My Backpacking Layering System for 2020 + Budget Items!

hey guys it's Darwin and for some reason I've been getting a ton of questions about the clothes that I hike in so today we're talking about some of my favorite hiking duds and the clothes that I'll be basically living in next year on the 80 the gdt and the CT [Music] so Before we jump into the video I got to start off by saying yes we're talking about hiking clothes which can be kind of silly and honestly it is subjective now all the clothes that I'm talking about today won't necessarily make my hike better or worse and honestly a pair of shorts or a shirt or a jacket from the goodwill or some other thrift store would work just as good however these are just some of my favorite hiking clothes that I've kind of dialed everything down to of what I like when I'm on the trail and also keep in mind that somebody like me is gonna be wearing these for thousands of miles in a year versus somebody else that might just be going out for a weekend backpacking trip so because some of these items can be expensive if you're not looking to get into that I have put some budget options down below in the description box so definitely check those out all that being said lately people have been obsessed with some of the new things that I've been wearing in my videos over on my Instagram account and just generally on the trail while I'm hiking so I figured it was time to do an update video talking about the clothes I've been currently wearing in the clothes that I'll be living in next year on the Appalachian Trail Great Divide Trail and the Colorado Trail now if for some reason you didn't hear that big announcement of the trails that I'll be doing next year I'll put that video up here if you want to check that out so if you've been following along on the channel for a while now you know that one of my favorite all-time hiking shirts is the Columbia silver edged light it's been in a bunch of my gear list I put tons of miles on those shirts over the past couple years on the trail whenever you get to about a thousand miles the shirt starts to kind of stretch out and shrink at the same time and if you're a tall thin guy like me they start to feel like a blouse and it's not the most comfortable thing a good example is if you check out this photo from my finish of the t geo challenge this year you'll see that it looks pretty big and weird so because of that I've just been searching for a better shirt something that was a little more form-fitting that didn't shrink really weird something that had a little bit of a stretch to it and a shirt that has snap buttons I'm a big fan of snap buttons I don't really know why but I am so recently I picked up a new shirt which is the arc Tarek's skyline long-sleeve shirt it's more form-fitting it has snap buttons there's a little bit of a stretch to the fabric however some of the downsides of the shirt are it doesn't have that vent on the back like the Columbia silver edge and it is quite an expensive shirt if you pick this up at regular price they're usually like $100 however I did find this on sale and got it much cheaper so far I've been diggin it and this is basically the shirt that I'm gonna be living in next year for a couple thousand miles next up are my shorts of choice now I am a shorts guy I'm not a big fan of pants when it comes to hiking if you haven't noticed but my short of choice and has been now for about well three years is the Nike challenger short so these are the five inch inseam with pockets which is why I'm a massive fan so they have the pockets they have a liner on the inside of them and they also have vents on the side if I can find them they have a vent running down both sides so they're a little more breathable on-trail actually ended up picking up three pairs of these about two years ago and I'm still using them I haven't had to replace them and they work out great now the next article of clothing should come as no surprise to anybody and it's something I refuse to hike without and that is my buff now unfortunately this is not my original buff that I've had for years that I've used on a lot of trails I finally had to retire that thing because it's just getting sad and old and had holes in it the big difference between this one and my old one is this is a UPF rated buff which is cool because if I'm hiking in the desert or some sort of exposed Ridgeline I can kind of tuck this up into my hat and have kind of like a makeshift sunshade which I did a lot on the Arizona Trail this year so a buff is something I will never hike without and I highly suggest getting one if you don't have one all right and then the last piece of clothing that I'm always going to be wearing no matter what the situation no matter what the weather is obviously a pair of socks and my sock of choice is the darn tough light cushion Marino's suck and I like them because they keep my feet dry when it is hot outside but they also keep my feet warm when it's cold outside they have some venting on the top and the reason that I always go with darn tough is darn tough has a lifetime warranty on their socks which means if you wear a pair of these out all you got to do is send them in to Don tuff or go into a retailer that sells darn tough and you can trade them out for a brand new pair so basically I have not bought a brand-new pair of darn tough in about three years which is pretty awesome and a great investment so sorry guys there's no budget option down below for these because I think that a good pair of socks that you can replace over and over again is definitely worth the investment alright so aside from a mesh back hat that I always have on my head that's basically the clothes that I'll always be wearing no matter the conditions I will always have that shirt those shorts those socks that buff on that's just kind of my I guess trail uniform that I'm always wearing but one thing that I wanted to mention that I've been hiking in a lot lately and that is my Appalachian gear company alpaca wool sweater well it's not alpaca wool but it is an alpaca fiber now there are a lot of different popular fleece sweaters and hoodies out on the market that a lot of hikers use and to be honest I've never been a big fan of the more popular ones like the melanzana hoodie but I picked this guy up just because I was looking for a good hoodie to wear when it got chillier outside and I've absolutely fallen in love with it so it has nice comfy long sleeves it has a really great comfy hood and it's a lot longer of a cut so one of the reasons that I'm not a big fan of the melanzana sweaters is because they kind of have a little bit of a boxy or cut and again I'm a long torso guy well this sweater is longer in the back so when I'm wearing a pack if I'm wearing a jacket it doesn't pull up and expose my back now this hoody is a bit heavier than some of the other ones on the market I think mine in a small weighs in at 8 ounces so it is quite a bit heavier than some other ones out there however for me it's totally worth it because I can use it at night in camp I can hike in it during the day and because it's antimicrobial I'm not gonna stink I can wear it in town when I get to town to do my laundry so definitely worth the wait for me a little expensive but again it's all and what you want alright so like I explained earlier I'm not a big fan of pants I never have been so one thing that I've been using over the last handful years is a pair of hiking tights so for me being able to take my shorts that I'm always wearing and then putting a pair of tights under them is essentially creating pants and giving me that extra warmth on my legs or extra protection if it's super windy outside so I used to carry a pair of tights called the nike hyper warm tights I absolutely loved those things however they are quite thick and over time I kind of felt like I only really used them in the early morning and then it kind of became overkill when the Sun started coming out and it started warming up so recently I made the switch over to a pair of Patagonia capilene lightweight tights now the reason I made the switch is because for me these are a little more comfortable to sleep in and I can hike in them in the morning and if it gets even chillier I can pair these with a pair of wind pants so these are the enlightened equipment copper fold wind pants I've been using for about a year now and these tights paired with these wind pants weighs less than my old tights that I used to carry on the trail so again for me this makes a little more sense because it's a little more Universal if it's chilly but not too windy in the morning I can just wear these it's a little bit windier I can wear these two pieces of gear multifunction for less weight than what I used to carry this is what I'm going to be carrying most of the time on the trail but next year I am gonna be hiking some trails that I expect to have a lot of rain which is the Great Divide Trail in the Colorado trail so in that instance I will be switching out my wind pants for a pair of rain pants yep Darwyn said rain pants for years I've said I'm not a fan of rain pants I would never carry rain pants however I did pick up a pair of these Zi packs virtus rain pants before heading over to Scotland in May and a couple times I wore them I actually enjoyed wearing them and my thoughts are if I'm gonna be wearing a pair of win pants anyways I might as well good a little bit of extra water protection so I have picked these up if you haven't noticed most of the clothing that I'm using is pretty versatile and I can add things and take things away to create different layering systems depending on the weather that I'm in whether it's cold whether it's hot whether it's wet or whether it's dry this clothes setup is really good for just about all the environments that I typically hike in so the next things that are gonna be in my pack are for cold weather and number one is gonna be the pair of gloves that I typically carry on the trail with me now not a big fan of big bulky gloves because my hands do get warm pretty quickly so the gloves that I've really dug over the last handful of years are the Mountain Hardwear powerstretch gloves they're kind of like a liner they're not super heavy but they do have a polar tech fleece on the inside they have some grip in the hand so if I'm using a trekking pole they're good for that and they also have that little power tap thing on the fingers so I can still use my get hook at while I'm on the trail so those are my gloves of choice and in the instance that it gets even colder I need a little bit of extra protection I do carry an extra pair of darn tough socks that believe it or not I just kind of slip over these so they act like mittens and then the last thing before I get to my outer layers is my beanie for years I've used a hand knitted beanie that a friend of mine made but I finally going to retire it because it's starting to get a little worn out and instead just like my sweater I picked up an Appalachian gear company alpaca beanie it's super lightweight it packs down real small it's antimicrobial so if my head stinks this won't stink and it's just comfy so nice lightweight beanie that I'll also keep in my pack to wear sometimes when in the morning and a sweepin alright guys the last two things are my jackets now typically these are always going to be in my pack unless it's super cold in the morning or if it's raining now number one should come as no surprise to anyone and that is my favorite thermal jacket that I've been using for a couple years now on the trail and that is the enlightened equipment torrid apex jacket it's synthetic it weighs about seven ounces just a little bit over it has a hood it has pockets I love this jacket I won't get too far into it because I've talked a lot about it over the last couple years but if you don't know anything about it want to find out a little more information I'll put my 3,000 plus mile review that I did last year up here so go check that video out so this is what I usually put on over everything else you know if it's chilly in the morning I'll put this on first and then if it gets a little colder I'll put this on to give myself a little bit of extra warmth but if it is rainy or I want to add another layer from the wind from the cold that's what I'm gonna use my rain jacket in the rain jacket of choice that I've been using for the past couple years is the Z packs virtus rain jacket it has Pitt vents it's super lightweight it comes in at like 5 ounces it does pack down in its front zipper pocket now it doesn't have any side pockets but it has that front zipper pocket which is nice because if I need to protect my phone from the rain I can put that in there and one of the reasons it's my favorite jacket so far to date is because of the cut of it again I'm a tall thin slender guy and this jacket tends to have a longer cut and falls down longer in the back so things don't ride up if I have my pack on me it breathes really well and it takes a long time for it to wet out again it is an expensive jacket and I have put a budget option to that down below if you want to check that out but that's basically it guys that is all the clothes that I'll be wearing for all the miles that I'll be hiking next year on the 80 on the gdt and the CT and like I said it's all subjective this is just the stuff that I lie and the stuff that I know that's gonna hold up for me over 2,000 miles next year use what makes you comfortable and what you like out on the trail because that is the main important thing so what are some of your favorite hiking duds to use out on the trail leave me something down below and let us know your thoughts if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching you

Channel: Darwin onthetrail

Views: 235,409

Rating: 4.9224153 out of 5

Keywords: UL Hiking, UL Backpacking, UL Hiking Gear, Appalachian Trail, AT, Great Divide Trail, GDT Thru Hike, Colorado Trail, CT Thru Hike, Thru Hike Gear List, Zpacks Vertice, Enlightened Equipment, Torrid Apex, Backpacking, Hiking, Adventure, Hiker Trash, Long Distance Hiking

Id: _bUIC4e6eTA

Length: 14min 30sec (870 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 14 2019