Clothing

A hiker has to have proper clothing to protect and cover him or her for a large range of weather conditions. Long distance Appalachian Trail hikers will face temperatures ranging from near zero to the mid to upper 90's. The hiker has to be prepared for snow storms and torrential rains. Despite these varying conditions the hiker cannot take very many clothes, because of weight and space limits.

Most backpacks have a volume of 5,000 cubic inches or less. If this space was a box it would be 17 inches high and 17 inches on each side. INto this box you have to put your sleeping bag, tent, food, and cooking gear. You will find that their is not much room for clothes. I found that the space available for clothes after packing all my other items and food is a little less than 1000 cubic inches or a box that is 10 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches. Not very many clothes will fit in a box that size.

Since I will not be wearing or carrying many clothes so I had to be careful in their selection. They have to be durable and easy to clean. I plan to wear the same clothes every day while I am hiking. As the weather warms up I will send my winter clothes home but will keep my summer clothes. Most of my clothes are made of wool, nylon, polyester, or polypropylene. Cotton items are avoided whenever possible. While extremely comfortable cotton is not a practical fabric for hiking in these conditions. It doesn't insulate against the cold very well and it doesn't dry very fast. It is also subject to mildew and decay.

I will have a total of 13 articles of clothing with me that I can mix and match to fit just about any weather conditions I may face.

I plan to wear a:

• mid-weight polyester tee shirt
• a pair of nylon shorts
• a pair of polypropylene sock liners
• a pair of wool socks
• a pair of leather boots
• a hat

I expect that on all but the coldest days that this is all that I will need to wear. I will also be carrying:

• 1 pair of polypropylene long underwear
• 1 long sleeve wool tee shirt
• 1 polyester fleece jacket
• 1 pair polyester fleece gloves

in case it gets really cold.

I am also taking a polypropylene jacket and long pants for wind and rain protection. The only thing cotton I am taking is a pair of boxer shorts to wear in my sleeping bag at night.

The only extra clothes I am taking is an extra pair of polypropylene sock liners. I will have to be careful not to lose any along the way

When the weather warms up I will trade my mid-weight tee shirt for a light weight one and send home the long underwear bottoms, wool tee shirt, fleece jacket, and fleece gloves.

I imagine that my clothes will get pretty dirty and smelly. If they get too nasty I will rinse them out. I will only be able to rinse them because soap, even biodegradable soap can be harmful to the environment. My washing machine will be a one gallon size zip lock bag. My clothes drier will be a piece of rope strung between 2 trees. In the very hot weather, I may just put them back on wet. I will occasionally come into a town that has a laundry. I will surely take the time to wash them out well when I have the chance.