best way to dry clothes

[RITBlake]

you've been hiking all day in the pouring rain. You get to the shelter and get ready to get some 'shut-eye' Although its still raining the weather forecast calls for the rain to stop during the night and for it to be sunny and warm the next day.

My question is...to dry your hiking clothes out do you hang them up on a cord? Will they actually dry during the night with the wet conditions? I've heard of putting damp clothes in the sleeping bag with you...does this work?

any tricks for this?

On our shakedown hike last summer a thru hiker built a fire at a shelter and put his boots next to the fire to dry. Just a few minutes later, there was a smokey boot in coals..woops

[Kerosene]

I was trying to dry a pair of liner socks next to a fire after the sun was down. I got them a little too close and they melted on me (good thing I had extras).

There are a number of threads that tout bringing damp cloths into your bag, or putting them under your bag, during the night. Frankly, I'd just as soon put on cold damp cloths in the morning rather than lie in bed with them. The only exception might be my socks, which I will try "under the bag" next trip.

My SmartWools will s-l-o-w-l-y dry when hung outside my pack on a less humid day.

I'm still waiting for someone to invent and install canister-powered mini-dryers in each shelter to dry out my stuff at night!

[orangebug]

Your clothes will always be wet on the AT. Get used to it.

You don't want to stay in very wet clothes, as this increases risks of hypothermia.

Dang, what are you supposed to do.

You can hang up dripping wet clothes, wring them out, do what ever to reduce wetness. Once your sleeping bag is warm, you can dry some of your clothes, a bit at a time, using your body heat as a furnace. You can prevent clothes from freezing in a similar fashion.

In the morning, you get out of your dry sleepware, and put on somewhat less dry and warm clothes. You will be motivated to eat and move quickly.

[Tim Rich]

If it's not too cold, and if you're wearing fairly quick drying synthetics (I know those are two big ifs), then your body heat will dry them. My midweight comfortrel top and my coolmax t-shirt will dry like that, and my shorts are pretty good as well. Sometimes less than hour does it, but the shorts are a bit slower. If it's a bit cooler, my comfortrel still dries pretty well under a loose fleece jacket. I'm not the most comfortable while it's drying, but I balance that with the take-your-breath-away sensation I avoid in dressing in cold, wet clothes in the morning.

[Tractor]

"Your clothes will always be wet on the AT. Get used to it."

about sums it up.

"In the morning, you get out of your dry sleepware, and put on somewhat less dry and warm clothes. You will be motivated to eat and move quickly."

and i might add that the sensation may very well make you forget all sorts of other things like those sore feet, sore knee, that wet pair of socks you left hanging on the limb..........:eek:

[hungryhowie]

This view may be frowned upon by some in the hiking community, but it came to me after many wet AT miles.

Initial assumption 1: your clothes will always be wet. Even if it's not raining, you'll be burning 10000 calories a day hiking up and down mountains, which has a tendancy to make a hiker sweat.

Initial assumption 2: your clothes will always be dirty/stinky. Even if you carry spare clothing, it will only take one day of your stinky body in them to make them stinky too. No clothes can withstand more than a day or two without getting dirty.

Recommendation:

Use: Lightweight synthetic hiking clothes that wick moisture and dry quickly. I use and recommend Patagonia silkweight Capilene for hiking shirts, and Patagonia baggies for hiking shorts.

Don't: carry an extra set. They'll just get wet, dirty, and stinky, and that's more wetness, dirt, and stink that you'll have to lug around with you.

Do: always carry lightweight synthetic insulation for camp. I use and recommend 100-weight tight-fitting fleece top and bottom, specifically, Patagonia expedition weight Capilene crew and tights.

When you get to camp, put these warmer clothes on over your hiking clothes (which will already be warm from your body heat). If you keep them warm, they stay warm, and will dry quickly. Using this method, I've never woken the next morning to wet hiking clothes, and I've never had to change back into soggy wet and FREEZING hiking clothes the next morning.

-howie

[A-Train]

I dealt with this A LOT in 03' and putting on wet clothes was just part of the game. Always have something dry to get into in camp. This means a long sleeve shirt in summer or a fleece jacket in winter and some sort of long johns/rain pants and a dry pair of socks. I would hang all my wet hiking clothing from nails. None of it would dry, ever. Realize the next day you'll be putting on wet clothes, and sometimes very cold ones. Once you start hiking the NEXT day you';ll generate heat and although you sweat, I found on some days I could dry my clothes out while walking, especially when it was sunny.

Basically you should make sure you are comfy and dry and warm while sleeping and pretty much give up on the idea of staying dry during the day, like most have said. It's hard to avoid on the AT. You'll think your gold and then get a quick 45 minute shower and be soaked right before hitting the shelter.

Some folks like to wear their wet clothes in their bags to dry them out. Personally I didn't like doing this and didn't think it worked so well, but to each his own.

[wren]

In almost all conditions I hike with thin nylon wind pants and a thin long sleeve polypro type shirt.. If i get really soaked, everything comes off after i get my tarp set up at camp. I wring all the wet stuff out really well, (so i dont get dripped on all night) and hang it from the tree-to-tree center line of my tarp so it hangs above me, usually towards my feet so i can still sit up under the tarp. If im only a little damp/sweaty, the pants come off, and the shirt stays on damp (and is usually dry by morning). Whether or not i keep the damp shirt on depends on my mood, the weather, and how cold i am at the time... I always have a dry polypro top and bottom to throw on if i need to.

Using the center line as a clothesline during really rainy or humid weather is more a gesture than anything else, because the stuff doesnt really get dry, but it does serve as an out of the way place to keep the wet stuff..

[Youngblood]

Warning: A little foul humor here folks.

What is needed is someone to develop a methane collection/storage device for use in shelters. Once that is accomplished all that would be needed is a simple methane heater that could be used for heat to dry wet clothes and maybe even heat the shelter itself... of course that would depend on the methane production of that particular group of hikers.

[bulldog49]

I roll my wet shirt in a camp towel and place it in my bag or under my head as a pillow at night. It's usually no more than slightly damp by morning and is warmer than it is if left hanging on a line.

[The Solemates]

you've been hiking all day in the pouring rain. You get to the shelter and get ready to get some 'shut-eye' Although its still raining the weather forecast calls for the rain to stop during the night and for it to be sunny and warm the next day.

My question is...to dry your hiking clothes out do you hang them up on a cord? Will they actually dry during the night with the wet conditions? I've heard of putting damp clothes in the sleeping bag with you...does this work?

any tricks for this?

On our shakedown hike last summer a thru hiker built a fire at a shelter and put his boots next to the fire to dry. Just a few minutes later, there was a smokey boot in coals..woops

the best way to dry your clothes is to wear them dry. wear them to bed and they will be bone-dry in the morning. my socks are always completely soaked when i hike, no matter how thin or thick they are. i always wear them to bed wet and they are dry by morning. in cold conditions I put on another pair of socks over my wet ones.

gear will not dry any other way. even putting it in the bottom of your sleeping bag doesnt really help. it needs your own body heat to dry it.