GMT -8
Plan B? Set up your tent and get comfy. Patience can be it's own reward, well that and dodging hypothermia....
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 12,932
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 8, 2016 18:39:30 GMT -8
Of the things to be concerned about in the backcountry, getting wet probably comes closest to deserving the amount of worry we devote to it. I agree with those who say that when it rains enough, you get wet. The trick is to be able to keep warm enough despite being wet. I also take great care to keep at least some clothing dry to wear in my tent/sleeping bag. More than I few times I've spent fretful hours tented up in a downpour, trying to dry some clothes with body heat. I can't always totally succeed, and I have a special dislike for putting on cold, wet clothes in the morning, and a special feeling of triumph when I've finally walked them dry.
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Hungry Jack
Trail Wise!
Living and dying in 3/4 time...
Posts: 3,809
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Post by Hungry Jack on Oct 9, 2016 17:24:26 GMT -8
Besides a knock on the head, hypothermia will kill you faster than anything else in an outdoor survival situation. Staying dry is critically important. I sometimes use a small Sea to Summit dry sack to store my clothes inside my pack. It's overkill in terms of keeping the dry, but the sack also inflates to a nice pillow when properly sealed.
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Oct 9, 2016 18:59:42 GMT -8
My two cents says it's the hands man! I use a pair of SmartWool Liner gloves encased in a pair of ZPacks Rain Mittens. ZpacksThe application is for all day three-season hiking in inclement weather. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2016 2:51:03 GMT -8
Yep, Boston, LA, and Cleveland from the 90's to the mid 2000's. I have tried everything to stay "dry" working in the rain. Spring was always the most brutal. Winter, with snow was easy once you learned how to handle a bike in it. But Spring? 2 months of 40 degrees and rain? Forget it. It sent messengers who couldn't hang home all the time...
A good rain jacket to keep my core dry was about the best thing I ever used. Never got into the parka though. Looked too difficult to use, to get in and out of my bag to get packages. Goretex socks only made my feet sweat, then freeze. Never had gaiters back then cause usually only "fancy" guys had those, and they were expenisve then. Usually just wore wool socks and a wool sweater under my jacket until fleeces became popular and easy to get, then I wore those under my jacket. The main thing though was just accepting that I was gonna be wet. I'd go home, and pack my shoes full of newspaper so they'd be dry the next morning, and that worked for years.
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tigger
Trail Wise!
Posts: 2,547
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Post by tigger on Oct 10, 2016 6:06:21 GMT -8
I use a pair of SmartWool Liner gloves encased in a pair of ZPacks Rain Mittens. ZpacksThe application is for all day three-season hiking in inclement weather. Those gloves look extremely interesting. I may have to pull the plug on a pair. |
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Oct 10, 2016 10:03:52 GMT -8
I may have to pull the plug on a pair. They are functional, super light weight and take up almost zero pack space. I found them a dry hand solution for those days of all day hiking in drizzle, breezy, gray conditions with one or two downpour events in and out of timberline. |
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Hungry Jack
Trail Wise!
Living and dying in 3/4 time...
Posts: 3,809
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Post by Hungry Jack on Oct 10, 2016 10:10:37 GMT -8
That Z Pack stuff is amazing according to my retired Marine friend.
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driftwoody
Trail Wise!
Take the path closer to the edge, especially if less traveled
Posts: 14,995
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Post by driftwoody on Oct 10, 2016 18:12:55 GMT -8
Keep your sleeping bag dry, along with a dry baselayer & socks for sleeping. This will be your best guarantee to avoid hypothermia in the worst conditions. Bring a lightweight tarp and groundsheet accessible from the outside of your pack. Set this up first so you'll have a shelter for emptying the rest of your pack when setting up camp. If you have a freestanding tent you can set it up under the tarp so it doesn't get soaked before you can put the rainfly on it.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 10, 2016 19:08:10 GMT -8
NOT sheltering in place has killed a lot of people via hypothermia
Sometimes you just have to toss the damn schedule into the trash.
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