View Full Version : Wet Clothing
dje97001
09-26-2004, 22:23
So, I was wondering what you all did about your sweaty hiking clothing at night. It sounds like most of you change into fairly clean clothes to sleep, but what do you do with the wet ones? Is it practical to stick them in your sleeping bag to dry? Or is the funky-sweat-odor something you try to keep out of your bag?
SGT Rock
09-27-2004, 07:05
I usually hang them on my hammock ridgeline under the tarp.
baseballswthrt
09-27-2004, 07:10
We carry a short length of line that I string up and hang our clothes up to dry. They don't always dry, but they smell better. Sometimes the dew makes them wetter, but once we get them on, they dry very quickly!
Youngblood
09-27-2004, 08:07
I have hiked with a guy who tries to hang his ripe clothing on my side of the shelter... I've had to point this out to him on more than one occasion. I think he is just trying to get them as far away from him as he can. Of course, although I am sympathetic, I don't want them near me either.
On a more serious note, if it looks like a clear night I will hang my clothes over branches and leaves to allow them to air out better.
Youngblood
So, I was wondering what you all did about your sweaty hiking clothing at night. It sounds like most of you change into fairly clean clothes to sleep, but what do you do with the wet ones? Is it practical to stick them in your sleeping bag to dry? Or is the funky-sweat-odor something you try to keep out of your bag?
Yo dje...
most hikers carry a couple shirts, pants (or shorts, etc) etc....
if they get wet, you dry them! that simple.
like was said before...carry some shute cord for a clothes line (drying your clothes)& for hanging of food bags.
if its a dry night..hang between two trees...if wet or damp nite...hang up in shelter....if all of your clothes are wet (i had that happen this past spring on a section-hike)....dry them by sleeping with them on....(body heat will dry them).
good luck with your hike!
section hike: Hampton,TN to Damascus,VA Oct 4-9
Kerosene
09-27-2004, 08:35
I change into dry clothes (not always clean!) soon after I reach camp, hanging the wet clothes up to give them a chance to dry. I've never had to get into my sleeping bag in wet clothes yet.
If it's not raining or foggy, then hanging your clothes in the breeze will help dry them a little faster. Just make sure that they don't blow away. Also, don't bother trying to dry things out in the sun after say 4 PM.
Final bit of advice: Be careful trying to dry out stuff next to a campfire. We had a nice campfire going and I was attempting to dry out my Fox River poly liner socks. It was dark enough that I didn't see them melting from the heat!
I have hiked with a guy who tries to hang his ripe clothing on my side of the shelter... I've had to point this out to him on more than one occasion. I think he is just trying to get them as far away from him as he can. Of course, although I am sympathetic, I don't want them near me either.
Hey! I resemble that remark!
I hang up my damp or wet hiking clothes on a clothes line and change into them in the morning which does usually dry them out very quickly. In a shelter at above freezing weather I usually leave them up throughout the night, but out in the open air I take them down before it gets dark and dewy.
If I'm hiking in very cold weather, I start out with my socks and foot liners in my sleeping bag, with the rest of my wet/damp clothes underneath me. During the night, each time I wake up I pull another wet item into the bag to dry it out (I sleep too cold to dry out a lot of items at a time, but fortunately I wake up a lot!). This does tend to stink up my sleeping clothes and bag, but that's the way it goes.
Youngblood
09-27-2004, 09:32
Hey! I resemble that remark!
Yeah, I put that in just for you! :) But you're not the only one that does that... other people try the same thing. You just gotta watch 'em and keep 'em honest. You know, tell them that I think this belongs on your side of the shelter, or go run a line over where they are sleeping and hang your stuff AND their stuff over their heads.
Youngblood
tlbj6142
09-27-2004, 09:46
On this last hike in ME, I wore my wet (from sweat) clothes to bed (except for my spandex shorts, which I hang on my bear bag line with one of those office binder clips). In all cases they were dry by morning. One night I went to bed with a wet shirt under a wet windshirt under a dry down jacket. By morning, the bottom two layers were dry. Even though I woke up (under a tarp) inside mild fog. Your body heat will drive out the moisture throughout the night.
In the past I'd bring an extra shirt for camp use, but discovered that my hiking shirt never dried over night and that I didn't really "feel" all that much better with the "clean" shirt on in bed.
If you want to feel good before you go to bed, grab 1-2L of water and give yourself a bath. That is a thousand times "better" than a dry shirt.
kentucky
09-27-2004, 10:03
I generally hang my cothes out on a line or a branch I have been bringing some clothe pins on my recent hikes because of wind factors,I find putting some items under my rain fly helps during the night.Depending on the weather of course in cold weather I generally keep them in my tent in my sleeping bag. If still wet I hang them to my pack and let them dry as I hike. kentucky