base layers for SOBO thru hike

[chamness]

Im planning a thru hike, south bound, beginning next june. Any advice on a clothing list/base layer suggestions?

Thanks!:D

[Praha4]

Patagonia Capiline is a great baselayer. Capline #1 or #2 would suffice for New England in June. #1 is all you need for summer in the middle of the trail, but you'll hit some cold nights (30s, maybe high 20s) in the Smokies and thru NC/TN and GA in Oct/Nov, you may need #3 for nites, but #2 would be fine for daytime hiking.

[Secret Squirrel]

Warning, a man in the female forum.

A have to agree with the first post . I have both Patagonia Capilene #2 and Patagonia Merino Wool baselayers (tops and bottoms). They are light, keep me warm and are treated to help with body odor. Not cheap, but if you look around you should be able to get them on sale. I got mine at Campmor for 20% off the full price.

[Marta]

Unless you do a super-fast hike, you'll need one set of clothes for June-October and another, heavier set of clothing for October-whenever-you-finish. For the first part of the hike I used Patagonia silk weight base layer. For the latter part of the hike I wore Solstice microfleece.

At the start of the hike I had: a synthetic T and pair of shorts; lightweight long underwear (mostly used for sleeping in); Montane wind jacket and pants; silnylon rain jacket and pants; Possumdown jacket and hat; lightweight fleece gloves; neck gaiter. On cold, rainy days I did end up wearing both jackets and pants on top of the T and shorts. I always saved the long underwear for sleeping.

At the beginning of November I ditched the short clothing and went to the microfleece turtleneck and tights, which I pretty much wore around the clock. For backup, I also had a set of DuoFold merino wool turtleneck and tights, which I wore when the other clothing got soaking wet. I also had full fleece pants and a jacket, and the same two outer layers I carried earlier in the year. Four layers (microfleece, fleece, Montane, and silnylon) took me down to zero degrees.

The good news is that there are outfitter stores along the way, and you'll always be able to buy stuff over the internet and have it shipped to you. In other words, you don't have to make all the decisions for your whole hike before you start.

[ianjoe59]

(Using husband's account)
I used a smartwool midweight long sleeve and 2 lightweight Icebreaker ts and they lasted my entire thru. Can't rave enough about the benefits of wool. Of course, they are a little more expensive and heavy, but if you don't have to buy multiple shirts throughout the trip could end up being cheaper.

[singing wind]

Last summer in Maine - late July-August - this worked pretty well, but I sure would have liked my fleece vest on a couple of nights! As always, YMMV:

1 set lightweight polypro top and bottoms
1 pr. nylon shorts (good for when the bugs are bad)
1 lightweight polyester skirt
1 pr. black nylon stockings (good for keeping legs warm when it was cooler out, but not cold enough for polypro + lighter than a 2nd pair of polypro bottoms. Could have easily carried 2 pr.)
3 pr. coolmax liner socks (1 pr. always kept dry for nighttime)
1 pr. nylon underwear
1 long sleeve silk blouse (also used for pj's)
1 short sleeve t-shirt (left unclaimed at a shelter - thank you trail angel! - my short sleeve silk top decided to go to pieces about that time)
2 silk scarves - 1 for my head (instead of a regular hat) & 1 for around my neck for warmth at night
1 fleece hat (worn alot!)
1 pr. lightweight synthetic gloves
1 lightweight rain jacket

Maine weather last July and early August was wet, wet, wet with a couple very cold nights with high winds + some very nice warm days. Trail journal entries at the shelters were much the same for June, only with more rain.

Nearly all the above items were found at 2nd hand shops and I have a good bit of fun scouring the racks for suitable items. The skirt was originally a wrap around version that I shortened and modified for trail walking. It also proved suitable for walking in the rain with or without stockings on. The stockings came out of a bin and I cut the feet off the legs to make leggings. I tend to look for lighter weight synthetic fabrics that can dry fast in or out of the sun and sometimes darker colors for the same reason. Now I'm looking for some used merino sweaters but seeing as it's almost summer here I'll probably have to wait until February or so when the winter stock is back out in the shops.

Good luck with your planning and your hike.

singing wind

[ATWillow02]

Merino wool is great.