Family outings, even in the rain or cold, can be fun and
exciting with proper preparation. That said, rainy or cold family outings offer
potential misery with inappropriate clothing. Light weight, quick-drying items
amenable to layering that pack compactly make for comfortable three-season
outdoor adventures (32°F/0°C and above).
Near freezing, it’s all layers on. With increased warmth or activity, peel layers off. Cooler, wetter, or windier conditions trigger mixing and matching layers as appropriate.
Fabrics for Outdoor Adventures
Mama’s first rule of thumb – avoid slow drying fabrics like cotton.
Although wonderful at home, in the outdoors cotton soaks up water like a sponge, becoming heavy. It dries slowly, is not
compact, and unpacks super wrinkly. Wool and synthetics such as polyester, polypropylene,
Nylon, and others perform better.
The availability and relative affordability of synthetics
such as polyester helps the budget. For example, Walmart sells Danskin Dri-More
shorts, tee shirts, and long-sleeved tees. These prove affordable when compared
to athletic wear from expensive gear shops that won’t fit next year as your
child grows.
Polyester Danskin tee shirts (both) and child's shorts. |
Clothing Item
|
Layer
|
Mass
|
Child’s Polyester Tee
|
Base (Summer)
|
1.9 oz. / 54 g.
|
Child’s Polyester Shorts
|
Base (Summer)
|
2.8 oz. / 79 g.
|
Adult Polyester Tee
|
Base (Summer)
|
3.6 oz. / 102 g.
|
For the budget minded, Nylon hiking pants and rain gear dry quickly. Other higher end rain gear in quick-drying fabrics exist. Examples include Gore-Tex®, eVent®, MemBrain™, and the like. If high end fits your budget or provides performance features you require, go for it! The layering principles discussed here apply either way.
Base Layers
Adult polyester long underwear suit, hiking pants over bottoms. |
Three season adventures require good base, middle, and outer layers. Synthetic long underwear (polyester blended with a small amount of Rayon in my case) provides a great base layer that can double as pajamas. I really like the thumb holes on my long underwear shirt on cold days. It makes a big difference for hand warmth, yet allows fingers to be glove free for cooking and photography. Other fabric choices for long underwear include polypropylene and wool.
Pajamas with skinny pants beneath, and a sweater on top. I insist on quick-drying layers, but let her select the "design". |
Does your child resist wearing long underwear? Mine prefers
a warm, comfy pair of pajamas with a sweater over the pajama top and skinny
pants under the pajama bottoms instead. Her pajamas happen to be polyester. She thrills herself with crazy color combinations. Why fight it? The important thing is to have
a good base layer (or layers) to provide warmth, while allowing sweat to wick
away from the body.
Clothing Items
|
Layer
|
Mass
|
Child’s Long Underwear Set
|
Base
|
6.4 oz. / 181 g.
|
Child’s Skinny Pants
|
Base
|
3.9 oz. / 111 g.
|
Child’s Pajamas
|
Base
|
6.9 oz. / 196 g.
|
Child’s Sweater
|
Base
|
6.8 oz. / 193 g.
|
Adult Long Underwear Set
|
Base
|
1 lb. 0.5 oz. / 468 g.
|
Extra Long Underwear Shirt
|
Base
|
10.1 oz. / 286 g.
|
Middle Layers
Various options for middle layers exist. Middle layers
should be breathable, capable of wicking sweat, and warm. Fleece (polyester)
provides an excellent middle layer. Multiple middle layers can be worn for
warmth. When it’s near freezing, I like to wear either a sweater or a second
long underwear shirt between my base layer and my fleece.
Child's fleece pants and hoodie. |
My daughter wears warm fleece pants that sometimes show up
in hand-me-down boxes from her older cousins. Other times they come from Sears
or the Children’s Place, wherever I find warm fleece on sale. Her polyester fleece hoodie showed up in a box of hand-me-downs from her cousins.
Thank you my sisters!
My super warm Polartec® fleece pants have an
ankle zipper which allows dressing and undressing without boot removal. Great
past Christmas present from my husband! Picked up my Polartec® fleece jacket from
REI outlet on closeout. It contains inside pockets where I stash my hat and
fleece gloves, rendering them ever findable. I love my fleece.
Hiking pants may be worn over fleece, or without other
layers when it’s warmer outside. Quick drying synthetic hiking pants (ours are
Nylon) that zip off to provide shorts provide comfort and convenience. Kids
(and grownups) love all the pockets. When temperatures or activity levels
change, ankle zippers allow the zip-off portion of convertible hiking pants to
easily pull on and off over boots or shoes to transform long pants into shorts.
Nylon hiking pants with polyester tee shirt. |
On summer outings forecast to be hot day and night, leave
the fleece and long underwear behind. However, always pack rain gear. During
warm weather, we wear synthetic (such as polyester) tee shirts and zip-off
hiking pants or synthetic shorts.
Clothing Item
|
Layer
|
Mass
|
Child’s Fleece Pants
|
Middle
|
4.5 oz. / 128 g.
|
Child’s Fleece Hoodie
|
Middle
|
9 oz. / 255 g.
|
Child’s Hiking Pants
|
Middle
|
6 oz. / 170 g.
|
Adult Fleece Pants
|
Middle
|
10 oz. / 283 g.
|
Adult Fleece Jacket
|
Middle
|
1 lb. / 454 g.
|
Adult Hiking Pants
|
Middle
|
11 oz. / 311 g.
|
Outer LayerS
Rain gear provides our outer layer. Not only does rain gear
allow the rain to roll off our backs, it also keeps wind from penetrating
clothing. An added bonus is that mosquitoes cannot bite through rain gear. Rain
gear itself is not an especially warm layer, but it both holds warmth in and
blocks wind when placed over inner layers.
Various performance fabrics work well for rain gear. Nylon fits our budget and works for us, but with Nylon it’s important to ensure ventilation can occur or you’ll be drenched with sweat. The point is to have an outer shell capable of resisting wind and repelling rain with adequate ventilation.
Various performance fabrics work well for rain gear. Nylon fits our budget and works for us, but with Nylon it’s important to ensure ventilation can occur or you’ll be drenched with sweat. The point is to have an outer shell capable of resisting wind and repelling rain with adequate ventilation.
The REI brand adult Nylon jacket shown here features pit zips (for ventilation), a drawstring at the hip, Velcro for cinching at the wrist, a front zip that opens from both the top and bottom, and a brim to keep rain out of the eyes. I bought this jacket on close out at REI about 20 years ago, and it still performs nicely. The yellow child’s North Face® rain jacket shown above is Nylon with a polyester liner. It also has a nice brim for keeping rain out of the eyes, and a vibrant color for safety and fun. Our rain pants are Nylon.
Outer layers also include hats and gloves. It's Sun hats when
it’s warm, winter hats when it’s cold. Fleece gloves come out when it’s near
freezing. I have an eye out for fleece hats. Until I find nice warm hats at a
great price, we’ll continue to wear our everyday winter hats.
Clothing Item
|
Layer
|
Mass
|
Child’s Rain Gear (Jacket &
Pants)
|
Outer
|
12.7 oz. / 360 g.
|
Child’s Hat
|
Outer
|
2.4 oz. / 68 g.
|
Child’s Fleece Gloves
|
Outer
|
1.9 oz. / 54g.
|
Child’s Sun Hat
|
Outer
|
2.7 oz. / 76.5 g.
|
Adult Rain Gear (Jacket &
Pants)
|
Outer
|
1 lb. 7.2 oz. / 657.7 g.
|
Adult Hat
|
Outer
|
3.2 oz. / 90.7 g.
|
Adult Fleece Gloves
|
Outer
|
2 oz. / 56.7g.
|
Adult Sun Hat
|
Outer
|
3.9 oz. / 110.6 g.
|
Extending the Life of Camping Clothes
None of the clothing layers shown in this post fall into the
super-expensive category. That said, clothing gear is still an investment to
care for. To ensure clothing gear lasts, ensure all clothing is perfectly dry
before storage. Use the gentlest washing cycle and temperatures that will do
the job. Sweaty, smelly clothes require more aggressive washing cycles, so I
like to separate clothes by the aggressiveness of washing required.
Hang clothing gear to dry rather than using the dryer. The strategy
is to extend the life of outdoor clothing by imparting as little wear as
possible in the cleaning process. That said, do not store dirty clothes. If
clothes are damp or soiled before storage, storing them dirty will lead to
their early demise.
Final Thoughts
The particular three season ensembles shown here performed well
on rainy, windy outings in the Sylvania Wilderness and Boundary Waters, and
even on a cold, windy backpacking trip with highs/lows of 46°F/33°F
(6.7°C/0.6°C). My rules? Clothing must be comfortable, fabrics must dry
quickly, and everyone in the family must have an effective set of rain gear.
Clothes must also be fairly compact and lightweight.
Higher end performance wear is nice. Hopefully one day we’ll
enjoy owning a few more key pieces. That said, the clothing items shown here provide
comfort and perform well for us. We enjoy every minute of our time in them.
Disclaimer
I do not receive compensation for products mentioned or
reviewed in this post. All products mentioned or reviewed were purchased by me
or my husband, with some of my daughter’s clothing handed down from family. The
comments made based on our experience with clothing we own refers to three
season weather at and above 32°F/0°C.
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