miles 0
Water all the potable tap water you could want
Clothing is a balancing act on the trail. You want minimum weight for the maximum number of weather conditions.
Most everything I have is synthetic materials. Synthetics are better than cotton because they weigh less, stink less and dry faster. An alternative to synthetics is moreno wool, which people originally used for socks, but are now making tee shirts and other stuff with too.
I have two shirts, one short sleeved one long sleeved. Both tee shirt weight.
One pair of zip off pants that double as shorts. I bought these at REI, and the zipper broke first time I used them, but I managed a fix. Most of the time they are just shorts.
One pair of basketball shorts, these breath pretty well. They are probably a bit heavy but they were 4 bucks.
Two pairs of fancy ex officio boxer briefs. Until recently I was doing an experiment with having just one pair of underwear and going commando in the basketball shorts. Some folks swear by skipping underwear, but I imagine these people are skinny. As a normal sized person with some flab I constantly found myself fighting chafing with talc powder. So I picked up the second pair. Now the smooth on smooth of underwear and shorts means my shorts fall down all the time. Maybe next time at Wal-Mart I'll make a tiny improvement and get shorts that fit better.
I have two pairs of socks. Both moreno wool. They do a great job of wicking sweat, and staying soft even after they get wet or dirty. I tend to keep the pair of socks I'm not wearing strapped to my pack to dry and air them out. I bought a pair of smart wool brand, and a pair of darn tough brand. The darn tough are slightly more comfortable, and have a lifetime guarantee against wear.
I have a pair of north face ultra 109 shoes. I'll probably talk more about those in a shoes and poles post.
I have a star spangled bandana that Mike bought me. This is my bald head sun protection. It's better than the cotton bandana I had before, but lost. And it makes me look like I should be fighting for grazing rights.
For cold weather I have a cotton hat with bunny ears on it. I brought it because it is funny. Mostly I use it on cold nights. I could probably stand to send it back, as I get into summer.
For warmth layers I have a north face synth fleece. This also doubles as my pillow. I like this for warmth in camp, or to wear if say I'm washing both shirts. The big draw back is that it doesn't pack down very small.
I also have a frogg toggs raincoat that is my final warmth layer if it gets really cold. I have used it one day when we had heavy cold rain. But I picked up from Jamie using it as a cover to keep my pack dry on warmer rainy days. Like my hoodie this also doesn't pack down very small. The combination of the two leaves my pack always looking stuffed.
I have a disposable plastic poncho that I have never worn but used variously as a pack cover, food bag cover, and once to cover my phone while it charged overnight outside.
So all this boils down to two changes of clothes, and a few things I can layer on a cold day.
It's a bit disgusting but I tend to wear the same clothes straight for several days, so I can keep a clean set to change into if I need to feel more human. Some hikers have hiking clothes and camp clothes that they change into when they are done for the day. That seems like a lot of effort to me.
Seems like I've found an opportunity to do laundry about every 7-10 days. This could be a laundry mat, or at a hotel, or just a utility sink at a camp ground. I have resisted washing my clothes with soap in any natural water sources, but I will sometimes rinse things in a river.
Most of the unused clothes are in a stuff sack. I find this nice for keeping things organized. Others have said to pack all your clothes lose in your pack, to use shirts and sucks to fill small gaps inside your pack for better use of space. I might try this and report back in the, how to pack a backpack post.
I'm enjoying my time off the trail. Got to see my brother and the family. Angie is convinced I'm going to be murdered. It was great seeing that everyone was doing well. I was sorry I missed Chloe, but I'm sure I'll be in the area to visit again before I'm done.
Going to portcon tomorrow. I'm sure it will be just as good as gen con.
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