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Post by dayhiker on Sept 20, 2015 6:17:02 GMT -8
Wool socks, and wool shirt for camp.
Light convertible hiking pants Columbia or REI, except if you will be sliding around or thru rock. Light long sleeve shirt (and light color) for sun, a bit baggy and tall size is great for keeping shirt at or below pack (if you been over your shirt raises up and the pack keeps it from dropping back down). Light rain/sun hat.
for sleeping very light synthetic tops and bottoms, wool socks, wool bennie or blacva .
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In winter/ spring skiing I use heavy wool pants (army surplus cheap), and heavy wool base layer for sleeping.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 20, 2015 13:55:50 GMT -8
At a higher level, clothes are way overrated. Think about hiking nekkid, but take plenty of sunscreen. Maybe a hat or umbrella. Go SUL. Boy, I'd need a barrel of sunscreen bigger than my whole pack if I tried that! Not to mention what the bugs would do to me! And the chafing from the pack straps...no thanks!
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 20, 2015 20:41:06 GMT -8
What pack, rebecca? You just carry a water bottle and a snickers Trust me, if I were hiking naked, there'd be plenty of snickers. Probably some guffaws, too. And a fair number of people running for protection from the scraped up, bright pink monster.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Sept 26, 2015 1:53:39 GMT -8
Boy, I'd need a barrel of sunscreen bigger than my whole pack if I tried that! A skinny person like you would hardly need a full barrel. Maybe just one of those little travel sized tubes you can find in the drug store sometimes. Not to mention what the bugs would do to me! And the chafing from the pack straps...no thanks! Bodyglide will probably take care of both. I'll take TDale's snicker, your guffaw, and raise you a chortle.
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Post by cheaptentguy on Sept 26, 2015 6:35:54 GMT -8
Passing through Wally world yesterday I noticed some new synthetic jackets and shirts. Polyester 1/4 zip...$12. Nylon windbreaker...$18. I picked up a synthetic top like what you're describing the other day from Walmart and really like it. I think with some cheap purchases and what I have, I'll be in good shape. Still want to get some nylon convertible pants and a down/synthetic vest. Did spring for some nice wool socks and a pair of icebreaker boxers. Might go REI for both.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 26, 2015 8:11:29 GMT -8
A skinny person like you would hardly need a full barrel. Maybe just one of those little travel sized tubes you can find in the drug store sometimes. Skinny is an illusion, and with my complexion, the sunscreen needs to be an inch or two thick.
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swmtnbackpacker
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Oct 1, 2015 9:17:21 GMT -8
Speaking of less clothes, many thru hikers on hot California trails swear by short running shorts when hiking in the heat, but then there's a need to ample sunscreen (plus gaiters). Now off-trail there will need to be protection at the expense of swearing (meant sweating but the former is appropriate too!). There's the running clothes style and then there's the safari style in hot weather. Think it come down to sun exposure. YMMV.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Oct 2, 2015 4:43:08 GMT -8
On the John Muir Trail this summer my usual afternoon uniform was running shorts with a light cotton long sleeve plaid Wrangler shirt (K-Mart) with a wide brimmed hat. Was cool & light & didn't require much sunscreen. My shorts were short enough to make me look like the creepy old guy I am (couple inches above the knee), but not as short as the powder blue ones worn by a heavy, hairy older gentleman, also sporting heavy mountaineering boots.
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Post by cweston on Oct 2, 2015 4:56:22 GMT -8
For multi-day treks, are you often airing/washing and reusing the same garments? Any rules of thumb any of you follow or is it always trip by trip planning with clothes? I use the trail clothes and camp clothes system. I have a pair of underwear and a light base layer top that I only wear in camp. I usually change my clothes, including underwear, after arriving at camp. That gives me the best chance of airing/drying my hiking clothes, and it gets me out of wet clothes if it is cool or cold. I did a week-long trip with just two pair of underwear recently. I wash the "trail" pair any day that I arrive at camp early enough that I think I can get them dry by nightfall. I do usually carry three pair of socks, though. (When I say "wash," I really mean "rinse." No need to be fouling the environment with soap unless you're out for a month or something. I try to bathe once or twice on a weeklong trip if possible, but the water tends to be very cold in the high mountain areas I usually hike in.
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hikerjer
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Post by hikerjer on Oct 2, 2015 10:28:54 GMT -8
but the water tends to be very cold in the high mountain areas I usually hike in. Boy, Cweston, I never figured you for such a wuss. But I know exactly how you feel.
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Post by cweston on Oct 2, 2015 11:12:33 GMT -8
but the water tends to be very cold in the high mountain areas I usually hike in. Boy, Cweston, I never figured you for such a wuss. But I know exactly how you feel. If I'm camped at a lake, I'll usually go ahead and swim, or at least wade up to my thighs and splash bathe the critical parts. (In summer or early fall.) But if we're talking about a creek, that's a real dilemma: do I really stink THAT bad?
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Post by cweston on Oct 3, 2015 6:44:47 GMT -8
One thing I don't think was mentioned about synthetics--one of the main differences between the good ones and the cheap ones is stink. Synthetics tend to stink when you sweat in them. Good ones have various kinds of anti microbial treatments. I can wear my Capalene 1 top every day for a week on the trail and it actually hardly smells at all. A cheaper version would reek after two days.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Oct 4, 2015 6:44:27 GMT -8
Exactly the reason I quit hiking in synthetics after discovering Icebreaker wool clothing. I sported the odious stench for so many miles synthetics just look stinky to me now.
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almostthere
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Post by almostthere on Oct 18, 2015 8:47:18 GMT -8
I went hiking yesterday in the rain and hail. As has happened to me before, the nylon pants, wool socks, even my underwear got wet - because wicking fabric wicks, and no matter what is done in terms of rain gear, if it's really pouring buckets (and IT WAS - the trail was a river with thousands of pea-sized hail floating in it) water wicks upward pretty fast. Temps dropped into the 30s while we were hiking.
My feet were warm enough, just a little chilled - I was wearing Smartwool. My bf's feet were freezing cold. He layers synthetic dress socks (feet size 16.5, very few hiking socks available in that size). I didn't even have goretex shoes, just my usual trail runners - I often feel the breeze through the mesh of the shoe. And did I mention the ice water flooding the trail?
I had on a short sleeved shirt, under a very light windshirt (not waterproof), under a Mountain Hardwear Windstopper fleece jacket (with pit zips), under a cheap plastic poncho. Had I been on anything but a short day hike, I would have taken the Snugpak poncho I got earlier this year - sleeves, hood, enough length and depth in the back for a full multi-day backpack - instead. I would also have had my rain pants, which only go in the pack when it is cold. My two companions with Marmot rain jackets (fancy dancy light waterproof expensive jackets) got soaked through and cold.
My goal is to stay warm. Not dry head to toe. Keeping my torso dry is paramount - unless it's below freezing all day, when staying warm and dry and keeping my skin from freezing is paramount, then it's full winter and out comes winter gear, insulating as well as waterproof shoes, fuzzy hats, base layers, liner gloves plus waterproof gloves....
I do use wool, for some things, especially socks. My feet sweat all the time regardless of what I do and wool wicks better - I get strange blisters in non-friction spots with synthetic, probably a continuation of a foot fungus issue that used to be worse. I use wool base layers to sleep in at night. I use wool hats, also for sleeping in. Synthetics have their place - but as I hike each week they quickly develop a real stench - no matter what I use to wash or soak them, eventually a shirt just starts to smell like a dirty goat the instant my body heat hits it, and I end up tossing it.
In any case, I am yard-saling several stupidly-expensive rain jackets, and keeping the $40 Snugpak poncho, based entirely on the outcomes of really rainy hikes. I buy seconds of Smartwool PhD socks on Sierra Trading Post, as the reinforced toe and heel lets them last much longer (wool develops holes quickly). I go to Woot and outlet websites looking for deep discounts on other wool clothing.
EVERYTHING is colder when wet, unless you stop evaporative cooling.
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hikerjer
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Post by hikerjer on Oct 18, 2015 9:46:29 GMT -8
I believe there are just some situations in which you're going to get wet. Sounds like you had one of them. All you can really do is keep moving to stay warm and have dry clothes with you to change into at night or when you have to stop for prolonged periods of time. Doesn't matter which miracle fabrics you have, sometimes you're just not going to beat the rain. Just the way it is.
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