If you haven’t yet, you should check out the post on the gadgetry I’ll be bringing. If you don’t like gadgets, or just like clothes and backpacks a lot, though, you should stay. It’s about to get… clothesy.
In the post on gadgetry, I linked directly to the things I bought. In this one, though, I’m just going to give you a general idea of everything. You’ll still be able to use this info to buy clothes of your own, if you’re going on a similar trip, but since clothes are so personal, I thought the info on why I bought what would be more useful to more people. That said, let’s start at the feet.
The Feet
No matter what, if you’re walking long distances, your feet are going to hurt, period. First, you should get some comfortable shoes. Don’t get expensive hiking shoes because they’re expensive hiking shoes. It doesn’t matter how fancy or expensive they are if they don’t feel good on your feet. When you put them on in store, they should feel really good… because they’re going to start hurting once you walk in them a long ways. I got shoes that felt awesome, and added some new soles to them to increase the support. They feel great, but I’m still expecting some kind of foot pain to develop. I’ll let you know how things are in the actual episodes of TofuguTV, I’m sure, though.
For socks, I got socks with Merino Wool. Merino wool is great for wicking away moisture and keeping your feet warm when it’s cold, and cool when it’s warm. They also don’t have as much friction as cotton socks, meaning you’ll be less likely to get blisters. Whatever you do, though, I wouldn’t recommend cotton. They take too long to dry, they don’t have as much support, and they will give you blisters and foot pain much sooner. Shell out a little extra for socks and you’ll thank yourself.
The Legs
For pants, I didn’t want anything too thick, and I wanted to stay versatile. I got thin and medium thickness synthetic pants. They’re going to be pretty cool, and won’t provide a ton of warmth. Luckily, as long as I’m walking around a lot, my legs should keep warm. If they don’t, I have some long underwear for that.
I got a medium and light thickness long underwear. I figure if I really need warmth, I can double up on them. I think getting too warm is going to be more of a problem than being too cold (at least, I hope it is). Doing a combo of long underwear and thin, synthetic pants has some great benefits, too. First off, when I wash either of them, they’ll dry quickly (jeans and other thicker materials would take forever to dry). Plus, the pants are kind of water resistant, and that’s nice.
The Upper Body
The upper body is going to be the most important thing, I think. I have a long sleeved long underwear shirt to wear (supposedly I can wear it a lot, too, without it getting smelly… good for traveling!). On top of that, I’ll have some regular tshirts (3 or 4), and a fleece sweater that zips up and has a hood plus mouth cover. On top of that, I’ll probably wear a really thin rain jacket. This doesn’t provide a ton of insulation (it helps), but it’ll keep me from getting wet if that problem ever arises. If it gets really cold, I have a down jacket to put on over the fleece and under the rain jacket. Down is the way to go, if you want to stay warm, apparently. If I get stuck outside at night, or something like that, I’ll be wearing the down jacket and putting my feet in my backpack. Don’t want to get hypothermic. Then again, I could probably find a bar that’s open late and hang out there until the wee hours of the morning, worst case scenario.
The Head
For my head, I just have my hoods and a knit cap. I think that’ll be enough, especially with the hoods. My fleece sweater also zips up to cover my mouth, so most of my face and head can be protected.
The Backpack
I didn’t want to bring a huge backpack (you know, the ones you see mountain climbers carrying, and stuff). I purposely chose clothes that take up almost no room and are super light – I’d rather be mobile than have a week’s worth of clothing. My backpack is a 65L Eagle Creek Thrive, and I gotta say, it’s awesome. 45 of those liters are the main backpack. The other 20 or so are a travel pack that attaches to the backpack. I’m hoping to mostly just use the main backpack, and leave the travel pack empty for random things I pick up along the way. It should carry everything I need to carry, be comfortable, and make the load on my back a little more pleasant. I’d highly recommend this bag to anyone who wants to travel for long periods of time (and are planning on traveling light). Definitely beats a suitcase, or something like that.
The Video
If you want to see specifically what I got, you can watch this video. Warning: it is kind of boring… kind of.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adyYOksx-Po']
Anyways, any pro trekkers out there noticing something I’m missing, clothes-wise? Hopefully this will cover almost any situation I get in, without having to carry too much. Should be good. Anyways, I’m sure I’ll tell you what’s working and what isn’t on the actual TofuguTV episodes, which will start coming out in January! Woo hoo!
P.S. Two posts in one day? Heck yeah.
P.P.S. Two videos in one day? What’s going on? Seriously… I have no idea. Happy Thanksgiving, to those of you who celebrate it today, too.