drying clothes
If you wear your damp hiking clothes dry in camp after a day on the trail, do you place a dry layer under them or over them in cool weather?
If it's warm, I will wear them dry, or just hang them out in a breeze.
If it's cold/cool, I want to be comfortable and relax in camp, so I change into dry clothes.
In the morning, I put the wet clothes back on and hike. They will either dry, or remain wet, depending on today's conditions. Putting on wet clothes is miserable, but only lasts a few minutes, until your internal furnace kicks in. Not as bad overall as it sounds.
Additionally, some folks encourage taking your wet clothing into your sleeping bag during the night to dry it. I go to fairly great lengths to keep my sleeping bag dry. I see no sense in adding the moisture from my wet clothes to the insulation of my finale refuge, my sleeping bag. Others will disagree.
And to answer you specific question. I would guess that putting a dry layer next to your skin, and allowing the heat to then dry the outer layer would be the most comfortable and efficient way.
If I have wet clothing and put it inside my sleeping bag, I have never had any issue with the sleeping bag absorbing the moisture.Originally Posted by Lyle
I agree with Chaco, drying damp clothes inside sleeping bag at night has not been a problem for me. If they don't dry completely, at least their warm when you put them on.
Couple of things to consider. Temperature outside when you are dressing. If the temp is warm, just use wet stuff. I tend to carry an additional set of clothing: shirt, baselayers, socks with me in cold weather. In women, even in warmer weather need to consider that if you wear a sportsbra and you get wet, remember that its covering your heart and can lead to hypothermia
Ditto - always change into dry clothes unless it's still raining when I get to camp. And you're right, putting the wet ones on in the morning isn't as bad as it sounds. They're uncomfortable for about a minute, then I adapt to it. I had this situation just a few weeks ago on my Superior Trail hike when one of our days was an all-day soaker.
Unless the clothes are really soaking wet (like on the aforementioned Superior Trail hike), I bring them into the sleeping bag and it works fine. Socks: that's a different matter, depends on the odor and how tolerant I am of it.
When I first began my thru hike I did the typical newbie mistake of always trying to wear "dry clothes and socks" the next day. The problem is you end up with all wet clothes really quickly.
You should always maintain a set of dry clothes for camp. Being wet, miserable, and on the verge of hypothermia makes you understand the value of that.
I did something similar to what Chaco Taco except I would wring out my shirt, shorts, and socks then lay them out flat in between my sleeping pad and bag. They would be "mostly" dry by morning.
While fixing breakfast I would ball them up and stuff them under my camp jacket by my stomach to warm up. You'll be amazed how much heat that area of your body generates. It made putting them on in the morning more tolerable.
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
Depending on how wet, agree on keeping WET clothes out of a down bag, I have had good success putting my damp clothes UNDER my sleeping bag and on top of my sleeping pad, dry AND PRESSED for wearing in the morning, and of course, warm.
Change into something dry the minute you stop moving. If you have a good breathable layer, goretex, or other propriatary brand rain gear, or just a light wind jacket--you can put that on over your wet clothes as you set up camp, get water, cook dinner... your wet clothing will dry out a bit as you work.
I don't put anything big or very wet inside my bag at night. But if it is very cold you can put your wet clothes under your pad or ground cloth and though they won't dry they will at least be pliable enough to put on come morning. In a tent you might, very carefully, light a small candle and hang clothes on the ridgeline inside the tent. It is remarkable how much warmth and dryness can be generated by a small candle. Just use care, a small tealight will dry morning dew while you have breakfast as well.
A candle in the tent? I think I'll pass.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
Where does the moisture go if you dry them in your bag?
Formerly known as Texas Phlox.
The same place moisture from your body goes.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
tA trick I learned from my father. If you have an absorbent camp towel (e.g. Sham Wow) you can roll wet clothes up inside the towel. Then grab an end of the rolled towel with each hand. and twist the towel as tightly as possible. Once you get good at it, you can get the clothes nearly dry after this. You can hang your towel to dry on your pack as you hike. Of course this only works if you have a dry towel. After several days of rain, you are probably out of luck.
I agree on all counts. The problem I have not solved is how to dry wool socks (other than a laundry mat in town0.
I will hang wet socks off the back of my pack with a large safety pin if the weather permits. Sock will go in the bag at night as well.
Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.
Thanks for all the replies. I think the best answer is to get out more!
You know what else is remarkable? How easily and quickly a thruhike can end when that candle lights your tent up. You can also cook inside your tent, that will dry things out.How big is your tent if you are able to string up clothing on the inside?
Last edited by Chaco Taco; 10-16-2011 at 11:03.
I use this fairly often, even if I'm not out hiking (usually at the beach with wet swimsuits). Depending on how tolerant you are of your own foot funk, you can also do after washing your socks every other 2-3 nights. Backpacker (I know, I know, bear with me, they do have some good if not, sometimes pretentious advice in issues) outlined a method for drying out boots overnight. This method basically involves heating up rocks in hot water, then placing them in your boots after they have cooled down enough to not melt any material in your boots. I've never tried it, but I'm curious if anyone else has. Another question I might post in another thread, how much longer does merino take to dry over synthetics?
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