Better techniques or skills for the rain?

Learn To Love Backpacking In The Rain

I have read a number of articles and what I walk away with is the following:

• All breathable fabrics will eventually wet out
• All waterproof fabrics will not allow condensation to escape and you will get moist/wet
• Mechanical ventilation (zip/torso vent) are more effective that DWR/Gore Tex
• Layering is critical to removing moisture next to your skin and to keep you warm
• The key is that you are most likely to get wet, you need to have gear to keep you warm while wet
• With breathable fabrics, you can drive off some of the moisture by hiking at a good clip (internal heat)

What I would I would like to know is what do you do when you are done hiking? Now you have semi wet clothes on and don’t want to go hypothermic. I am ponder what you do if you have a multi-day trip where it is going to rain / drizzle every day for prolonged periods of time. I have been hiking in the Sierras for many years and last year got caught in that nasty storm on the JMT that lasted for about 10 days. We did ok but could do better. This year, I am planning for a trip to Iceland and expect it to be wetter and windier.

1. How do you dry your existing gear?
2. Do you completely change into drier cloths?
3. Do you stay in your shelter or do you bring an additional waterproof layer with you?

Firstly, I suspect that really rainy environments are not "ideal" for UL… it's SO much easier to carry the minimum when the weather is being co-operative.

For greater comfort around camp in the rain, it's really nice to have an extra flat tarp that can be set up as a "dry area". It provides a place to cook, to change into dry clothing, and to "hang out" when you're not hiking (without being squeezed into your shelter). Of course, this comes with a small (1/2 lb or so) weight penalty, but in a very rainy place, that may be worth it.

Yeah, I pretty much do all that in the article and know what to expect. Just looking to see if I was missing anything. That is why I wear wool socks with my Chacos while hiking if it is cool out.

I wear nylon shirt and pants. Overly big and long WPB jacket. I'll get somewhat wet but usually not super wet.

Get into sheltered location, like a tent. I'm still generating heat from hiking. My shirt and pants dry out pretty quickly. Like within an hour they'll be only damp. Put on synthetic "poofay" to keep warm.

How I dealt with extended rain on the PCT and a lack of rain wear, and what I've done on other trips when I've gotten wet and close to hypothermic, is to take off my clothes and get in my sleeping bag. That's my warm dry safe place. If my stuff gets wet, I take the next opportunity to dry my stuff. A little sliver of sunlight through the clouds? Time for an on-trail yard sale. No chance to dry my stuff? Hike like hell and get the hell out of the wilderness as fast as I can. I remember on the PCT I was so sick of being wet and one night I woke up at 3am with rain falling on my face inside my tent and a pool of water forming at the foot of my tent and I thought to myself I'm only 60 miles from a hotel, I can be there by tomorrow night if I put in two 30 milers in a row. So that's what I did. I'm a fair weather hiker. I don't really like rain.

I live in the PNW (Pacific NW), so hiking wet is something it's best to get used to.

I think having the right set of expectations and mental model is key. When it's raining and/or cold-humid out, "dry" is a relative term, and not something to stress overmuch about.

Ultimately, it's about temperature control and not dampness. If significant rain/wet is likely, then I do have some at least minimal "sleeping clothes" (I sleep in my hiking clothes otherwise). For me that might be silk longjohns and a capilene 1 t-shirt, plus of course some sort of dedicated sleeping socks, with a high wool content.
Carefully get into the tent, bringing in the least water possible. Change out of the wet clothing, put on dry. If down is used (jacket, sleeping bag), only use this stuff in the tent/tarp — of course.

Don't try to dry things out. It's possible to dry things out at least to some degree, at the cost perhaps of getting more moisture into your sleeping bag/quilt. So I don't do it. Nor do I carry N changes of clothing for an N-day trip — this really doesn't work for trips of any length. Each morning just pack up most of your gear, then change back into those sodden wet clothes and shoes from the day before, then quickly finish packing up and start hiking. As Piper said, hike hard initially if you're cold. This is less fun when there's snow on the ground; not a big deal in warmer wet conditions. But once you're moving, you can tune light layers to stay warm enough. Set your pace to something sustainable, so that you don't need long breaks — it gets too cold to take long breaks, and IMO it's a PITA to fully pitch camp and change clothes except at the end of the day, plus the more times you do that, the more moisture inevitably works it's way into those things you're trying hard to keep dry.

This is certainly not as much fun as hiking on a sunny day, but it's very do-able, with some practice/experience and … very important IMO … that shift in expectations and attitude. Just enjoy being able to keep going in tougher conditions and look forward to that day(s) in future when it will warm up. Or at least to getting to your car or to a trail town motel room to dry out during a day off.

If the rain does stop and the sun comes out, definitely take an extended break in the sun to eat and spread things out to dry. Long distance hikers often have some clothing item(s) drying on top of the pack as they hike.

One of the tough things in the PNW is that we can get a rainy day followed by several days where it doesn't rain, but cloud cover plus temp/humidity is such that the vegetation just never dries out. So unless you're on a relatively wide and recently maintained trail, you can find yourself day after day rewetting a lot of your clothing from the brush. Shoes in particular can seem to just never dry out.

So what. Shift expectations and be happy.

If you're in really continuous rain, it's not a bad idea to eat cold, unless your tent is such that you can safely cook under a tent flap. A pee bottle is helpful, for males at least. Perhaps the new dry down sleeping bags/quilts are worth it (not sure) for cold/humid conditions. I.e., I'm less concerned about getting my bag soaking wet as I am about just using the bag night after night in high humidity, and inevitably losing some loft thereby over time. Hasn't been a big problem for me, however, with regular down.

Brian,

Thanks for your insight as that gave me a lot of answers. I asked my questions in order to develop my expectations. The one thing that seems common is that people are typically either hiking or in a shelter. As I stated earlier , I have a trip planned to Iceland and expect ~20ish hours of light. I am trying to figure out how to hike and then take relaxing side trips ( no pack) at a leasurely pace ( taking advantage of the extra light). Being in Iceland, I expect it to be rainy and windy most of the time. I am trying to figured out layers to backpack in and layers for casual hiking. I understand the wetting out of materials and I am trying to prepare for both high energy hiking along with leasurely strolls. I was thinking about bringing along DriDucks for the leasurely hiking and to use my regular gear when backpacking. You thoughts on this would be most welcome.

"So what. Shift expectations and be happy."

+1

This reminds me of the deep wisdom imparted by a fish from to movie "Finding Nemo":

+1 to accept being damp, but still try to keep as dry as possible under the conditions. Except your feet, they're going to just plain be wet.

This year I'm trying neoprene socks in my runners to slow down the cold water pumping in as I walk.

I always take dry sleeping clothes. Poly when it's warm, merino when it's colder. Ones thin enough that they can hopefully dry if they become wet.

At night I use my trusty cotton bandana to dry my feet and use foot powder.

Lastly, eat lots of calories and hot drinks. If necessary I use one of my water bottles as a hot water bottle to get my feet warm at night.

A poncho is going to be the best rain garment because it has the most ventilation. A poncho isn't perfect because your arms are exposed most of the time and most ponchos are big and billowy.

I have been using a zPacks poncho for rain the past few years and it works well for me. It isn't big — it is too small to be used as a shelter. Over the past couple of years I have done some trips in the Midwest and the Northeast that included mostly non-stop rain for several days, and I was happily dry for the most part.

Okay, this is an expensive piece of gear, but I don't stay home when the weather is bad, I go backpacking.

Jon, for your Iceland trip, it very much depends on the overall logistics of the thing, but what you describe sounds like a base camping strategy might be nice. I.e., perhaps go a little heavier on the gear load to have limited number of base camps, and do side (day pack) hikes from those. You're right that 20 hours of daylight is a lot; of course one strategy is to sleep/snooze despite the sun being up. I have limited experience at this issue.

Tim mentioned neoprene socks; my experience is somewhat limited there too, but has been quite mixed. I've had times of hiking in lots of water, including all-water (for example: the Narrows in Zion N.P.), and they've been wonderful. I've also had the experience of being in water-slush-snow conditions with neoprene and feeling somewhat cold feet. All things being equal, my current theory (and I stress that it's a limited-experience theory only) is that I either want relatively thick neoprene socks for very water-intensive experiences, or no neoprene, favoring the magic of wool socks. YMMV. A lot.

I have very much enjoyed using a poncho, but also been annoyed at times by the downsides. Some people count "handling in wind" as a downside, but with a shock-cord belt I don't have too-o much trouble there. For me the downsides are lack of access to "stuff hanging on my pack", lack of arms, and the fact that it's a somewhat less versatile garment — for example, hiking in Europe, I bring a jacket rather than a poncho as the jacket is something I'm more comfortable using in urban environments. The poncho is, however, kind of like jacket plus pack cover plus rain skirt all in one unit, and it's the easiest thing to put on and take off while continuing to hike. Except maybe a Packa. I like the Packa a lot, but again, lack of versatility; pretty much only good if you're ONLY using a backpack all the time. And not the lightest option. But great ventilation and flexiblity of use. Not so great (ditto the poncho) if you need to strap bulky and/or sharp things onto the outside of your pack; for me this is typically an ice axe (or poles when carrying the axe).

I guess another key factor with a poncho is whether you find it to be an adequate tarp, dual-use. My feeling today is that if mostly fair weather is anticipated, I can save a bit of weight this way and have a credible, if not always maximally comfortable experience doing this. But if some foul weather is expected, I prefer to have a "real" tent or more extensive tarp. I don't at all mind the poncho as rain gear in continuous bad weather though. If it's cold enough, one can get "sleeves only" either of tyvek, or what bikers wear for this, for temperature control.

So many trade-offs, I don't think there's any sort of "one size fits all".

Brian,

Thanks, I tend to agree with you. We will be hiking the Laugavegur trail from Landmannalaugar to Skogar. None of the legs are over 10 miles, I am in no hurry (why rush through the Smithsonian). What I am think of doing is bring my regular gear for the hikes and change into drier cloths and DriDucks for the leisurely strolls (the base-camp concept). I thought about a poncho/packa but have read a lot of stories about the winds around Iceland. I plan to do this at Hornstrandir as well. Thanks – Jon

I've been able to do dry out wet clothing by setting up my tarp in a lean-to, building a large fire in front, crawling into my bag with wet clothes, leaving it partially unzipped on the fire side for ventilation, and keeping the fire going as long as it takes to stay warm and dry out.

It takes work and there is always the chance of getting a pinhole in your bag from sparks.
But it works. Only works in sheltered forests though, not in exposed areas with wind.

Probably the only way to dry out clothes unless you want to bring a woodstove for your tent… which wouldn't be a terrible idea. The titanium goat ones are pretty light.

I have to admit that I am unable to develop a positive attitude when it comes to multiple days of soaking wet bushes, sodden feet and never being dry. I tend to shout obscenities at Nature under these conditions. A day hike in the rain can be really fun, and even a short trip will provide some second-order fun, but a long one? No thanks. Just keep moving and get the hell out of the wilderness is my M.O.

if you have a synthetic bag and enough fuel for hawt nalgenes at night … and a surplus of insulative ability …

you can "dry" off thin synthetic clothing/fleece to the "less damp" status …

a note that thiner layers dry faster than thicker ones … and synth ones faster than merino

and fuzzy fleece doesnt care how wet it is

;)

Why You Should Hike in The Rain