clothes bag size

[squeezebox]

How large is your clothes bag ? I'm thinking of a 12 L. and an 8 L. one clean , one dirty

[Firefighter503]

Depends on how much clothes you plan to carry.

Other than what I am wearing, I usually have 1-2 pairs of socks (one of which is usually drying on the outside of my pack), a pair of underwear (also might live on the outside of my pack), maybe a beanie and/or glove liners for in camp, a camp shirt, and my insulation layer. On longer distance hikes, I might have a pair of mesh shorts also. I don't differentiate between clean/dirty clothes on the trail other than hiking and camp socks/shirt. I use a Zpacks (http://zpacks.com/accessories/stuff_sacks.shtml) Large Stuff sack which is just over 12L which is probably overkill for my needs, but I find is a good size.

[daddytwosticks]

Don't know how experienced you are...why don't you try using various sized plastic bags first. Find the correct size/volume that suits your needs. Then purchase what you need in a more durable/permanent material. May save you some money and frustration. :)

[leaftye]

Mine is way bigger than it needs to be. At least it makes it easier for me to sift through my clothes without dumping anything out, and can serve as an extra layer of protection for my quilt.

I do differentiate between my clean and dirty clothes. There's no way I'm throwing used boxer briefs in with a bandana that I'm going to wipe my face with later. My dirty trail clothes is pretty much limited to underwear though, and will fit in my ziplock "clothes washer" bag. If it's just clothing that I'll use lightly, like a balaclava or mittens, I'll throw that back in the clean clothing bag.

[garlic08]

I've never thought about a dirty clothes bag. I just don't carry that many clothes. The really filthy stuff I'm not wearing goes in an outside pocket until I find a place to wash them, never more than a few hours.

I use stuff sacks from other things I've bought like sleeping bags and tents for my clean clothes and food. I have no idea what size they are, they just work for what I carry, and double as a pillow. Offhand, I would think 12 liter would be pretty big for clothing.

I minimize stuff sacks. They're one of those phantom loads that can creep up on you. I once met a guy who had over thirty stuff sacks in his pack, stuff sacks within stuff sacks. He didn't realize they weighed many pounds all put together, since they weighed "practically nothing" separately.

[rusty bumper]

I use a Campmor silnylon stuff sack (8" x 18"; 0.9 oz.) for my clean clothes...it also doubles as my pillow. My dirty clothes go in a plastic grocery bag that stays in an outside mesh pocket on my pack.

[Coffee]

I purchased a number of stuff sacks and dry sacks but ended up not using any of them for clothing. I do not carry many spare pieces of clothing. My rain jacket packs into its own pocket and doesn't need a stuff sack. It sits in the outside pocket of my ULA Circuit. Down parka has its own stuff sack and goes inside the pack. Other than that, I typically carry a set of "camp" clothes consisting of running shorts with integrated underwear, a smartwool t shirt, and an extra pair of socks. Those items are usually just loosely packed inside the backpack around other items. I use a cuben pack liner in order to not worry about water making the clothing wet. I have found that after a couple of days, there are no "clean" clothes - just dirty and dirtier. If something is really dirty, I wash it out in at least water (if I cannot responsibly use soap) and hang it on the outside of the pack to dry during the day. This is the system I'm planning to use for the CT and PCT in 2014 and 2015.

[illabelle]

Not sure how big my clothes bag is. I strap it on the outside of my pack. Except for my rain jacket, and perhaps a hat or pair of gloves, in it are all the clothes I use, including my fleece vest and my down jacket. I use grocery bags inside the clothes bag to segregate small stuff (underwear and socks) or toxic stuff (underwear) or wet stuff. I'll usually have my sleeping clothes in a grocery bag to help keep them dry in case it gets foggy or misty.

My clothes bag is large enough to accommodate my clothing needs for any hike I'm likely to take. My vest and jacket are handy to put on if we stop for a snack, and easy to stuff back in the bag when we're ready to move on. If my clothing needs are very light, the bag is less full.

The bag is my pillow at night.

[MuddyWaters]

dont need a bunch of clothing.
Certainly dont need a dirty clothes bag.
you will wear you dirty clothes.

I use a 5gal mesh paint strainer bag, costs $3 for 2, weighs 0.5 oz. Durable, and feels ok against skin when using as pillow, not like un-breathable material (sil, cuben, etc)

rubber band around neck adjusts size when using as pillow.

[tf bear]

The clean clothes can fit nicely in your sleeping bag. The dirties should fit in a 8L dry bag

[CarlZ993]

I use a Sea to Summit Silnylon dry sack for my clothes. I think its 13L. More than enough for my clothes. I usually wear my dirty clothes & keep my clean clothes in the dry sack. If for some reason I change clothes, I put my dirty clothes either in the mesh front pocket of my pack or in my pack on top of the rolled up trash compactor bag.

[Slo-go'en]

We all have a system.

Mine is I use a rectangular Granite Gear bag with a side zipper. Don't know the liter size but is 12" x 6" x 4" L-W-H It' just big enough to carry what I need with out buldging too much. The side zipper allows getting to an item with out having to empty the whole bag to get to it. (since what ever you need at the time, will be at the bottom) I typically leave my headlamp in the clothes bag. The nice thing about that size is I can also stuff my cook set next to it inside the pack.

At night I put my hiking clothes inside my sleeping bag stuff sack. First in is the pants, as those will be the last on in the morning. If something gets really nasty, that goes into a plastic shopping bag or in the mesh pocket.

The warm shirt (or light jacket) and wind shell/rain jacet is of course packed seperately and kept handy as it is often needed on and off during the day.

[Whack-a-mole]

I use a dry bag for my clean clothes, and use a 2.5 gal zip lock for my dirty clothes. Keeps them all together, and all the funk in one zipped up place.

[10-K]

I've got a lot of dry bags and stuff sacks of various sizes.

I never know which one I'm going to use until I pull my clothes together. Depends on season, weather, where I'm going, etc.

I like to put everything (cold weather gear, clothes, sleeping stuff, etc. )into one bag to minimize the number of bags I'm carrying because like Garlic said, they weigh something too. Anything that gets wet goes on the outside of my pack.

[Monkeywrench]

How large is your clothes bag ? I'm thinking of a 12 L. and an 8 L. one clean , one dirty

Rather than clean / dirty, I separate my clothes into the clothes I hike in and the clothes I sleep in. My sleeping clothes spend the day in a small stuff sack. My hiking clothes spend the day on my body and the night usually hanging from my hammock suspension line so they can dry (sort of) after being washed in the evening, or just tucked under the flap of my pack awaiting the morning ritual of donning cold, damp clothes.

I would never carry duplicate items to be able to separate my clothing into clean and dirty.

[fredmugs]

I just use plastic Kroger bags. I take my dirty clothes and places them on the bottom of the pack under my pack liner.

[Nooga]

I just use plastic Kroger bags. I take my dirty clothes and places them on the bottom of the pack under my pack liner.

Same here. Keep a shopping bag from your resupply for dirty / wet clothes.

[Night Train]

Ditto on the Kroger bags, for spare socks and underwear. Sleeping clothes get rolled up with my hammock. Rain jacket and down jacket both roll up into their own pouch. I wear what is left over. I find my method is always evolving and so will your method, experiment and have fun.

[Sheriff Cougar]

How large is your clothes bag ? I'm thinking of a 12 L. and an 8 L. one clean , one dirty I just stuff all my clothes in a heavy duty garbage bag or trash compactor bag and close it up really tight and it works well. Fills in all the empty spaces in my backpack and keeps my stuff dry.

[Miner]

One for Clean and one for Laundry? What clothes are clean when backpacking and don't need laundry?

I use a single 5.6L stuff sack. It holds everything I'm not wearing except jackets which I store loose in my Backpack or lashed to the outside depending on the weather.

Of course I don't carry multiple outfits, just a pair of lightweight or mid-weight thermals to wear in camp or layered under when its really cold outside, a pair of sleep socks, a tiny camp towel, a warm hat and gloves, and maybe rain pants. Whats the point of having extra clothings as I'm going to stink anyway so who cares if my clothes do in the woods. Its amazing how much weight you save once you realize that it isn't necessary to carry multiple t-shirts and underwear. I think my longest stretch of wearing the same thing without a chance to do laundry was 10 days on my PCT thru-hike. The other thru-hikers and myself didn't even notice the stench that I'm sure the day hikers near the trailheads must have.