Layering system which works for me....

[Van-Wild]

I sorted through my clothing this morning and washed most of it, as storing for a long time can leave it a fusty ya know?....

I do like a good layering clothing system. I go on the premise that I will never be able to move about and stay completely dry, so my clothing for the outdoors should focus on wicking moisture away from my skin, and being breathable so that the moisture can escape. My body heat should be able to dry the layers from inside outwards while I move about. I do have a hardshell jacket and trousers, but I generally only use them if it's really, properly raining!

So this is what I carry when camping/travelling. It works for me, maybe it will work for someone else.

peace.

1/1a: Army surplus coolmax thermal underwear. Cheap, robust and works really well next to the skin, or over a lightweight coolmax tshirt and boxer's. Light enough to move in if its really cold, also used as sleeping clothes if not damp/wet.

2: Swanndri Bush trousers. Lightweight fleece, with a cordura seat. Baggy enough to go over the thermals, but can also fit under my Fjallravens/waterproofs if required. I use them as camp clothes at the end of the day or as a warmer layer if static in the cold.

2a: Army surplus PCS 'buffalo' type top. A light fleece inner, with a windproof pertex outer and a pertex hood. Worn as a warm mid-layer and as camp clothes at the end of the day.

3: Fjallraven Vidda Pro trousers. Worn all the time when outdoors. Quick drying and tough enough for me. I do have some Haglofs Mid Fjell trousers as well, which I will generally wear if I'm moving quickly through the hills.

3a: Fjallraven Keb jacket. Like the Vidda Pro's, this is my outdoors jacket. Tough G1000 where needed and very breathable softshell material everywhere else. Perfect.

4: El cheapo GoOutdoors puffy jacket. For when it gets really cold.

5: Rab over trousers. Waterproof, 'breathable' and with reinforced knees. Handy zips all the way up the legs to. Only really wear them if it's chucking it down or I'm moving through wet grass/heather.

5a: Marmot lightweight waterproof jacket. Like the Rab trousers, only worn if its chucking it down. In light rain I probs won't put it on. I could have a heavier waterproof, but I like its lightness. It's not very tough so I have to be careful with it.

The whole system can be worn in extremis, but I've never needed to. It's very adaptable, and I can chop and change as the weather dictates. There's never a one size fits all solution to the British weather, but the above clothing works well for me.

Just to the bottom left you can see a pair of el cheapo QD leather gardening gloves, a pair of berghaus goretex socks for camp, and a merino wool beanie.



Hopefully this is handy for someone, maybe you're new to camping/bushcraft/wilderness travel.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

[Billy-o]

Nice show. I don't often go out in longs, preferring merino 3/4s and shorts over them, late Autumn to early Spring. But, I do have a couple of pairs of the Fjallraven Barents. I'd get the Viddas for the venting, but they are too long for me, and you can hem and velcro the Barents yourself.

Like you, I have a tonne of clothes gathered over time. This winter I mainly been wearing a Brynje wool, string vest, under either a 150 or 250 gsm merino shirt. And, over the lot, a jacket. Depending on the cold and type of exertion, either a -15c useable old MEC downie or a beezer Rab Alpha Direct; which I can't seem to shut up about.

Contacted Rab to see if they were making the jacket again this year, and the answer is no. Contacted Outdoor Research to see if they are making the similar Acendant this year. Answer is no. Contacted both to ask if they were making any kind of Pertex/Polartec Direct jacket. No.

[deflating sound]

Seems Polartec Direct isn't gaining much traction in the market yet, which is a shame as it really works very well ... robust, warm, breathy, wicky, un-stinky. Rab make a jacket out of just the Direct. I may buy one and just wear it under a decent windshirt - like an Arcteryx Squamish or a Paramo Bentu, or a Pertex jacket. Dunno yet. Might stick with a possum/merino sweater as a mid or just get a Patagonia R2 Techface. The detail of niche options here is getting ridiculous and making things very second-guessy ... to the point of kind of wanting to retire from the whole conversation.

Problem is, the winter weather here is 70% of the time doable with light layering if you are going at a clip for three or four hours. But, sometimes, there is nothing for it but to bundle up. On the other hand, you don't want to get too much of a sweat on and find you have to strip down to a just wicky tee-shirt in the verycoldverywindy. Problems, problems. Every morning a different combo.