View Full Version : Hiking in the Rain
spirit4earth
09-16-2009, 21:08
Does anyone have tips on how to keep myself and my gear dry when backpacking day after day in unrelenting rain?
There isn't a way that I know of. If the rain doesn't get you wet, your perspiration will. You just have to make the best of it, and dry your gear out if you get a chance during the day.
Dedicate a set of clothes to get wet. Keep your camp clothes dry. everything in your bag goes in waterproof bags. just get moving.
ChinMusic
09-16-2009, 21:12
No, just be one with the rain.
IMO, just don't worry about being wet while moving. You just can't stay dry in "unrelenting rain".
DO have dry clothing, properly protected, to change into once you are at camp and in your shelter.
I had to cut my New England section hike short this summer due to alot of rain. Here are some things that I have done over the years to attempt to keep my stuff dry:
1) Wrap all items in either a freezer bag or a plastic trash bag that are in your backpack.
2) Wear a rainsuit or a poncho when it is raining (I wear Frogg Toggs)
3) Bring a small tarp or sheet of plastic that you can put over your backpack if you have to set up or take down your tent in the rain. You can also drape this covering over two walking sticks secured into the ground and place your backpack under it to keep it dry while packing/unpacking.
IMO, #3 is most important as there is nothing worse (other than falling in the rain and hurting yourself) than having to put up or take down a tent in a driving rain.
bigcranky
09-16-2009, 21:32
Keeping gear dry is important. I take the belt-and-suspenders approach, using a plastic trash compactor bag to line the inside of my pack, and a silnylon pack cover. My have-to-be-dry camp clothes are in a large ziploc bag.
As for keeping myself dry, that depends on the weather. In mid-summer in NC, I just get wet. The rain actually makes me cooler and more comfortable. In cooler weather, it's important to maintain core body temperature. A rain shell and maybe rain pants will help with that. I still get wet from sweat, but I stay warm. (And I have those dry clothes to change into when I stop for the day.)
The worst is 33-F and raining. Then it's very difficult to stop moving without getting cold, so I have to just hike all day with few or no breaks. That's when it's important to have plenty of easy to eat food -- Snickers, Clif bars, Gorp, that sort of thing -- to eat while moving. Gotta feed the machine.
Below freezing it gets easier. The precip falls as snow, which won't wet through as fast, and the colder temps mean I don't sweat quite as much.
I try, as best I can, to pack up in the morning considering what needs to come out of the pack first. If rainy, the tent goes to the top. I also try to lean over the pack if I have to open it in the rain. If a wet morning the tent hangs outside the pack perhaps for the day(s). I try very hard to at least keep a set of dry clothes throughout a wet few days.
Otherwise, in the warmer times, I agree it best to simply be one with the rain.
garlic08
09-16-2009, 21:43
All great advice so far. Keep your insulation dry! Do not wear your insulation layer(s) out in the rain! In typical three-season thru hike conditions, if you eat and hydrate properly, you can stay warm as long as you're moving. If it's too cold, pitch your shelter and get in your bag.
I keep my insulation dry inside the pack with a trash compactor bag, which I inspect often and replace when needed. Unlike Big Cranky, I take a small risk by not using a pack cover.
johnnybgood
09-16-2009, 21:46
Does anyone have tips on how to keep myself and my gear dry when backpacking day after day in unrelenting rain?
spirit4earth :-?... Be in good spirit no matter what.
Sorry , thats really all I have .
ChinMusic
09-16-2009, 21:47
Oh, with regards to warm/dry camp clothes, I usu only worry about the shirt and not the pants. My REI Sahara pants dry in no time and even if wet when I take them off, are often prefectly dry by morning. I only bring rain pants if the temps are just above freezing and, when moving, that is more for warmth than staying dry. In winter I have a pair of down pants for camp which I put the rain pants over when moving around camp. In summer I only carry one pair of pants and just let the legs get wet.
Bear Cables
09-16-2009, 21:55
In this month's issue of Backpacker there is an article on keeping dry. I found there were some good tips in the article.
Tipi Walter
09-16-2009, 22:49
In cooler weather, it's important to maintain core body temperature. A rain shell and maybe rain pants will help with that. I still get wet from sweat, but I stay warm. (And I have those dry clothes to change into when I stop for the day.)
The worst is 33-F and raining. Then it's very difficult to stop moving without getting cold, so I have to just hike all day with few or no breaks.
Below freezing it gets easier. The precip falls as snow, which won't wet through as fast, and the colder temps mean I don't sweat quite as much.
This is pretty much all correct and right on. Many people don't think about it, but a rain jacket over a wet t-shirt(wet from sweat or rain)will keep you just warm enough to keep hiking, maybe even sweating. So I always carry a rain jacket with me. And the worst is 33F backpacking, it's when the boots and socks get wet, the shorts, the top layer under a jacket, and the hands get to be numb blocks of wood. Sometimes so bad you can't even unhook your hipbelt or unzip a pack pocket. It's time to set up the shelter and shiver into some dry clothing.
All great advice so far. Keep your insulation dry! Do not wear your insulation layer(s) out in the rain! In typical three-season thru hike conditions, if you eat and hydrate properly, you can stay warm as long as you're moving. If it's too cold, pitch your shelter and get in your bag.
I keep my insulation dry inside the pack with a trash compactor bag, which I inspect often and replace when needed. Unlike Big Cranky, I take a small risk by not using a pack cover.
I never hike in my insulated layers unless they can stay dry, so when it's cold and raining I'm in a baselayer silk-turtleneck under a t-shirt under my rain jacket. These three top layers can get saturated and I'll be alright in camp cuz my midlayer merinos are dry and my fleece jacket outer layer is dry. Never wear these unless it's way below freezing or completely dry.
I was in a recent deluge with my Mystery Ranch pack covered with a Gregory pack cover. The rain hit hard and fast, and after reaching camp I had about a pint of water down below the sleeping bag in the bottom compartment. Of course, my bag was safe and dry but you'd think after a 100 years of pack technology we'd have packs that are waterproof.
dreamsoftrails
09-16-2009, 22:56
use a compactor bag liner for all gear in your pack. maybe even have your sleeping bag and or camp clothes in drybags as well. then use a silnylon pack cover on top of that. then use an umbrella to go over you and your pack. there you have three even four 'layers' of dryness that should work fine together to keep your stuff reasonably dry and more importantly still functional.
modiyooch
09-16-2009, 23:06
I wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt under my poncho to stay as dry as possible. I save the pants and long sleeves for warming up later.
One mistake that I make is not protecting myself or my pack from the wet tree limbs after the rain has stopped such as starting out in the morning .
modiyooch
09-17-2009, 07:21
I also like the fact that my tent and fly go up/down at the same time. It's attached.
Must best suggestion for keeping gear relatively dry is to have mulitple layers of protection. First, stow clothing in plastic or sil-nylon bags. Then, have a water resistant pack, and use a pack cover. Likewise, stow your sleeping bag in a sil-nylon stuff sack, inside a water resistant pack with a pack cover.
Some great ideas in this thread.
If summer temps, just get wet and change into dry clothes once your tent is set up or you're under a shelter roof. While hiking, embrace the rain. Rain is good. In summer heat/humidity, it can be downright refreshing and just think of all the good it is doing for the springs and streams.
In colder temps (cold being anything below 60 degrees for this conversation) you need to guard against hypothermia. You will likely get wet from either the precip or the perspiration (or both) in typical AT climates no matter what you are wearing, so the cold and wind are not your friend. Except in very cold temps, I haven't found that Gore-Tex or its imitators are effective at keeping you dry or worth the $$$. You are better off wearing a less expensive medium-weight waterproof shell over top of as many underlayers as conditions call for; a shell that coincidentally keeps out the wind and keeps in the body heat. Yeah, you're gonna be wet from perspiring but you won't be shivering cold. Once set up in camp, quickly change into those dry clothes you've carefully sealed from the elements before you cool down too much.
In true winter climates, IMHO Gore and those who came after are onto something. Their products work best under these conditions, though maybe not as perfectly as advertised. YMMV.
Setting up a tent or other portable shelter in the rain is something you need to do fast. If alone, be sure to bring ample material to sop up the interior once the tent is up (a chamois-type "cloth" or a supply of those blue shop towels sold at auto parts stores work well for me, and are re-useable). If hiking with at least two other people you can ask them to hold a tarp or tent fly over your chosen tentsite while you set up a tent in relatively drier conditions. Of course, offer to return the favor. :)
I hate hiking in the rain. My strategy was to just keep moving and try to minimize the number of nights I'd have to be out in it. If I had to set up in the rain, I tried to find a patch of dry or dry-ish ground under trees, trying to avoid anything that looked like it might form a puddle. I got pretty good at setting up my tent so that I could do it quickly. In the morning, my tent didn't go inside my pack. It went in an outside pocket where water could drain out until I could find a place to lay it out to dry. I hiked in shorts and rain chaps rather than pants because the chaps were hot. I slept in bare feet to give my feet a chance to dry, only putting on dry socks later if I got cold.
The one thing I did not do and wished that I could was maintain a positive attitude. Many swear words were screamed at the top of my lungs in the rain. I can say without a doubt that this does not help.
Funkmeister
09-17-2009, 10:39
Slightly off-topic:
Q: Is you pack waterproof?
A: Yes; it quit raining two hours ago and there's still four inches of water in the bottom.
Under most circumstances, I prefer to just get wet and save dry clothes in a dry bag for camp. If it's pretty cold, keep moving, as others have posted.
ChinMusic
09-17-2009, 10:44
The one thing I did not do and wished that I could was maintain a positive attitude. Many swear words were screamed at the top of my lungs in the rain. I can say without a doubt that this does not help.
You too??? LOL
I've gotten better at this over the years but an not cured......:D
Slo-go'en
09-17-2009, 10:45
I think the worst is the sudden summer T-Storms where there isn't much time between the first few rain drops and a full deluge which soaks you to the bone. Thankfully, these usually don't last long, but you can get down right near hypothermic if you have to hunker down waiting for it to pass before climbing up to an exposed ridge or bald as not to be hit by the lightning dancing overhead.
It is usually in the spring when we get prolonged periods of light rain or drizzle for days, weeks or a month at a time. Like this year. No matter how hard you try, eventually even your dry camp clothes and sleeping bag will get damp and clammy.
I get a kick out of people who think hanging thier wet or damp clothes in a shelter in this kind of weather will get them dry. Not going to happen!
I once read in an "Old Farmers Almamac" that "the sun always shines at noon". I have found this to be generally true. Some days it might not exactly shine, but at least the rain lets up for a while around noon. If you do get some sun, the best thing to do is stop, string a clothes line and dry everything you can while you have the chance. This is often enough to get you by until you can get into town and a laudramat to start the cycle again. And don't forget to put your sleeping bag in the drier for a while, espcially if it is down.
Does anyone have tips on how to keep myself and my gear dry when backpacking day after day in unrelenting rain?
Well, I haven't read the responses yet but my initial reaction is to say simply that can't be done. If it rains enough you will get wet and I don't care WHAT you wear!
DavidNH
if the temp allows, below the waist let it be wet, I just try to protect the body core
spirit4earth
09-17-2009, 12:57
it's hard to keep my feet dry, therefore it's hard to fight off blisters.
has anyone used something like the sil-nylon poncho by sea-to-summit. i like the idea of it---it seems like it would be cooler than a rain jacket.
One thing I've noticed from living in Colorado is that people who grew up back East (or the Pacific NW), or have extensive hiking experience there, just walk through the rain.
Anyone who has only really hiked here in the generally dry climate pulls out the rain gear at the slightest sign of a raindrop.
Buncha wimps. :D
SunnyWalker
09-17-2009, 13:09
Yep, I'm from the Pacific NW. I keep my policy from there . . . if I stop hiking cuz of rain I'll never be hiking. So keep on going. Hiking in the rain, there is a unique beauty to it (scenery) that is neat. IMO.
Yeah, I'm a wimp.
I didn't put on my rain gear at the first sign of rain out of Kennedy Meadows and by the time I got to the Kern River I was getting worried I might die of hypothermia because I was soaking wet and headed toward snow. But then the sun came out and with a belly full of hot food I felt much better. I dried off just in time to put on my rain gear for the next round.
modiyooch
09-17-2009, 15:53
I walk in the rain because I don't think that I can hole up in one place long enough to wait it out. If I do stop to take a break, I start to get cold. I don't allow my clothes to get wet, because my biggest fear is getting wet, then cold. I do allow my head to get wet. My shorts or skirt are quick drying. With my skirt, the outer layer keeps the compression shorts dry.
dreamsoftrails
09-17-2009, 16:09
it's hard to keep my feet dry, therefore it's hard to fight off blisters.
has anyone used something like the sil-nylon poncho by sea-to-summit. i like the idea of it---it seems like it would be cooler than a rain jacket.
i have used one, its OK. if its warm you are still not going to like lack of breathability. if its cold, you can get chilly becuase it is vulnerable to wind on the sides.
the best approach i have ever found is using an umbrella, and adding a sierra designs microlight jacket if it gets windy and or cold and wet.
Wise Old Owl
09-17-2009, 18:20
Keeping gear dry is important. I take the belt-and-suspenders approach, using a plastic trash compactor bag to line the inside of my pack, and a silnylon pack cover. My have-to-be-dry camp clothes are in a large ziploc bag.
As for keeping myself dry, that depends on the weather. In mid-summer in NC, I just get wet. The rain actually makes me cooler and more comfortable. In cooler weather, it's important to maintain core body temperature. A rain shell and maybe rain pants will help with that. I still get wet from sweat, but I stay warm. (And I have those dry clothes to change into when I stop for the day.)
The worst is 33-F and raining. Then it's very difficult to stop moving without getting cold, so I have to just hike all day with few or no breaks. That's when it's important to have plenty of easy to eat food -- Snickers, Clif bars, Gorp, that sort of thing -- to eat while moving. Gotta feed the machine.
Below freezing it gets easier. The precip falls as snow, which won't wet through as fast, and the colder temps mean I don't sweat quite as much.
Hey nothing personal but I can now guess why they call you that wonderful moniker!
bigcranky
09-17-2009, 20:03
Hey nothing personal but I can now guess why they call you that wonderful moniker!
I can't see anything in that particular post that would lead you to that conclusion.
"Big cranky" is a birder's slang for a Great Blue Heron.
I second the tarp suggestion (and the others) especially if you have a tent that gets wet if you set it up while it's raining. You don't need much, a 8' x 8' plastic painters tarp & a few cords should do. Suspend above the tent site, either A-frame or whatever works for you, set the tent up & put on the rain fly, take the tarp down, or not.
If I still used a tent, I think I would arrange it so the tarp covered my entrance for if (when!) I needed to get out in middle of night. :p
A small tarp is also a way to get out of the rain for a little while during the day, & at least feel, for a brief time, that you are getting dry. Great for moral!
slowandlow
09-17-2009, 21:08
Does anyone have tips on how to keep myself and my gear dry when backpacking day after day in unrelenting rain?
A 4.7 ounce Snowpeak umbrella.
OldStormcrow
09-18-2009, 08:32
If I am hiking in the warmer months and it starts to rain, I just take off everything that I can get away with (without getting arrested) and put it all in my pack with the rain cover on. Hike all day and don't worry about it, then pull out my nice dry clothes when I make camp. In the colder months I do the same, except that I just keep moving and wear a light base layer that I can dry out fairly easily that night. If it gets below 32 degrees, most precipitation just brushes off......
spirit4earth
09-19-2009, 20:05
great advice and thoughts! ultimately, i guess i'll just have to be wet. i still need to figure out how to keep my feet dry. plastic bags? wimpy?
spirit4earth
09-19-2009, 20:06
have any of you used an Oware 5 x 8 tarp? any opinions on the best size tarp to use?
SunnyWalker
09-19-2009, 21:34
" Oh. . . . Singing in the rain . . . ta da da da . . . ".
I hate hiking in the rain.I like hiking in the rain . . . mind over matter! :eek:
Really, rain is part of nature. In fact, it's a vital part of nature. You can't expect to achieve oneness with nature without oneness with rain. With the right clothing, you can be comfortable while moving in the rain. Then set up camp and get into dry clothing. If it's raining the next morning, put on your wet clothing and get going. Soon you'll be comfortable again. Keep a set of clothing dry at all costs, and enjoy the rainy mountain atmosphere! ;)
bigcranky
09-20-2009, 08:34
have any of you used an Oware 5 x 8 tarp? any opinions on the best size tarp to use?
Best size for what, exactly?
I have used a 5x8 tarp for my primary shelter, in rain, torrential rain, and a blizzard. It's not easy. My current tarp is 6x10 feet, which provides enough extra coverage for bad weather.
For a primary shelter I would highly recommend an 8x10 tarp to start. For a lunchtime shelter in the rain, or as an additional awning over the door of your tent, then a 5x8 is great.
dreamsoftrails
09-20-2009, 13:07
I like hiking in the rain . . . mind over matter! :eek:
Really, rain is part of nature. In fact, it's a vital part of nature. You can't expect to achieve oneness with nature without oneness with rain. With the right clothing, you can be comfortable while moving in the rain. Then set up camp and get into dry clothing. If it's raining the next morning, put on your wet clothing and get going. Soon you'll be comfortable again. Keep a set of clothing dry at all costs, and enjoy the rainy mountain atmosphere! ;)
if there was only one post someone needed to read on this thread, this one is it.
Father Dragon
09-20-2009, 13:19
This last May the first 5 days of my section hike from Front Royal - to 60 was constant rain. It wasn't so bad other than I feel the need to go back and get the views I missed from the fog. It was unique and I have some fond memories of hiding under the long shelters (rock overhangs) drinking a few beers I got from the waysides. I agree that the rain has it's own particular beauty. The couple of miles right south of big meadows was spectacular in the mist. I'll tell you what though I was never so happy to see the sun come out.
Keeping dry isn't so much my concern when hiking, just keeping warm will do. And there is nothing like cooking a hot meal when you're sopping wet... puts the color back in your cheeks. Mmmm, a good bean soup with bacon and onion on a rainy day ... almost makes me want to go play in the rain right now... the wetter I am the better the soup!
What I'm saying is attitude is everything, well that and good soup....
I like hiking in the rain . . . mind over matter! :eek:
Really, rain is part of nature. In fact, it's a vital part of nature. You can't expect to achieve oneness with nature without oneness with rain. With the right clothing, you can be comfortable while moving in the rain. Then set up camp and get into dry clothing. If it's raining the next morning, put on your wet clothing and get going. Soon you'll be comfortable again. Keep a set of clothing dry at all costs, and enjoy the rainy mountain atmosphere! ;)
Yes, yes. I know this. It was my biggest failure. I would even try to remind myself that I was warm and comfortable and yet I still did not achieve oneness with nature in the rain. I wish I could have overcome this failure. Maybe next time.
You're gonna get wet no matter what. I do find it helpful to keep it out of my eyes, so a cap is useful.