New to Backpacking need Clothing

[Mike Isakson]

At 58 I have decided to take up backpacking. Need to get this layering under control. Need Mid layers, wind shells. I am 6'5 260 lbs XL and XXL. I have an 11 year old I need to outfit complete. Help

[William Brown]

Clothing depends much on the climate and conditions you will be enduring. Since I'm not sure where or when you might be hiking I'll give a small window of the wisdom I've learned.

Buy two pairs of merino wool socks for each of you. Wear one pair wash one pair. I use Smartwool and Darn Tough. The cushioning, knit, and height will be up to you. Your local hike shop should have at least one of these brands for you to try on.

Quick tip : Your son doesn't need expensive Goretex leather hiking boots. Since we have gone lightweight backing packing my son wears plain sneakers with an aggresive tread. They do just fine.

New Balance models at the discount stores makes some very affordable kids trail shoes.

Happy Hiking!

[David Wills]

You can get by with surprisingly little clothing. I spent tons of time and too much money trying to 'optimize' my stuff. I found the traditional layering system works wonders in all sorts of conditions.

Head- a light fleece hat or balaclava
Upper body- Short sleeve synthetic, long sleeve mid weight synthetic, insulation, rain jacket
Lower body- gym shorts or hiking pants, mid weight long johns, rain shell
Hands- 1 pair of gloves- fleece or wool, with grippy palm. Overmitts if its really cold or wet where you are
Feet- +1 for Darn Tough socks.

Check out Campmor.com they have a great selection of childrens sizes, base layers, hats and entry level rain gear (~$50). Wal-Mart has very low prices on synthetic tops.

For insulating layers, 200 weight fleece mixes well with a rain coat to keep you warm. Campmor usually has one for $25. I highly recommend Montbell if you want a more premium jacket. They have great choices for all levels of warmth and are all quite light with fair prices. LL Bean, Cabelas, and Lands End usually have 600 fill down jackets pretty cheap, but they weigh at least 24 oz.

[Jerry Adams]

Obviously, different people have different but perfectly valid systems

Long sleeve synthetic or Merino shirt, eVent (or other WPB) jacket with hood – this is plenty for backpacking down to below freezing

Add a synthetic or down mid layer (vest works good) for when you stop hiking – sufficient for down to below freezing

Long synthetic or Merino pants

Fleece hat when you stop hiking for down to below freezing

[John Martin]

Look at 6pm.com for deals on Patagonia Capilene baselayers. You can get them for $20 for the 1 and 2. I really like them. The wool is softer but it is much more. A nano puff or down sweater is nice as well. I am the same size as you are I find xxl top and Xl bottom in patagonia.

John

[James holden]

where are you planning to go … and what temps are you expecting

cant asnwer the question without the above

[Mike Isakson]

I am in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle area. I will be be both in the Olympics and the Cascades. I am not real interested at this time for winter activities but have enjoyed some snowshoeing.I am overwhelmed with all the information available and so many clothing types as well.
Is there a place on this site where other members sell off used equipment as they have upgraded? I have kinda of a tight budget. I need the activity as a kid did lots of car camping and want to get our 11 year old godson involved in the outdoors. He has lived with us for 7 years and it would be so great to experience this together.
Appreciate your time to help, please keep the comments coming.
Heading to the Olympics with my 28 year old son next week for a couple days.

[Jerry Adams]

"Is there a place on this site where other members sell off used equipment"

Gear Swap

I'm in Portland – Olympics and Cascades are my favorites – so many choices

[Angelo R.]

Check out the sub-forum called Gear Swap.

[James holden]

-base layers … go to walmart or target or costco and get whatever runners use … itll cost you like 10-20$ at most … buy yr socks and gloves there as well
-insulating/mid layer … get a fleece for cheap, or get an synthetic insulating jacket on sale at the many outdoor shops in seattle … i believe Outdoor research has a factory store there as well … if you go synth get something that has 100g/m of primaloft for the expected temps next week … if you go down eddie bauer often has good sales on their first ascent down jacket get 800 fill if you can … spend a bit more money here as a good down jacket will last you for years, just dont get it wet
– rain jacket … somebody in seattle with have em on sale …
– wind shirt … unless you need one i dont recommend it … its extremely useful if you sweat a lot … if you dont, you might as well use a rain jacket …

if you can afford the time … you can buy stuff cheap on campsaver outlet, rei outlet, department of goods, etc … and tons of other sites online … spadout is great for price checking

dont bother spending too much money on yuppie brands if they arent on a crazy sale … in reality for most stuff, cheaper more generic stuff will do the job fine … you just dont get that snob factor

and definitely dont spend too much money on the kid … hell grow out of the clothes very fast

[BlackHatGuy]

"Is there a place on this site where other members sell off used equipment as they have upgraded?"

Yes, Gear Swap.

[David Drake]

Putting together hiking clothes for less $ is pretty easy, in my experience. Use 200 wt fleece for insulation–a little bulky and heavy compared to down, but easy to find in thrift stores and discount places. I like 1/4 zip pullovers for less weight than full zip, but still ventilation options. Always been warm enough with this (plus LS shirt and shell, if needed) for PNW through fall.

Sierra Trading Post (online) always has deals on synth and merino baselayer pieces. I like to have longjohn bottoms and a LS top, with SS top for hiking in if the weather is warmer. I switched to merino over the past couple years, which is more expensive than synth but worth it. With coupons and closeouts, I've never paid more than $35 for a piece. Synth works well too, weighs about the same or bit less, and is cheaper and longer-wearing. It does stink after a couple days tho', and eventually the stink seems permanent.

I *do* splash out for nice merino socks. I'll pay $15-20 for Bridgedale, Darn Tough or maybe Smartwool. But I wear these every day, not just for hiking, and can get years (literally) of regular wear out of a pair. STP usually has cosmetic 2nds of major brands for good price. Other people here hike in cheap, thin dress socks from Walmart.

Lot of folks use cheap running shorts–easy to find at thrift shops. Basically, anything non-cotton and light will work–same for long pants. I have a pair of convertible pants from White Sierra, a brand that is fairly inexpensive, not too heavy, and has a few more backpacking-type features than clothes not designed for hiking.

For raingear, I've had decent luck with Red Ledge brand (Thunderlight models) for the same reason–inexpensive, not too heavy, decent features (eg, pitzips). My old Thunderlight WPB jacket in medium weighed ~11.5 oz. I paid about $60, and it lasted several years, including regular use as a shell for downhill skiing, layered over fleece. I've never tried DriDucks, but that's an inexpensive, highly breathable option that gets frequent mention here.

Steep and Cheap online often has good deals. And of course, Gear Swap here on the BPL forums.

[Nick Gatel]

Sometimes you can get brand names at places like Marshall's at good discounts. Don't forget thrift shops either.

[Mike Isakson]

That is going to be a challenge for me with size 15. Know of any resources for a bigfoot? Boots are a challenge as well.

[Michael Ray]

You might also get some useful tips from this article and its associated forum thread.

[Mike Isakson]

Michael , thanks for the link. Great article. I will have to do some Wally World research.

[Michael Ray]

Being a Scouter, I'm "thrifty". Though they are really heavy by BPL standards, I love my flick-lock trekking poles. Walmart also at least used to sell Outdoor Products 3-pack of dry sacks. My local one doesn't stock them anymore for some reason but they can be found online. I used the larger green one as my food bag with an OpSak inside it.

[Brett Peugh]

Being 6'5" and 235# with a long torso this is what I would go with

Patagonia Houdini XXL windshirt
Golite Tumalo rain jacket XXL
Patagonia R2 XXL for heavy fleece
REI Power Dry top for light fleece
Montbell Inner Down jacket XXL for down
Stoic 150 merino tops XXL for wool baselayer
Terramar Pioneer T's for synthetic baselayer
REI Sahara for pants
ExOfficio for drawers
The Bridgedaleand Columbia wool socks are pretty big
I don't wear boots because what ever I have found for my 14/15s Chacos are much more comfortable.

a lot of this stuff can be found on sale different places.

[Ken Thompson]

Darn Toughs in XL fit my size 15 feet very well. Does make shoe shopping easier, not too many choices. Narrows the field quite a bit.

[Michael Ray]

Not sure they carry 15, but I also got shoes at Walmart. Whatever shoes they had with the most mesh down the sides. They were 6 oz heavier than a pair of Inov-8 315s (which I got new for $48 shipped) so not too bad really. Just bought my 13 yo a new pair at WM for $15 since his feet grew. However, I assume you have fairly muddy trails in PNW and the tread is made for pavement running.

[Mike Isakson]

Isn't that the truth!

[Ultra Magnus]

I also wear a size 15… A good place to look for shoes is shoes.com and zappos.com. They both have good websites w/ search tools to narrow down the results effectively, compared to the miserable experience you get on a website like REI's where you can't filter by size. Merrell has a good selection of shoes in a 15 as well. I just got a par of their Chameleon 3 Stretch that fit my feet very well. I also got some REI light hiker socks (which I guess are rebranded Smartwools?) in the XL that fits very comfortably.

[Michael Ray]

> Walmart also at least used to sell Outdoor Products 3-pack of dry sacks.

They are back again. I had looked for the empty location and must have missed it. They are pretty light and at least the ones I got were pretty airtight as well. I use the big one for a food bag with an Opsak in it and sometimes the middle one for extra food.

[Evan Cabodi]

I'd keep it simple and just take whatever clothing gear you've got. As you get more backcountry days under your belt you'll figure out what sort of backcountry adventures you are into which will dictate the gear.

I've basically spent years putting together different pieces of gear and clothing which is dependent on the trip. I have so many different setups and gear that it usually comes down to the weather we expect for that particular trip.

Having said that I almost always wear or take the following "base" backcountry clothing for 2-3 season use.

-Two pair hiking socks
-Synthetic pants
-Short sleeve poly pro
-Long sleeve poly pro

Anything after that is dependent on the trip. I usually bring gloves and a hat in the base mix and a jacket that may range from simply windproof to rain to goosedown.

[Brian Austin]

Mike. I also am in the PNW

For your godson or yourself, hiking in the summer time PNW you need nothing more than a $30 sleeping bag from say Big 5, Sports Authority etc. Running shoes that you already own as you don't need boots. Basketball shoes aren't very good as they have flat tred. Sweaters/jackets you already own. T-Shirts you already own. Use a day pack and simply tie everything on. Double Garbage bag for sleeping bag. Get the "construction" duty black garbage bags.

Do Bring a Tarp with twine for tying to bushes, stones, branches, hiking poles. Do Bring garbage bags to use as a rain jacket and garbage collector and glissading. Do bring a camera to catch those memories. Do Bring the #1 essential… TP!

I hiked with this "gear" for many many years. Its "light" cheep, and stuff you already have.

I would bring a 200 weight fleece or 100 weight fleece as the first piece of gear to buy. Personally I would buy the 100 weight fleece first followed by a wind shirt which you may already own. Next would be a legs base layer from synthetic or tights.

None of this makes you look "sexy" on the trail, but it does create great fun for very little money. As you get more money to spend next would be 20 degree sleeping bag or quilt. Put it on a closed cell foam ground pad(cheepest) Closed Cell foam won't absorb water in the PWN keeping your sleeping bag clean.

Cheers.
First 10 years I backpacked I didn't spend more than $20 and that was for an old camp stove and pots at a garage sale.

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