Cold Wet hiking

[Ike Mouser]

Hey everybody! I will be hiking next next weekend (most likely) in the cold and wet. 3 Days 2 nights

I expect lowest temperatures encountered to be above freezing at worst-35-40F.

Concerning gear I will have:

Icebreaker 150 bottoms
Suplex Nylon convertible pants

driducks ultralight rainsuit (the one where the hood zips into the jacket), includes pants

icebreaker tech t lite shirt
smartwool long sleeve zip

wool socks + liner

Montbell Thermawrap

Balaclava

Warm gloves + latex glove

nike mesh running shoes (quick dry-hopefully-thats why i chose the mesh ones)

And i will be storing my gear in trash compactor bags/heavy duty garbage bags.

I have a few questions:

1. When drying socks/clothes overnight, i have heard one should wring them out as much as possible and put them in the sleeping bag-however, i have a quit, can this also be done in a quilt? (will be in a hammock)

If not, could i do it in the space between my underquilt and my hammock?

Or should i do something else?

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2. Should i spin the excess of the trash compactor bag and secure it with rubber bands, or is there a better way to secure it for waterproofing?

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3.I assume the wool socks will keep my feet warm when wet-as they brush up against the wet vegitation/encounter rain, should i bring winter weight wool socks or will smart wool adrenalines + xstatic liners be enough?

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4. When layering gloves, should i put the latex part closest to skin, and the warm one on top? Can one buy giant latex gloves to go on top?

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[Mark Verber]

1) You can dry under a quilt the same as in a bag. Remove as much moisture as possible and then put them close to a warm part of your body. I typically put them by my belly.

3) My preference (especially if is above freezing) is to use a fairly light sock. My feet stay warm enough while I am moving and there is less material to soak up water.

4) Typically people use latex gloves as a vapor barrier. If you are doing that then you want it closest to the skin. Otherwise if just retains moisture within the gloves they are over put they are much more likely to hole. Personally, I don't do vapor barrier clothing until we are well below freezing… but different people prefer different solutions.

–Mark

[Ike Mouser]

I guess my biggest concern is feet, with ilght weight trail runners (new balance, or similar nike's) with xstatic liners and smart wool adrenalines, i fear if my feet will get too cold. My main concern is feet i guess, just a little worried, its been years since i did any kind of late fall/winter long hikes. So the wool will keep me warm no matter what on the feet-even when wet, which brings me to this: heavy or light wool socks?

[Lori P]

I think that putting anything between the hammock and underquilt will cause air pockets, if your suspension for the quilt is shock cord. Cold air pockets would defeat the purpose of putting a damp item in there. I once had a cold air pocket and after readjusting and becoming frustrated, I felt around and discovered I'd somehow let a clothing item slide between the hammock and quilt.

If I think it's going to be below freezing, I generally throw in a pair of Acorn fleece oversocks to pull on over my clean pair of sleeping socks, which are REI merino or Thorlos. I've not had to resort to vapor barriers yet – I think I'd have to be maxed out of my usual layers to even try. My gloves are cheap and fuzzy, and go on over my pair of glove liners when I absolutely have to. I've improvised with a ziploc bag when I needed a waterproof mitt.

[Mark Verber]

> I think that putting anything between the hammock and underquilt will cause air pockets,

Sorry… miss understood your question. I was refering to a top quilt. My recommendation is to have the socks you are trying to dry AGAINST your body. I typically tuck them under my shirt.

> what sock weight

One suggestion is weight light socks and carry an extra pair of heavy socks incase the light socks don't work our. When I was transitioning to a lightweight approach I would sometime bring extras with the mindset "I don't plan to use item X or Y". I will pull them out only if I have decided that item Z is not acceptable and I don't plan to use it in the future. With socks being 1-3oz for a pair, you can afford to take an extra pair as you figure out what works for you.

–mark

[Adrian B]

>1. When drying socks/clothes overnight, i have heard one should wring them out as much as possible and put them in the sleeping bag-however, i have a quit, can this also be done in a quilt? (will be in a hammock)

If it's near freezing and damp, I think you'll just end up making your bag wet. I've tried many times in colder weather to dry saturated clothes by sleeping in/with them, and it just results in a cold night's sleep and a damp sleeping bag. Much better to dry them out by walking the next morning in them, or, if it's wet, they're going to just get wet again anyway. Putting them on in the morning is unpleasant, but only briefly. But it depends on weather and how wet I am.

>2. Should i spin the excess of the trash compactor bag and secure it with rubber bands, or is there a better way to secure it for waterproofing?

I use a 'candy cane twist' which I picked up from http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/DryGear/index.html.

>3.I assume the wool socks will keep my feet warm when wet-as they brush up against the wet vegitation/encounter rain, should i bring winter weight wool socks or will smart wool adrenalines + xstatic liners be enough?

Even with *no* socks, your feet should be fine while you're walking, they get a lot of blood from the exercise (unlike hands).

[Lynn Tramper]

I agree with Adrian-I don't bother trying to dry wet clothing in my bag, especially socks. After all, chances are very good that the first thing I will do in the morning after putting my socks on is to put on wet shoes, gaiters, etc…however I DO try to ensure my wet socks and shoes/boots don't freeze solid over night. If there is a risk of this happening then I might put my socks under my sleeping mat where they may not dry, but at least the won't freeze or get my sleeping gear wet.

[James Dubendorf]

One more comment about cold feet: I find that if my feet are starting to get cold, it is often more productive to add a layer to my legs than to wear a thicker sock than you would otherwise- this can be a pair of pants, gaiters, etc.

James

[t.darrah]

My goal also is to prevent damp baselayers, including gloove liners and hats, along with wet trailrunners from freezing overnight. I seal damp items in a stuff sack (packed for this purpose) and store at the foot of my winter quilt. This system prevents moisture from compromising my quilts down insulation while keeping the items usable.

Outer layers are not of concern.

[Mark Verber]

> If it's near freezing and damp, I think you'll just end up making your bag wet. I've tried
> many times in colder weather to dry saturated clothes by sleeping in/with them, and it
> just results in a cold night's sleep and a damp sleeping bag

I have had good luck IF the clothing was either thinor absorbed little water (base layer, thin coolmax socks, supplex clothing). I don't try to dry socks on my feet because there is just not enough heat down there. I wring them out as well as I can and then twirl them around (spin dry) for a short bit before getting under the quilt. By morning me, the clothing, and quilt have all been dry.

For heavier clothing, or clothing that sucks up a lot of water like thick wool socks, I agree that trying to dry them doesn't work that well. I just let them dry the next day while I am active. If it's going to be below freezing I put them in a waterproof bag (typically a drybag turned inside out) and use them as my pillow so they don't freeze.

–Mark

[Bradley Danyluk]

Here's a trick to make wet clothes dry MUCH faster:

First wring them out as much as you can, then unwrap them and whip them against a hard surface (large rock) many times. If the rock's dry, you'll be able to see the water get onto it… stop when it stops making the rock wet. If the rock's wet, it will still help, just do it 20 times or so.

[jim bailey]

Wear thin socks during your hike

Bring thicker dry socks for hanging out in camp
include 2 plastic shopping bags in your pack

Once in camp change into thicker dry socks, put shopping bags over dry socks and put wet shoes back on, wear in camp until time to sleep, before going to sleep, take shoes off, put wet/damp socks on over shopping bags and jump into bag/quilt, heat from your feet, combined with a warm sleeping bag should be enough to dry your wet/damp socks out.

By morning they should be dry again, works great

Jim

[Adrian B]

That might be a good way to keep feet warm wearing shoes while stopped in camp… but why dry out socks when they'll just get wet as soon as you put on wet shoes the next day? I just sleep in my dry socks.

And even after a good rinsing, my walking socks are so muddy and dirty at the end of the day that I wouldn't let them *near* my bag !

[Miguel Arboleda]

In Japan ""Sawanobori", or "Shower Climbing" is very popular. It involves walking and climbing and swimming up steep mountain streams and waterfalls. The water can be bone-chillingly cold and so it is important to make sure you don't succumb to hypothermia. Here are some links to the shoes and neoprene gaiters people use:

http://yoshiki-p2.com/cat_top_02.html
http://flagstaff.jp/product/productsawa.htm
http://www.yamareco.com/modules/yamareco/detail-91.html
And some videos of sawanobori: http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en&q=沢登り&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#

[Jack H.]

I'd bring another warm top layer if I was expecting wet, cold weather for three days….

[Mary D]

If you search, you'll find two excellent articles on "cold, wet rain." One is mostly about gear; the other is about techniques. It's worth a year's membership just for these two articles, IMHO!

[Diplomatic Mike]

Wet clothing NEVER goes near my quilt/bag.
If it's raining for 3 days, then you are going to get damp/wet. I don't mind putting on damp clothes in the morning, as they soon warm up. Choose clothing that feels comfortable when damp.
Keeping a dry sleeping set-up, and a dry insulating top for camp is much more important to me.

[Brad Groves]

Exactly as Mike said.

I don't hike in my long underwear bottoms. My baselayer, if it got wet while hiking, will either dry out by bedtime or it'll still be wet. If it's really wet, I'll stash it away to put on damp and cold in the morning… better than soaking the only dry thing in my pack, and my primary insulation.

[Mark Verber]

> Wet clothing NEVER goes near my quilt/bag.

I can certainly appreciate this. When I think about to trips in my youth (particularly the smokies) where the rain literally didn't stop for 10 days I might not bother trying to dry clothing.

I forget how much the sierras have spoiled me. I haven't been on a week long trip in the sierras that didn't have a break in the weather at some point. Worse case it was a a few days of rain and then the sun would come out for at least a day which let everything be reset.

–Mark

[jim bailey]

Probably should have clarified on this one, my bad.

Would use a lightweight/quick drying socks (Wright socks) while hiking in wet/damp conditions, usually would change out socks in camp and hang under tarp and get as much moisture out as possible before putting on over shopping bags and then climbing into a synthetic quilt/bivy combo, everything is dry by morning. Dry socks to start out hiking is a bit of a moral booster instead of jumping into clammy, damp socks and shoes.

Quilt/bag funk…. YMMV

Sorry for the confusion.

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