So as some of you may remember, I was working on lightening and improving my INCH/BOB bag a while back. I've successfully lightened my shelter by half without compromising much on functionality - and I've been scaling back virtually every aspect of gear. So much so, that right now, my clothing system is by far the heaviest component, and that's not including the worn clothes.
Yesterday it was pretty rainy, and I realized that my paper-thin rain jacket was failing on me. It's a decent rain jacket, at least in principle, but it lets water through when the material stretches, and it's about as windproof as a spider's web. I realized that while this was inconvenient during summer, during the colder months this would be downright dangerous. So, out came my trusty winter coat. Anyway, enough rambling - here's the stuff. This is supposed to work likewise during cold winter months in eastern europe, and hot summer days in the Mediterranean. Ironically, my backpack is going to be significantly heavier during the summer than during the winter. Oh well!
Worn
These clothes are kept in an ultrasil backpack (20 litres, weighs about 50 grams) and ready to grab in case I don't have the time to put them on. However, I EDC the pants and shirt pretty often anyway.
Sun hat - 100g
Liner socks - 28g
Light wool socks - 46g
Bandana - 34g
Belt - 100g
Baselayer - 150g
Thin polartec shirt - 330g
5.11 Shirt - ?
5.11 pants - ?
Most of the above isn't part of the weight list though, since I assume I'll wear it under most circumstances. The belt goes into the pack the moment I put it on because it interferes with the hip belt, and the polartec shirt won't be worn in the sun obviously.
The rest
link to bigger picture
Spiraling left-to-right, then right-to-left:
Wool shirt and wool pants as baselayers. They replaced my sleeping bag liner, and are great during the winter too.
Merino wool long sleeve shirt - 290
Merino pants - 268
Sunglasses w/ hides - irrelevant, under 50g
2 extra pairs of underwear - 70g each
3 pairs of wool socks with varying thickness, and 3 pairs of liner socks, plus 1 pair of light trail running socks all on top of a drybag. - 420g altogether
Waterproof socks - Probably not the most durable, but will save my feet if I fall into a cold lake or something. - 70g
Short event gaiters - 62g
Mechanix leather work gloves - 123g
Polartec fleece gloves - 51g
Warm liner gloves - 35g
Summer wind gloves - 26g (can also be layered)
Missing - Waterproof over-glove mitts to be bought when I can afford them
Polartec took hat - yay for warm ears! - 43g
Neck gaiter - 33g
Rain pants - 260g
Wind shirt - 100g
far left is a spare trekking shirt - 245g
Monkey man synthetic insulated jacket - 600g
Down jacket - 420g
Primaloft insulated waterproof smock with reinforced shoulders and elbows = really awesome - 1060g
Footwear
These are my boots. Gore-tex lined, plus I try to wax and spray them every few months. If they were a half-size smaller, they'd be perfect. They're of little use during the summer though, so I'm looking for some lightweight, breathable trail shoes, along the lines of the barefoot philosophy. The pair ought to weigh under 400g and be virtually unnoticeable when in my pack during most of the year. They will do double-duty as river crossing shoes that provide traction but keep my main boots dry!
Link to potential summer footwear
What happens if it rains in the summer?
The sun hat has moderate rain resistance, as does the wind shirt, which means that in combination with the rain pants I'm pretty much good. If it's so warm that I can't use my winter coat on it's own (or with a baselayer) then if I do get soaked, I probably won't be hypothermic.
In the winter, I use the long wool underwear, plus the 5.11 pants, plus the marmot rain pants, and I have a three layer system that ought to be warm enough as long as I'm moving - those 5.11 pants are quite thick!
What if I need to wash the pants?
I have a shirt replacement, but what about the 5.11 pants? While those are being washed/drying, I simply use the wool baselayer + rain pants. Saves on bringing spare pants, and the 5.11 stuff is pretty durable. I've been wearing my current ones everyday (alternating with a different colour) for over a year with no signs of wear.
What if I fall into a river?
Most of my spare clothing, especially base layers, down jacket, sleeping bag, all the socks, etc., are in drybags that will stay dry. The waterproof socks will prove invaluable when my boots are wet but I need to keep walking. I just get rid of my wet socks, but on some dry socks, put them inside the waterproof boot liners, and voila.
The rain coat and it's insulation works even when wet.
Most obvious way to save weight
Get rid of one of the insulating garments. Either the down jacket, or the synthetic one. The down is lighter, the synthetic is more realiable and easier to clean in the field. Who the hell has a tumble drier with tennis balls during a bugout? Plus if it gets wet, it's useless. Ideally, I'd bring both for cold winters, but then again ideally I'd bring snowshoes and my big-ass goretex winter gaiters. Unless I'm actually bugging out in winter though, I have some obvious size and weight constraints.
I've also saved lots of weight by getting rid of individual stuffsacks and using a bigger, collective stuffsack or drybag.
Why the heavy rain jacket?
It was awesome this winter, and I've realized it's basically the weight of a summer rain jacket + some decent insulation, except it's more reliable than my current one and a lot more durable.
So, here's my current system. It's taken me over a year and a half to get all this clothing together, and I'm still looking for a waterproof outer glove and some lightweight summer trail shoes. This being the heaviest and bulkiest component of my pack, I would really appreciate help on reducing the weight. Maybe I've missed something and I can forego certain items altogether?
Remember though, this needs to be a four season clothing system!
Thanks guys
p.s. I was logged out and everything was erased. Thank you good habits for ctrl-a & ctrl-c before I make any posts!
