Where do you carry your layers?

[Michael Ray]

Here's a newbie question for y'all: how do you pack your layering clothing so it is quickly accessible? I've seen many posts about doning or removing layers quickly when you stop/start from a rest, but not how this is done in practice. Unless it's raingear, I pack all my clothes inside the trash compactor bag (with sleeping bag, pad and pillow), which is underneath everything else (tent, cookset, food, etc.), to insure they stay dry. Is taking all that stuff out pretty much how you do it?

If your sleeping bag (or something else) needs dried out for some reason, I assume you just take a long break if the sun's out and empty out your whole pack?

I'm working on trying some winter camping (back yard first to see what my bag/pad/clothes will allow).

[Rog Tallbloke]

My fleece lives in the top of the pack. In summer it insulates my fresh food from the heat of the sun and in winter stops my water bottle freezing. Damp gear gets spread out at lunch stop when the sun is high. If my sleeping bag was damp I'd walk with it draped round the pack on a dry day rather than stuff it.

[Jack H.]

I don't actually change layers all that often. In a day, I typically take three breaks. One in the morning, lunch and one in the afternoon. My fitness and desire have my hiking the rest of the time, which I do with the least amount of clothing possible.

But my advice….
– It's ok to keep some clothes outside of your trash compactor bag if it's not raining. Sometime I do this.
– You can keep a jacket hooked under your shoulder strap on your side.
– Put it in a large back pocket, mesh area or bungie cord. Each of my pack has a spot like this and this is what I generally do.
– Wrap it around your neck like a daper man with a sweater.

Yeah, most people would just take a break and put their sleeping bags out to dry. This is a pain for most people as the sleeping bag is generally at the bottom of the pack. Some people will drape their sleeping bag over the back of their neck, hook it under their arms and hike with it. This is generally done by people who don't want to take breaks at all.

[Lynn Tramper]

I put everything I know I won't need for the day at the bottom of the pack, eg tent, stove, fuel, food, sleeping gear. My clothes and lunch goes in a dry bag on top of all this, followed by my rain and wind gear in top or outer pocket. Layers are easily accessible as required, though most of the time I'm fine with just a base layer and windshirt/hat/gloves/pants from top pocket.

[CW]

I used to carry extra layers in my abdominal area but then I took UL to my body and lost them. Hehe.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I generally find that I don't need any layers during the day that I didn't start out with in the morning. So, if I started out wearing an extra layer, I just stuff it in an outside pocket once I warm up. If I didn't need any layers in the morning, then I usually won't have to dig around for them later so I go ahead and pack them inside my pack.

If I need to dry out my sleeping bag, I will unpack everything and hold a "yard sale." It really does not take that long to pack everything up again.

If I need to dry out my tent, I won't even pack it in my pack. I'll put it in an outside pocket and let water drain from it until I find a suitable place to hold my yard sale. After it's dry, then I bury it in my pack like usual.

[Anonymous]

Windshirt, beanie, and gloves in hip belt pocket of my OHM,
O2 rain jacket and wind pants in front pouch, LS Ibex Wooly shirt stashed at top of pack interior, everything else with sleeping bag in water proof bag.

[Author]

Posts