This is our latest article discussing the different types of clothes most suitable for hiking
Outdoor clothes: when it’s handy to be a cabbage.
Imagine a cabbage! What is it like? It can be green, purple, or almost white, but a feature that all cabbages have is - layers. The adaptation developed by cabbages can help you a lot in hiking. You can ask “how?”, and the answer is simple, dress in layers. You can’t feel comfortable while climbing the rocks, hiking in the ridges, and having lunch on windy peaks, unless you find a balance between your level of activity, sensitivity to temperature change and the environment. Dressing in layers offers a chance to find that precise balance. The task here is to maintain body temperature independent of the level of activity (be it running or resting). Usually there are three layers:
1)The sweat-absorbing basic layer
2)The insulating middle layer,
3)and the water-proof upper layer
The key here is that you can easily adapt to the changes in the weather or the activity level, by simply taking off or adding layers.
The basic layer plays the main role in regulating body temperature. Have you ever tried wearing a cotton T-shirt under a raincoat in rainy weather? The chilling cold gets through the raincoat, and after some time you start feeling wet and dreaming of sunny days. Despite a raincoat protecting you from the droplets falling from the sky, the T-shirt absorbs the water… from your body. Water has very high specific heat capacity, and absorbs a lot of energy (4200J/kg)1. Cotton absorbs water well and as a result cotton layers will always make you feel uncomfortable and moist in rainy weather. The best materials for the basic layer should be made of materials such as PowerDry and CoolMax2, which transfer the moist from the skin to the outside surface of the clothes, where it easily evaporates. As you work out, hike or climb, such materials do not let the sweat accumulate and stay close to the body, but instead allow the excess water to evaporate, leaving only a feeling of comfort. Keep in mind, that clothes chosen for the basic layer should hug the body, close to the skin to provide the maximum absorbance of sweat.
The middle layer must be your synonym for insulation. These clothes have to keep a layer of air beneath to prevent heat loss. The most suitable kind of material for this purpose is fleece. Depending on the surrounding conditions, fluff and polyester and wool can also serve you well. Although, there are special kinds of fleece which have all the benefits of other materials without possessing their disadvantages. Such special kinds include Polartec, and its sub-types Polatec Micro, Polartec 20, Polartec 300, Polarec Thermal Pro, - all designed for different conditions2.
The purpose of the upper layer is to protect you from the wind, rain and snow. Proper clothes allow water to evaporate from the inside, but keeps the rain out. The clothes in the upper layer also have to be rather bulky, so there is enough space for other layers and movement isn’t limited. A genuinely deliberate and useful innovation is waterproof zippers, so try to check if your jacket has one of such kind. The most comfortable materials for this layer are: Core-Tex, Dermizax and Marmot MemBrain2.
Remember, that a properly dressed hiker does not in fact look like a cabbage ;-), since he has only carefully chosen three layers. And the more deliberate you are in your choice, the more comfortable you’ll be on the hike. This knowledge can be especially handy in the Uzbekistan mountains, where the temperature fluctuates from +5C to +35C and from +10C to -10C in a matter of hours.
Camila Tulyaganova.
References:
1)”Water - Thermal Properties.” The Engineering Toolbox. 30 April 2008. 2 May 2008 .
2) Ustinov, Evgeniy “Outdoor Clothes - how to dress in layers.” Clothes and Equipment for outdoors sports. 05 April 2008. 2 May 2008 .
After