Choosing clothes for a hike

You don’t have to buy everything at once from a fancy travel store to go camping. Firstly, this will require a lot of money, and secondly, if you are going on a hike for the first time, then it is not a fact that you will want to do it further.

All hiking clothes can be divided into three groups: a running set, a bivouac set and a sleep set. Now let’s look at each of these groups.

Running clothing set

Running clothing includes three layers. The first layer (located closer to the body) should remove moisture from the body as quickly as possible so that the person remains dry and does not freeze during stops. The second layer is insulating and breathable in order to allow moisture to pass through, which is removed from the body by the first layer. The third layer is moisture and windproof, but it should also remove moisture outside. Those. It must be airtight and capable of letting moisture out and not letting it in.

Thermal underwear is used as the first layer of clothing. It varies depending on the scope of application: one extreme – thermal underwear practically does not warm, but very quickly removes moisture from the body (intended, for example, for skiers); The second extreme is thermal underwear that is quite warm, but at the same time removes moisture much worse. In our case, the task is to find the “golden mean”, because In sports hikes, intense loads are replaced by rest stops. Fleece sweaters are usually used as the second layer (we won’t go into the theory of what it is and what types there are). Let us only note the following: such sweaters replace woolen sweaters, while the materials used are lighter than wool, warmer, get wet less, dry faster, remove moisture better and are more pleasant to the body.

Windbreakers and wind pants (made of membrane fabric or regular windproof fabric) are used as the third layer. There are a huge variety of membrane fabrics that differ in their manufacturing method and operating principle, but they are all designed to protect against wind and rain. They should freely release moisture from the body.

Сampsiteing and sleeping clothing sets for hiking

Since there will be no intense loads in the parking lot, and it is much colder in the evening than during the day, you will need to insulate yourself. Insulated pants and a warm jacket are suitable for this.

There are jackets made of synthetic materials and down jackets. Today, down jackets are the warmest and lightest, but down requires careful care.

For your sleeping set you will need warm fleece underpants and a thermal jacket. If it gets cold at night, you can always put on a fleece jacket, wrap yourself in a parking jacket, or put something under your sleeping bag (for example, some clothes or an empty backpack).

Hiking shoes

Now let’s move on to choosing shoes.

Shoes can also be used for campsite or walking. For walking shoes (for simple hikes), any boots with hard soles (so you can safely walk on rocks) and ankle locks (so as not to twist your leg) are suitable, that is, regular trekking shoes, which can be found in any tourist stores.

In this case, the boots are worn either with regular and woolen socks, or with special trekking socks, so as not to rub the foot. It is also important to remember that running shoes should be purchased in advance, and not the day before the hike, since new shoes must be broken in.

Flip-flops or sandals are suitable as campsite shoes, as long as they are not heavy.

We wish you success in preparing for your hike!