How many times to you change your….

[Moze C]

…socks?

…liner socks?

…underwear?

…base layer underwear?

Honest questions, just really curious what the ‘norm’ is, if there is one.

I would assume for most this would change depending on the season. I’m curious about hiking in cooler/cold weather for three or four days.

[John Vance]

Summer – mesh trail runners at least twice a day. I take two pairs and rotate them while one dries.

GTX Mids in shoulder seasons – rinse liners at night and swap out liners and thin wool at day 4 or 5.  I don’t have sweaty feet and can’t remember them ever getting stinky.

YMMV

[Moze C]

Thank you @servingko

Primarily curious about cooler weather when things don’t get as funky.

[Pigeon]

I’m curious if people change underwear when setting up camp and getting into dry clothes. I sometimes don’t and it’s pretty gross…need to change my routine to wash more each evening.

[Greg Mihalik]

“…and it’s pretty gross…”

“it” – details needed, photos if you have them.

 

“…need to change my routine to wash more each evening.”

Yes, you do.

[Brad Rogers]

I have almost stopped changing socks and just letting them dry on my feet (in my quilt)  at night.  I just finished a 14 day trip without changing socks. I wore them to sleep 12 nights and took them off and stored in a ziplock in my quilt the other two.

I never bring a spare pair of boxer briefs backpacking.  I wash them out when given the opportunity though.  I use nylon so they don’t stink as bad as polyester

This past summer trip I left my baselayer top on 24 hours a day for 14 days straight.

[Tony Wong]

Great topic for sure…will add what I do, though it will make me seem like hiker trash that I am:

• I carry two pairs of socks….but I often will wear the same socks for three days straight….even sleeping with them on after a long day. (I also sleep in the clothing that I hike in. I use injini toe socks….great for no blisters for me) Wearing trail runners with a lot of mess in them, I rarely end up with sweat soaked socks at the end of the day
• I carry the 2nd pair of socks in case my socks are soaked from a river/stream crossing and have not had time to dry out. Or if my socks get completely filthy, I can wash them at lunch time at a lake or creek and then have them sun dry while lashed to my pack. I do like to air my feet out at lunch time, if possible…even removing my socks and turning them inside out to air out and to maybe snap them in the air to get the trail dust off them.
• I only have one pair of ex-officio briefs. I like to jump into a lake at lunch time when the opportunity presents itself to wash myself and my clothing off. However, I have had times where 2-3 days has gone by without that opportunity coming up.
• What helps me out is that each night, if I don’t have a lake to jump into that evening, I will take my small wash cloth and give myself a good sponge bath…..including my private parts. Just helps me sleep better, keep my bag clean, and I can tolerate myself and wearing the same underpants for a whole trip
• Fortunately, synthetic hiking pants dries really quickly. Hiking with a damp merino wool shirt in the afternoon is like having air conditioning for the short time it takes to dry out while hiking on the trail and wearing it. Same for the exofficio briefs. The socks are the one that take the longest to dry out, hence the 2nd pair and in case I blow a hole in them on a long hike….good to have the back up pair.

In my case, I don’t have any spare or extra clothing….no sleeping clothing, other than a pair of Goosefeet down socks to keep my feet warm. (Cold sleeper).

Embrace your inner “pig-pen”, but take the time to jump into a lake at lunch time or in the late afternoon before it gets cold. At least take a sponge bath at night before you go to bed.

Don’t worry about how often you change your clothing….but ask yourself, do you feel clean and comfortable when you lay down to go to bed?

Hope this helps.

Tony

[John Vance]

Yes, I wash in the evening and change into clean long underwear.  Just returned from 10 days In the Winds which was unusually warm for this time of year.  I was completely submerged at least once a day and all this was above 10.8k elevation and as high as 12.3k.  If the smoke wasn’t there filtering the sun, it would have been extremely warm.  Unfortunately it really hampered the views.

I only carry one set of trail clothes and my long underwear for camp.  I typically rinse/wash out my trail clothes and socks everyday as well.  I have put on a frozen shirt many times…it gets you motivated to get going fast!

[Pigeon]

Oh so I don’t need to wash more, good to know, very helpful.

[Lester Moore]

During 3-seasons:

…socks? Never
…liner socks? Don’t use them
…underwear? Never
…base layer underwear? Never

In Winter:

…socks? Maybe once per week
…liner socks? Same
…underwear? Once per week
…base layer underwear? Never

If there’s flowing water, no matter how cold, I’ll do at least a quick upper body rinse each day, though I may not rinse my hair if it’s below freezing or if it’s chilly and late in the day. If it’s warm I may swim every day with underwear on, and the socks, hat and shirt get rinsed every day, sometimes multiple times to stay cool. If it’s winter with no running water, I’ll use alcohol wipes on select body areas each day (face, neck, armpits groin in that order), but otherwise I “grunge out”.

 

 

[David Thomas]

Stream crossings do a pretty good washing out socks, especially in fast-moving water.  If it’s a hot day, I’ll sometimes stand in the fastest-moving water to get them cleaner, rotating my feet so the water flows through at different angles.  Sometimes I can see a distinct plume of dirt washing out of my shoes/socks and then I swish them a around a bit more until there is no more turbidity washing out of the shoes.

In cold weather, I’m wearing wool socks and 3-4 days works fine.  I take every opportunity to let them air out and try out.

[Moze C]

Thank you all for the responses!

[Kattt]

Socks every 3 or 4 days. I bring an extra pair even on weekend trips if there is a chance of getting them wet. Underwear every day. Everything else can stay the same for days.

[Nick D]

I wash socks, my compression undershorts, and myself daily. Then sleep in clean long johns/shirt. Maybe I’m weird, but I sleep better. Probably why I’ll never break a sub 10lb base. :)

[Gary Dunckel]

I find that merino shorts and socks don’t get smelly for several days without washing. Longer than that, well, I’ll just jump into a lake or stream for a few minutes.

[Anonymous]

If you hike in reasonably dry areas (meaning the humidity levels aren’t constantly 70% and above and/or it’s not raining all the time), I’ve found the following fabrics excel at minimizing odor and funk: linen, Lyocell/Tencel (really any kind of rayon, but this is the strongest and most durable version), sheep’s wool, alpaca, mohair, untreated silk, (really any animal and protein based fiber works well in this regard).

There seems to be some kind of connection between a material’s water attraction vs repulsion levels, and degree of odor prevention vs build up.  The more water attracting, the more odor prevention and conversely the other way around.

If you look at synthetics for example, the least odor building up and retaining material is nylon, but as the moisture regain property decreases, it gets more and more stink prone.  After nylon is acrylic–not horrible, but not great.  Then polyester, which untreated is pretty stanky, and then the worst–polypropylene–the stankiest of the stanky (and very low, almost 0% moisture regain).

As a compromise, I like blends between the above two groups for moderate, non extreme conditions.  Particularly nylon-lyocell unless the temps are consistently colder.  If it’s colder, then synthetic-animal fiber blends (like polyester with some wool).

Consistent  humidity levels also matter a lot.  The more dry it is, the more I prefer water absorbent materials (and if it’s hot or warm, then cellulose based-linen, tencel, etc), and conversely the more humid or wet it is, the more I prefer the less absorbent materials–with polygiene treated, wicking, thin, very breathable all or almost all polyester for like sub tropical and tropical places with consistently very high humidity (like OR Echo or Patagonia Caplilene Lightweight baselayer type fabrics).

 

[Ryan T]

2 pairs of socks. I usually change to the dry pair when I get to camp. Nothing else. I’ll wash my clothes after 2-3 days if I get the chance. I bring along 1/2 oz or so of Dr Bronners soap, and then I won’t usually rinse the soap off after I do a wash.

I bring along a face cloth and I find it very usefully. I can do a wipe down, and almost always wipe my face in the morning so I don’t get oily skin that gets in my eyes : )

[Author]

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