Dealing with an all-day spring deluge

=P

hahah Evan, nice

Ike, dam, you're talking like leotard tight. NM on my comment then. Unless my shirt is made of polyester (e.g. under armor), I never want anything that tight. For me, merino that tight inhibits my movement, whereas polyester will stretch and move with you. Different strokes for different folks

Most of my icebreakers fit like Evan's pic. Although, the mondo quarter zip was skin-tight like the way you like it. As mentioned, I had to size up 1 on that one to be comfortable.

Picked up a nice concept from some colleagues who've worked in Chile: 'Patagonia comfortable'. It refers to being warm and wet, vs boring old suburban comfortable which is warm and dry. I agree with the sentiments above regarding getting wet despite the best of breathable fabrics. In a really wet, temperate hiking environment, the humidity and constant onslaught of water from every angle overwhelms any breathable garment. In those cases, a damp but tolerable Patagonia comfortable is a more realistic goal.

I'm intrigued by the fairly widespread North American use of umbrellas. I'm looking to try one in a less windy part of NZ at some stage, but where I live seems too windy for them. You obviously get wind too, any tips?

For those of you who consider visiting NZ sometime to tramp, don't be put off by us kiwis proudly discussing our fabulously silly amounts of rainfall, I've gotten just as damp in other parts of the world as I have at home. Rain is rain, and beyond a certain point, you don't get any wetter :~)

Oh, other key trick to tramping in the rain all day… smiling

I also go for the "warm and wet" if it's not cold. In those conditions you'll be sopping wet from sweat regardless of the breathability of your rain gear. My shirt (usually my baselayer top) and pants will dry out quickly from my body heat if it stops raining for 20 minutes. If that doesn't happen, the wet clothing goes inside a plastic bag inside my sleeping bag. Yes, it'll still be wet in the morning, but at least it's warm!

When it's cold, wet and windy, the above is not a good idea. On the other hand, if it's 40*F (4.44*C per my converter) and the rain is horizontal, you won't be doing very much sweating inside your rain gear!

For spring conditions, say 40-55ish degrees and constant rain, I would consider wearing my Pearl Izumi ultrasensor tights. Basically a very light micro-fleece layer inside with a smooth tight-weave outer surface. Maybe not much difference from a 100wt micro-fleece layer with a outer pant, but I'd rather have the pant close to the skin, where body heat can help dry it out when stopped.

I do, however, usually take my Ibex woolies tights and hiking pants on most trips, where there might be rain but not all the time.

Ike that wind shirt under the rain-shell idea sounds like a good tip. What does a wetsuit have? a relatively hard/impermeable shell with a spongy insulating layer.A wetsuit Surrenders the idea of staying dry but tries to control the flush or exchange of warm water with cold water so you don't lose the warmth. A windshirt would add a "harder" less permeable outer layer to a base insulating layer and should help control that heat exchange.

The trick is to be able to put this "kit" together using clothing items that also have another useful purpose and don't weigh much. That's why I like the wind shirt idea. Everyone (?) carries some sort of insulating base layer and a windshirt is certainly useful. Combined they ought to make a pretty good approximation of a wetsuit. Warm and wet.

I hitchhike to get to the trailheads, so I'm used to spending loads of time out in the rain. Hence I carry a heavy duty knee length plastic poncho (not quite as thick as some Ive seen but exponentially more durable than the flimsy tablecloth ponchos you get at walmart). Obviously it doesnt breathe, but I use this to an advantage, stashing most of my clothing in waterproof sack in my pack and hiking mostly naked under the jacket. Body heat keeps me warm, and I have 100% dry clothes to hop into when I make camp. BEST OF ALL!, the knee length combined with gaiters is good enough that I don't need rain pants, so the extra weight compared to a ultralight softshell is near negligible.

I also will use my windshirt under my rain gear- when solo hiking it's typically a ponch (/tarp), when not a rain jacket. I typically won't don my rain gear unless it's really raining, as the DWR does a good job w/ lighter rains. Like others have mentioned, as soon as there is a break- the rain gear comes off and if all goes according to plan my base layer and windshirt dry pretty quickly.

I like my merino base layers, but if I know it's going to be wet- I'm probably grabbing my syn layers as they simply dry much quicker

a light fleece vest is something else I'd probably be taking if I know that it's going to be wet/cold

I would go with a good quality rain shell with pit zips and venting pockets coupled with an appropriate weight base layer– Cap1 or Cap2. If it is too cold for that, it is snowing. I could tolerate a 100w fleece if it was close to freezing. A Power Stretch vest or hoodie makes for a great combo with a rain shell when at rest.

Don't forget ponchos. You get ventilation and they cover a good part of your legs, plus your pack stays dry. On day hikes, you get a handy-dandy emergency shelter in the bargain. A cord around the waist helps with wind. They aren't a sleek fashion statement, but they work.

Here’s an blog entry about dealing with two weeks of spring rain.

For my $$ this blog has a better than average signal-to-noise ratio. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only BPLer following his postings.

"I hitchhike to get to the trailheads, so I'm used to spending loads of time out in the rain. Hence I carry a heavy duty knee length plastic poncho. Obviously it doesnt breathe, but I use this to an advantage, stashing most of my clothing in waterproof sack in my pack and hiking mostly naked under the jacket. "

Hitchhiking naked under a poncho- do you get many rides that way?

He has some wrong physiology. Have not read it all.

From the Sectionhiker blog,

"Sweat makes you cold because you body compensates by trying to evaporate it, using more energy, which makes you feel cool."

John,

Check out this article from Ryan regarding thermoregulation and scroll down to the section on evaporative cooling. The SH blog article is saying the same thing. I learned it here originally.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00184.html

"Hitchhiking naked under a poncho- do you get many rides that way?"

Haha ok, correction, I HIKE mostly naked under the poncho, but I keep my t-shirt on if I'm trying to get rides.

> umbrellas. I'm looking to try one in a less windy part of NZ at some stage,
A good way of getting from a ridgeline down into the valley very quickly….

Cheers

Hi Philip. Nice blog, and I like Ryan's article.

"Sweat makes you cold because you body compensates by trying to evaporate it, using more energy, which makes you feel cool."

In the context of "cold, wet weather", where humidity is 100%, not much evaporation is taking place. Heat is lost to sweat, but sweat in those conditions probably makes you cold because of conduction and convection moreso than evaporation. And radiation may be where most heat is lost in cold, humid conditions.

The way it is written seems to imply the body will actively increase energy use to evaporate any moisture on the skin surface in any weather conditions, which is not accurate to me.

Not in the context of layering. Regardless, my usage is a little nuanced and I took it out to avoid distracting from the main points of the article.