What’s the Best Base Layer for Backpacking?
There’s no magic bullet. You need to understand how different fabrics and apparel design impacts your own needs for comfort and performance. The goal of this live (and recorded) video event is to help you make good decisions about what to buy and what to use for a particular trip.
There are hundreds of different base layer options marketed to hikers, backpackers, skiers, and other outdoor users. You may recognize some of their marketing claims: “thermal underwear” or “moisture-wicking” or “odor-resistant”. Base layers are worn next to the skin and provide the foundation of a layering system. In this Member Q&A, we’ll investigate their role in moisture transport across a layering system, heat management, odor control, and more. The objectives of this Member Q&A are to:
- Give you the information you need to make an informed decision about how to buy base layers for backpacking;
- Which types of base layers to incorporate into your layering systems for maximum performance.
1. Keynote: AN OVERVIEW OF BASE LAYERS (~30 minutes, by Ryan Jordan)
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- an introduction to base layer terminology and characteristics
- the role base layers play in heat and moisture transfer
- merino wool vs. synthetic fiber base layer fabrics
- getting the most out of a base layer fabric in the context of an overall layering system
2. BASE LAYERS Q&A (~30 minutes)
- What’s the best moisture-wicking base layer for people who sweat a LOT?
- How does alpaca wool compare to merino wool or synthetic base layer fibers?
- How does moisture-wicking work in a fishnet base layer? What are the main benefits of fishnet base layers?
- Do moisture-wicking baselayers have a role in extreme cold (winter) in a clothing system that includes heavier insulation (e.g., fleece or high-loft synthetic)
- How does the elimination of lanolin (during fiber production) impact wicking in merino wool base layers?
About the Event & Access Info
Live Event Info: Base Layers, Wicking, and Backpacking (Member Q&A) – Thursday, January 27, 2022 6:00 PM US Mountain Standard Time (MST)
Backpacking Light Q&A Sessions are Hour-Long Members-Only Live Events – they are recorded and the recorded session will be made available below after the live event has ended.
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Discussion
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The article Rex linked above is about the potential of developing monitors that would analyze sweat to detect a wide variety of biological or chemical markers of various pathologies or I guess could also be used to measure levels of fitness. Kind of above my pay grade in terms of jargon etc. but looks like a promising idea. The sweat part that I lifted for this discussion was just sort of background introductory info. Impressed by the research of “Dr. Rex”
What does a “wick” do? It ABSORBS water or other liquids like melted candle wax. We know cotton is a great wicking material but totally wrong for winter or wet conditions. Wool does wick as well but the fibers (sheep hairs) have a scaly surface that keeps some of its moisture off the wearer’s skin so it does not feel so clammy, like cotton does. But wood does HOLD moisture far more than polyester, for example.
Thus I totally “eschew” any wicking fabrics and rely instead on synthetics and DWR treated down for managing body moisture. And don’t give me any guff about DWR treatment “wearing off” after repeated washings. Really, how many of us wash our down garments more than twice in their lifetime of use?
So to sum up, I wear all hydroPHOBIC clothing materials in winter. In extreme cold my moisture freezes inside the shell material of my parka as a “frost”. Being synthetic it permits most of the frost to be shaken off, unlike “wicking” materials.
Do any of you still have your The Complete Walker book, by the backpacking arch druid Colin Fletcher? Â p 523 of TCW 4, Â “During WW II, I was for a time with a British unit that had been issued true fishnet vests [shirts] as special mountaineering equipment . . . the holes are the important thing: they are what keep you warm when you want to keep warm and cool when you want to keep cool.” The modern equivalent seem to be the Brynje mesh wear.
I would disagree some about lanolin. If you only use your wool here and there then yes, it does not need lonolin. But if you are using wool very regularily and even hand washing it, it will get a bit dry over time and even a simple lanolin bath or rub in will help . Otherwise you do get those early 80s military wool socks. :) just saying because I wear a rotation of 4 pairs of Darn Tough wool socks every day for almost 5 months and just wash them monthly. At the end of the season they get a bit of lanolin and then get to rest. Now mind you, I do basically wear Chacos year round so they do get a bit of abuse but it has only barely snowed thrice this year here and only dustings. :)
The topic wicking should include Pile & Pertex systems as well as wool (and wool/polyester) clothing with slings on the inside!
Maybe you can cover that on the next suitable occasion…
Greetings from Europe ;)
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