/ Layering 101
1. What do I want from my clothes on the trail?
I’m a SoCal girl who used to live in New York City. Yes, I was that girl who accidentally went outside while it was snowing in flip-flops. When you’re in the city or just outdoors for a short while, you can generally get inside if the weather turns bad.
When you’re on the trail, you usually have to keep walking. Your clothing Is gear. It’s your barrier to the elements.
Here’s how I want my clothes to perform:
When it’s hot, I want to feel cool and dry. I don’t want my sweat to stick to my skin for hours, feeling wet and clammy.
When it’s cold, I want to feel warm and dry. I want to feel warm but not feel like I’m overheating. I don’t want to sweat enough that it sticks to my skin, feeling wet.
When it’s wet, I want to be dry. When it’s wet outside, I want to be as dry as possible so I can keep my temperature stable. But, I want to stay dry from the inside as well: I don’t want my sweat to build up on the inside of my waterproof jacket. This will make me cold as my body works to warm up the trapped liquid (sweat).
Basically, I want my clothes to insulate when needed, wick (move moisture away from my skin), breathe (vent internal moisture to the outside), and keep external moisture out.
“What’s wrong with getting wet!”
—Yvon Chouinard
Okay, admittedly, it’s not just all about comfort. It’s about safety. Wet and cold together pave the road to hypothermia, a drop in body temperature when the body produces less heat than it is losing over a prolonged period of time. Liquid, such as water and sweat, is more thermally conductive than a solid. This means you lose heat faster when liquid is next to your skin than if you had a dry fabric. This can be dangerous if you are in a prolonged cold situation.
On the other hand, overheating leads to heat exhaustion. You can regulate your body temperature with both your clothing and fluid intake.
But, of course, there’s a wide range between 0 and 100% comfort. As Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder, once said, “What’s wrong with getting wet!” Your clothes on the trail aren’t meant to hermetically seal you from the elements. Your clothes allow you to have the experience and get you home.
Read on to learn what conditions affect your clothing’s performance.
