The Clothing System

The right lightweight clothing for the conditions you face in the mountains makes a huge difference to your safety, comfort level and mental mind set.

It is all too easy to get miserable without the right clothing and this can effect more than your enjoyment of a good day out!

Firstly consider your trip and the conditions you may encounter. Then it is good to work on the basis that there will only be two sets of clothes – your warm dry clothes for evenings and you daytime clothes which may get wet and muddy.

Each night you will wear the same warm dry clothes, and in the day time you will have the same clothes to put on from the day before. This helps keep space used to a minimum whilst ensuring you are catered for.

Can you give me some ideas?

• Clothes are a very personal thing and we have to temper advice with your intended activity and location.
• In our 3+ season UK case, we will wear a silk or merino wool base, because they don’t smell when wearing them for days and wash (and dry) easily.
• TACTEL® fabric is great for leg wear.
• Over the base layer 9 times out of 10 we just wear a Pertex shirt. This material has revolutionised the outdoor industry in recent years. Highly breathable, wind stopper, water resistant, very light and much tougher than it looks.
• Headwear is mainly Buffs, (several of them in my case). These simple tubes of colourful material are used as head gear, towels, bandages, ear baffles and much more. They wash and dry quickly, and are always kept in an outside rucksack pocket next to the Windshirt.
• In our dry clothes bag, we basically have a change of base layer, socks, underwear and a down jacket/smock.