You should READ this article: Clothing for the High Sierra Alpine (3 season) environment.Jun 21 '02 (Updated Sep 13 '02) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Upper body raingear is a must, polypropylene long undies essential, Gortex lined hiking boots keep feet dry. Cool heads prevail when hiking on sunny days.
Proper clothing is a must for a safe and comfortable journey. Three seasons means spring, summer and fall. With a few modifications you can do winter and some desert camping environmenrts. It is easy to get on the trail in just jeans and a T-shirt and tennis shoes and think nothing of it until suddenly as you look up you see the sky is darkening and starting to rumble in the not so far distance. The wind may start to whip up a little and suddenly the sky just opens and starts to dump is hydrologic treasure on your head. One may wonder: Why Me? but for those prepared they will be awed by the beauty of inclement weather and stay dry and comfortable at the same time. Besides the unprepared were just in the way, it would have dumped the same amount of rain even if they were not there as an observer or nature's hapless victim. Underwear So where does one begin to deal with the clothing situation? Best to start with the most personal area of them all, i.e., underwear. Yep, the proper undies can make or break a person especially if they perspire heavily. The best material this hiker has found to date is polyproplene in brief form for men and women. The most favored supplier is Patagonia Capilene Brand. These can be expensive ($16 starting price) but worth it in the end. Pun intended. Socks Usually a thin polypropylene liner sock under a heavy wool / spandex / nylon blend sock (e.g., Thurlo Brand) works well. This combination has worked well for this hiker, family and friends. Wool blend socks wick moisture away from the foot. The new fleece stockings made of polypropylene have not been used by this hiker, so check those out too. Shirts Long Sleve UV shielding ventilation shirts can help immensely. This helps prevent sunburn and scratches if the trail is overgrown. If you perspire heavily, a light tightly woven all nylon ventilation shirt can make the difference (The North Face is one excellent maker). A tight weave helps perspiration to evaporate off the material but prevents chilling of the wearer if and when breezes blow. Cotton polyester blend ventilation shirts can work well during cooler months (Ex Officio brand is one maker). Ex Officio products are good but sometimes need reinforcement of button threads and sometimes on high stress areas such as the wasteline on a pair of pants (this should not really happen). Boots Boots should be very comfortable and gortex lined if possible. If built well such boots can last many hiking seasons and even survive one factory resouling. You will not get wet feet if the boot is Gortex lined. Vibram souls grip smooth granite rock thus you do not slip accidentally and twist ankles or sustain fall injuries from an unreliable footing. Too heavy a boot can waste energy from having to overcome the inertia of swinging those pendulums over and over. So watch out that you get a good fit with your favorite hiking socks on and as light a boot as possible for the job at hand. Excellent brand examples are Danner, Vasque, Merrill, Asolo, even Zamberlan (REI Italian import) and Raichle of Switzerland to name a few. Best to have boots that come up to top of the ankle to resist ankle twists especially when loaded down with a heavy pack. Wear the best socks you can find and plan to wear them when getting fitted. Take your time to get a great fit. A well fitted hiking boot will be the most comfortable shoe you have ever worn, no joke. Boots may look clunky but your feet will be in heaven. Eat your heart out Emelda (Marcos)! Happy feet mean a happy long distance capable hiker. You can go short or long distances but always comfortably if your boot fit is right. Rent 'em if you can't commit to purchasing boots and follow the same fitting rules. Mole skin Carry Mole skin or molefoam and place oversized rectangular pieces directly on hot spots (i.e., areas that feel hot and tender on the foot) if any develop on your foot. Cut it to size with a scissors such as found on a typical swiss army knife. Hot spots can occur during break-in of new boots and on long humps with a heavy pack. Pants Dedicated hiking pants are nice. Best materials include: fine woven nylon, cotton-polyester, and light polypropylene fabric. With zipoff legs you can have shorts on demand and leg scratch protection for times where brush has overgrown the trail, gosh does that really ever happen? Good brands include the North Face, ExOfficio and Speedo light polypropylene pants. Many other makes are out there. Check out L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer too. Shorts The best hiking shorts to date has to be the stretchy fabric Sportif brand with multiple cargo pockets and belt loops. For a swim or bath a good nylon short boxer-style shorts with nylon mesh liner and drain holes in the pockets work well, dry fast, weigh little. Look to Patagonia brand as an example supplier. Belt A good colorful nylon mesh belt is a must to keep your pants up. Double D ring types are the most durable. Plastic lever lock buckles are good but can break if stepped on in camp. Polypropylene Long Underwear Use them when you are cold or cold and wet. These can save your life with their remarkable moisture wicking power and help get you dry and warm too when used in conjunction with your rain gear or rain shelter. Reported to be much more efficient than wool at wicking moisture off the skin. Lightweight polypropylene long undies make the best pajamas too, camping or at home or when traveling. Example: Pategonia Capilene brand (the best so far). Useable year round for many people. Wear your polypropylene long underwear if you get sick and you will recover days sooner from colds, flu and food caused diarrhea, because it prevents energy wasting cycles of shivering and sweats by stabilizing body temperature. It does this by wicking moisture away from the skin. I speak from actual live testing experience under actual illness conditions. So I've been there and done that and so have other family members too. You must take these long undies with you any time you travel. Women love 'em under bussiness suits too. These stomp on wintersilks which are ok but not great. Warm parka layer (the warmest layer) A warm parka of polypropylene fleece is a good warm layer choice. Example: Patagonia synchilla parkas, somewhat more expensive than generic brands but generally worth it. Synchilla doesn't pill. Polafleece is a good alternative material. Rain Gear Rain protection: minimum of coated nylon ventilated style rain parka with hood and oversized to allow all your warm layers underneath if necessary. The best upper body rain protection is a Gortex parka, if you can afford it. It will last for many years if treated well, is virtually wind proof, and will allow a sweat or rain soaked person to dry out while wearing it once heavy precipitation has ceased, and all the while maintaining good body temperature. It will be a world traveling companion for the lucky owner, always providing the needed edge for comfort and safety in inclement environments including commercial aircraft and buses. Use it and stay well. A Gortex parka can save the day on many an Airline flight, bus, or other situation, by blocking cold and drafts from overactive air conditioning. Type Example Brands: Marmot; The North Face; Patagonia; REI; and many other makes today. If your upper body is dry and warm you can get by wearing shorts in the rain for a while and just let your legs get wet. Hikers can save money with coated nylon rain pants instead of heavier gortex. Best if they have full side zips for easy on and off. Pull on types with leg bottom zips are even less expensive, yet work ok for short periods. Use a poncho if you can't afford the waterproof coated nylon rain gear. A poncho of waterproof coated nylon would be much lighter and durable than a cheap plastic poncho. The cheap plastic poncho still beats a giant plastic trash bag. Head cover A fleece pullover head cover (ski hat style) works well for cold mornings and night and sleeping too. Marmot makes one as well as many other companies. Sun hats speed you up by preventing overheating of the head of course. During the daytime especially on sunny days in direct sunlight one must wear a hat that prevents sunburn of the face, ears and neck. Baseball caps don't cut it. A tilley hat with chin strap is a viable option for some of the time and a great one most of the time, but probably still too hot. Hats specifically designed for direct sunlight use have an extrawide bill, ventilation mesh and sun reflective mylar on top, a chin strap and a light neck wrap which also prevents sunburn of the ears and face. Best example is the Sequil design. I hope it is still in production. This hat keeps the wearer safely cool in the critical head area. Overheated head prevention and treatment Note if someones head gets overheated, throw a cold water soaked cloth (Wethead) on that person's head for instant relief and continue as needed while you hike. The "wethead cloth" (my wife discovered it for me) is very helpful to keep in mind but proper hats will eleminate the need to use a Wethead. The Wethead allows you to still hike on a sunny day at a fairly rapid pace safely. Hand warmth A pair of light polypropylene gloves will help the ladies keep their hands warm at night. They work well for the men too. Note: In a pinch a fresh pair of wool socks will substitute as mittens. Eye Protection Have some good dark sunglasses that block the UV rays encountered at high elevations. Keep in mind that if you wear perscription sunglasses, photogrey extra glass turns very dark in strong UV and can save the need to carry a separate pair of eye shades. The photogrey extra glass also lightens up well for good night vision use. See your sporting goods store as there are myriad suppliers of quality sunglasses. Sunglasses are one of the 10 essentials for wilderness survival. Camp shoes In camp a good strong lightweight pair of strap-on sandles are wonderful. Good example brand is Teva. Get a head lamp Wear a headlamp flashlight to free up your hands so you can eat in the dark if need be or set up a tent ect. Petzel and Princeton, and REI are good brands. A flashlight is one of the ten essential items for wilderness survival. Signal gear Wear a whistle on a lanyard for attention calls and distress calls (3 blasts in a row). The voice is no match and cannot go for the unlimited time a whistle provides. Best example so far is the Acme Thunderer cork ball whistle from England, in plastic or chromed brass and utterly reliable. A whistle is one of the 10 essentials for survival in the wilderness. Layering is the efficient way to maintain proper warmth. Practice layering of clothing to maintain ideal body temperature and comfort. Layers of additional clothing work to increase warmth as the sun sets or the day cools down. Remove layers of extra clothing as the day warms up. Care and cleaning of valuable outdoor clothing. Launder all of your hiking garmets in ivory snow in cold water in a nylon mesh bag to protect your valuable clothing. Hang them up on a plastic hanger to prevent rust stains from steel hangers and allow to air dry. Boot care after a trip. Brush or wipe off all dirt from your boots including any soil or small pebbles in the sole of the boot. Let the boots air dry. Never apply heat to a leather boot or the leather will actually cook and crack. Seal seams with a good seam sealer and then feed the leather. Personal favorite is Biwell leather treatment. Keep the leather treatment off nylon cloth areas, if any, on your boot to prevent damage to the gortex liner if the boot has one. Finally store the boot with shoe trees designed for boots and the boot will feel and fit like new the next time they are used. Note: Almost all of these garmets will find uses in every day living even if you never hike again. Now go and travel and enjoy the natural and man made world around you with confidence and in comfort. Note 2: Avoid 100% cotton fabrics like the plague. If you do not you will think that you have the plague because once wet from perspiration, precipation, exhalation or just getting dunked means it will stay wet and cold period. This material is just plain dangerous to use in the great outdoors because it wicks the heat off your skin at all times making it impossible for one's body to maintain a stable temperature. In other words you WILL FREEZE your posterior off in wet 100% cotton. Polypropylene and wool wick moiture off the skin which is what is needed to stay warm, comfortable and safe. Cotton polyester (approximately 65% cotton or less / 35% or greater polyester) blend fabrics are usually fine and provide comfort and durability without the misery of 100 % cotton.  |
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