Clothing Help

[Wannabe]

Hi all,

New to Bushcrafting so please be gentle with me.....

Firstly, I'd just like to say what a great forum ! Been trawling the Kit Chat pages for advice and it's been really useful to have so many opinions that agree - has enabled me to actually make some decisions !

What I really need help with is clothing ! There seems to be so much out there and I'd guess that a lot of it is personal choice but for 2/3 season wear in the UK is there anything that you'd absolutely recommend or avoid for outer layer ? both trousers and jacket.

Thanks for you help.

 

[nomade]

I am relatively new to bushcrafting myself.

My experience of knowing what to wear has been a long one though...first I looked at all kinds of survival and outdoors books to see what they were saying. There are thermal "rules" they advise you to stick to, like the one on wearing layers etc. There is advice on what to use or what to avoid, etc

Some of it differs from one book to the next.

I gave it a lot of thought. My financial means were too limited to just go one afternoon into one of the outdoors shops like those on Kensington High Street in London and buy everything I "needed". So I bought all these things in the course of time, from various shops, taking a long time, progressively building up an equipment. .

I talked to everyone who knew anything related to the subject including the staff of outdoors shops who were often young backpackers from Australia, South Africa or Canada with impressive outdoors credentials. This way I also completed the knowledge I had from books.

And last but not least personal EXPERIENCE!

All this kit has to be used for you to find out how it is going to work for you.
I have discovered things that no book says.

I discovered that these things are also very personal as we don't all react to weather, temperature, etc in the same way. Even some of what manufacturers say about the performance of their own products may not give you much real information:

I have a sleeping bag from a very reputable brand which was presented by them as meant for "for arctic work", a "five season sleeping bag". I use this sleeping bag each Summer in Soutehrn England...! !

This is probably not the response you wanted. You may just want some practical advice for immediate use...

However this is just a few thoughts on how I built up a set of outdoors clothing and equipment and found out what worked best for me. Because at the end of the day this is what we all bushcrafters have to do from the stage of complete beginners onwards and it never stops...because to some degree we all get equipment nutters...

About traditional materials (cotton, wool, canvas,etc) versus modern synthetic fibre:

-old natural fibres are heavier and take time to dry. However they have a feel to them that can't be matched and they have other great qualities.
My conclusion is: good idea to wear them if you plan to camp using an open fire (to be able to dry wet cotton etc). If you don't mind a heavy rucksack.

-new synthetic fibres: lightweight. Dry quickly when wet. But more fragile and never match the feel of the natural ones. A must if you camp without making open fires. A must if you mind heavy rucksacks/are keen on travelling light.

 

[Graham_S]

myself i like to use either german army moleskin trousers (very hard wearing but take a while to dry) or us army m65 trousers (a ripstop polycotton that's fairly light and fast drying) on the torso i prefer a woolen base-layer (polyproplyne thermals really start to smell after a day or so, natural fibers don't) and either a wool shirt/sweater.
swanndri make good stuff (but it's expensive)
remember, for bushcraft the local surplus store is your friend

 

[Ogden]

Here is a suggestion for clothing:
Go to a shop for work clothes and buy an overall (best:65% snthetic, 35%cotton),
try to get one with knee pads;
As base layer try a woolen T-Shirt (Ullfrotte or similar), synthetic smells.
When cold or heavy rain: Pertex Jacket with synthetic insulation (Pile might do
it, but I don´t have experience with it) as mid-layer!
This is a complete system for about 150 - 200,- Euro.

 

[bloodline]

you will definitely need trousers and a jacket

 

[Squidders]

You need not spend a fortune on clothing, I am most comfortable in poly/cotton trousers, the BDU type in green on my legs.

I prefer cheep as chips cotton T-shirts on my body. People argue that you can sweat up in them and then freeze as they don't wick moisture away but if you're going to sweat, just take your jacket off. They're also light and if one gets burned or covered in bunny guts it's not throwing £30 in to the fire

Boots are important as you typically spend all day in them for long periods, it's worth buying these from a shop so you can really try them on, sizing is diferent with each maker so it's better to be sure... there are a million arguments out there, gore-tex or not, leather or textile or whatever. Personally my feet sweat a lot and I find gore-tex too warm, I want boots that will be a bit airy, sure they let in water but they also let it out easily too... it's all down to preference.

Socks are important, I buy the best I can afford and try to avoid ones with seams etc, socks are mostly overlooked as they don't come under the glamour status of jackets etc...

For a jacket, I wouldn't be without my M65, it's really warm in the winter and the lining comes out for the summer, it's bomb proof but not waterproof.

For rain, I use a US issue poncho because that's just my preference, you could really go with any breathable waterproof but I like the poncho because I never get clammy in it, you get reasonable air flow.

Buy a few hats, one with a brim for the summer, one warm for the winter and you're ok, no real hard and fast rules that i'm aware of, just that it should fit. Some people like leather in the summer, I don't because I don't want to lose a £65 hat.

I would advise a good leather belt to hang all your kit off (knife, pouch(es) etc...) and a nice comfy fabric one for holding your trousers up with as this allows you to remove your kit easily for sitting and being comfy.

I have a top down jacket that hardly gets used and a few good high end waterproof jackets that never get used... i'm sure there are some other really good garments out there but they can be a bit too high-tech and fancy, I like to keep it simple and cheap. Don't be afraid of bright colours, if you're wearing all green, try a bright orange T shirt on, you never know when you might want to be seen

My main advice is to listen to other people but go your own way, many people, including myself, like to do things their own way and it may work... but maybe not for you.

Good luck.

 

[Ogden]

you will definitely need trousers and a jacket

If you like ticks...

 

[Tantalus]

have a look at the natives

by that i mean people that work outside everyday, farmers and rangers and the like

yes military too

these are the people that dont always have the most money to spend on gear but have to deal with whatever the weather decides to do, on a regular basis

Tant

 

[addyb]

My clothing for outdoors covers two different categories.

When I'm up mountaineering (rather high up) My entire clothing set consists of synthetics. HH impoved Lifa polypro base layer, nylon mountaineering pants, a nylon overshirt, polyester fibre-pile sweater, and an Entrant GII-XT jacket. I don't particularily like wearing these clothes, (they're rather unfomfortable) but I'm forced to as if I get wet (it's inevitable) then I won't die of hypothermia as there is no wood for miles, so I can't very well start a fire up on a snowfield!

When I'm in the bush, I wear natural fabrics. A pair of OD cotton combat pants, and an old oxford shirt. If it rains, I too, have an army poncho, which packs down into basically nothing. Naturally, there's no reason to worry about getting hypothermia in the middle of summer! If it rains, I'll dry out fast enough.

The way I think of it is this: If you're going to get cold and wet, and you're not allowed to use fires (some areas don't allow it) then use synthetics. They've come a long way since my Dad was my age, but in my opinion, they're simply not as comfortable as naturals. The trade off is that you won't die if you get wet. Why? They're plastic. The fibres don't absorb a great deal of water, and so they dry much faster.

However, in a hot environment, there's nothing wrong with grabbing some old cotton T-shirts and a pair of combat trousers. Why? Cotton absorbs moisture, and holds it next to your skin, cooling you off. Kindof like an air-conditioner! This great help in hot weather can kill you in the cold, as it will lower your body temperature to a dangerous level.

Anyway, that's my daily 2 cents!

Cheers,

Adam.