By
Marla Genetti, Megan Stratman, William Mischnick, and Joanna Rustad
The purpose of this article is to provide information on clothing and the effect it has on the novice outdoorsman. Winter clothing is addressed concerning specific approaches to weather and terrain conditions.
INDEX
Clothing Choices for Various Outdoor Situations
Links
Clothing Choices for Various Outdoor Situations
The concept of outdoor clothing when incorporated with such factors as terrain and
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When purchasing clothing for the outdoors, the buyer must consider these three factors and decide which will be the most important to protect against. It would seem that in today's high-tech fabric world, a person would need to buy only one set of outdoor clothing accessories. The truth is that while some garments are great for one use they may not be for other uses. Fortunately, clothing manufacturers understand this and continue to supply the consumer with more and better apparel.
Factors that Influence Clothing Variety
Although the production seems profit minded, there are reasons for the variety of outdoor clothing products. Venturing outside may be the only way to test products to understand the purpose. For instance, if the consumer were looking to go on a cross-country ski weekend, he or she might want to look at clothing offered by the actual ski rental shop. The reason for looking in a ski shop is to understand what general clothing is needed when skiing. This example should help consumers understand why there is such a variety in outdoor clothing. Each outdoor activity requires specific gear to make that activity more pleasurable. Several factors influence the need for different equipment. These factors include weather, activity level, and terrain.
Weather's Influence on Clothing
Focusing on the weather will give the consumer an idea of what type of clothing is necessary for their adventure. Certain fabrics invariably are more efficient at protecting the wearer from the elements. Perhaps the weather is sunny, hot and dry in the middle of summer and there is no chance of being very cold. In this situation, a person is more worried about staying cool than anything else. Light cotton fabrics are a proper fit here as well as light fleece polyester. The less thick the fabric the better. A long sleeve will also help by keeping the sun off. Also, cotton will hold moisture so if a breeze picked up, a self air-conditioning mode will begin; the blowing air evaporates the moisture produced by the body thus cooling off the wearer. In hot, humid weather the person generally suffers no matter what type of clothing is worn. But in order to assist in the cooling down, light wicking fabrics will help. In this situation, long sleeve shirts will cause more wet and hot arms then dry, cool ones.
When addressing the weather, a person must always prepare for and protect against the wind. Wind will tire a person quickly and will also cause chapping and sores. To protect against the wind, an enthusiast needs to only produce a barrier between skin and the wind. However, depending on the temperature, the barrier may be thicker or more resistant. Wind chill will cause frostbite and tissue loss in only a short period of time. This is one reason to protect the body from wind.
Weather also produces wet hot, wet cold, and cold dry conditions. When preparing for the wet hot condition, a person may be inclined to not worry about protection from the rain. However, water will cause pressure points, areas where clothing rubs the skin, to chafe more easily and result in blisters. Therefore a person must be ready to use a brimmed hat and waterproof jacket, pants and boots. In hot weather simple, loose fitting articles will do the trick.
Activity Level and Clothing
If the activity level is high, then there may be no avoiding accumulation of sweat on the clothes. To combat this, fast draining shoes with thin, tight fitting socks will be good for the feet. The upper body could be clad in a water proof shell that is loose so as not to trap too much sweat, but tight enough not to get tangled in the moving body parts. Ultra Runner states that in wet and cold environments, a person should be wearing tight fitting, wicking under-layers and a waterproof outer-layer (1998). The purpose behind this arrangement is to create warmth against the skin while keeping dry. The Ergonomics Journal states that "semipermeable protective clothing, compared to impermeable clothing, provides better protection against cold by enabling higher body heat storage and quicker rewarming of the peripheral body parts during work" (Rissanen, 1997).
The "Great Outdoor Recreation Pages (GORP)" gives several informative suggestions on clothing for dry, cold conditions (1998). Depending on how cold the environment is, a person should be dressed in a layering fashion that allows the wearer to remove or add clothing at will. Also, to minimize time spent on clothing adjustments, simply loosening or unzipping clothing will help vent the wearer. This is a type of system that will cause the person to constantly monitor how hot and cold they are. The type of clothing should follow the aforementioned system. Although in this case, one more layer is added called the insulating layer. This layer should be made of a light, heat-retaining fabric. According to Ergonomics Journal, " protective clothing increases sweat accumulation adding to the [person’s] discomfort" (Aoyagi et al. 1998). Also, the journal suggests keeping activity at a level that will allow the perspiration to move through the clothing as designed (Aoyagi et al. 1998), i.e. temperature control.
These outdoor activities seem to be all concerned with motion and high level of activity. When a person is going to be sitting still the type of clothing changes. All garments should protect from the wind and rain, as well as the sun. It is more of an insulating project than anything else.
When preparing for a long day sitting still in the cold, the enthusiast must start with an under-layer. On top of this will be a thick insulating layer. The final outer layer should also be a thick insulating layer that is made of special heat retaining fibers. Wool and down are good natural fibers while primaloft and thinsulate are good artificial fibers. It is also possible to use an extra shell layer that is strictly meant to be windproof and waterproof.
Terrain and Clothing
Finally, terrain has a lot to do with the type a clothing an enthusiast should wear. When in rugged, stick poking, rock-scraping terrain, a tough outside layer is needed. Cabela's states that some types of terrain demand a tough outside layer such as Cordura (1998). Below these wear-resistant layers, can be laminated for waterproofing of more fragile layers. There are different layers to clothing that you wear in the outdoors. There is a base-layer, mid-layer, and outer-layer. According to Women’s Sports and Fitness the base-layer is the layer of clothing that is next to the skin (1997). Clothing in the base-layer is fitted so the fabric can perform the important function of soaking up perspiration and moving it to the surface of the cloth to evaporate. Most base-layer fabrics come in light, medium and heavy weights for different uses. High aerobic activities like running, cycling or cross-country skiing usually call for a lightweight base-layer fabric; activities involving slow paced action, such as mountain climbing or downhill skiing, require medium-to heavyweight fabrics. The mid-layer of the layering system serves as insulation. The mid-layer fabrics most commonly used are fleece and pile (down and wool are great insulators, but not as efficient for high-energy use). Lastly the outer-layer, who’s main duty is protecting you from outrageous weather. Fabrics of the outer-layers are usually treated for such things as waterproof for rain, and snow. Also, natural fibers such as wool can be good for moderate, rough wearing activity. In open terrain, thin, high-tech type materials may be used without the fear of tearing of fraying. Activities such as cross- country skiing would most often call for these materials.
When picking out clothing, it is important to choose the proper qualities for the specific type of activity. Knowing what sort of elements will be encountered will help in this decision. Even though it may be tempting to purchase the newest and most popular market brand, it might not always be practical.
The type of clothing that can be worn or packed while being in the outdoors can save lives. There are however, a few confusing words that should be known before buying clothing.
Here is a dictionary of fabrics commonly used in clothing, found in the September 1996 issue of Backpacker Magazine. When shopping for clothing make sure to ask a sales clerk for help on any questions about a certain piece of clothing or fabric.
Acclimate: A treated polyester used in underwear garments.
Acrylic: A name for soft, washable, colorfast, synthetic fibers derived from polyacrylonitrile. Used in base-layer insulating fabrics.
Activent: Gore’s windproof and water-resistant/breathable fabric that is designed primarily for highly aerobic activities.
Baffle: A sewn chamber in an insulated garment or sleeping bag that keeps insulation from shifting to prevent cold spots.
Ballistics cloth: A thick nylon weave used in clothing, packs, and luggage for reinforcement.
BiPolar: A fabric technology by Malden Mills that creates a two-faced polyester fabric that react to the different conditions on each side of the surface.
Boiled wool: Wool that has been hot washed and felted to give it a tighter, more weather-resistant weave.
Borglite: Fuzzy, high-loft polyester fabric made by Borg that is often used for glove and mitten liner, hats and extra-warm mid-layers.
Camp-Tech: Waterproof/breathable coated nylon fabric.
Capilene: A treated polyester base-layer fabric. Surface is treated to make the fabric hydrophilic (water lover), while the core remains hydrophobic (water hater). This combination lifts water away from the skin toward outer clothing layers without soaking the fiber.
ComforMax IB: A new ultra-thin windproof fabric made by DuPont that’s used in outerwear.
Continuous filament: A term that describes a yarn made up of indefinitely continuous fibers.
Coolmaz: DuPont’s naturally hydrophobic polyester often used in outerwear linings and light layering garments.
Cordura: DuPont’s abrasion-resistant, texturized nylon fabric usually used for making backpacks.
Cotton duck: Heavy woven canvas treated to make it water-resistant.
Denier: Measurement of fiber weight used to express the yield, or thickness, of a thread or yarn. Higher denier means larger fiber and stronger material.
Down: The soft undercoating feathers of geese and ducks. Naturally warm, soft, and lightweight when dry, but useless when wet, used in insulated garments and sleeping bags.
DryLoft: A two ply laminated shell fabric from Gore that’s designed specifically for insulating parkas and sleeping bags, wind-proof, roughly twice as breathable as Gore-Tex, but only a third as waterproof.
DryTec: MontBells proprietary waterproof/breathable fabric coating used in mid price rain gear.
DWR: Durable water repellent. Treatment applied to outerwear fabrics to help keep them from becoming saturated. Requires periodic touch-ups, such as medium-heat machine drying, careful ironing, or wash in or spray on treatments available in outdoors stores.
Dynamic: A highly abrasion-resistant nylon, used to reinforce Gore-Tex outerwear.
E.C.O. Fleece: A synthetic fleece made from 89 percent recycled soda bottles.
EcoPile: Synthetic fleece that is 100 percent post-consumer recycled from plastic soda bottles.
Elements: REI’s proprietary rainwear fabric made from Supplex with a waterproof/breathable coating.
Gore-Tex: Gore’s microporous membrane that, when laminated to an outer fabric, keeps rain out while allowing perspiration vapor to escape. Garments of three layer construction looks like a single layer of fabric.
Gore-tex LTD: A version of Gore-Tex in which the microporous membrane is laminated to the garment’s lining rather than the outer shell fabric, improves moisture transfer. Used mainly for aerobic-activity apparel and skiwear.
Gore-Tex XCR: A version of Gore-Tex in which the membrane is laminated to a windproof, breathable, but not water proof liner fabric, commonly used in sweaters and wind-wear.
Hand: Drape or feel of a fabric, as in " the fabric has a soft hand".
Hoolofil: A single-hole polyester insulation used in sleeping bags and apparel; most often found in bargain brands.
Hidrophil: Nylon that’s modified to become hydrophilic so it transports moisture outward; commonly found in outerwear liners.
Hydrophilic: Water loving. Example cotton.
Hydrophobic: Water Hating; used to describe water-repellent characteristics of shell fabric.
Impermeable: Fabric that allows moisture to travel to the outside of the garment.
Laminate: A composite fabric made by gluing layers together; often used to describe waterproof/breathable fabrics like Gore-Tex.
Loft: A term used to describe thickness of insulation materials high loft is thick and fluffy; low loft materials are thinner and denser.
Lycra: DuPont’s version of spandex.
MemBrain: Marmot’s proprietary waterproof/breathable membrane that responds to changes in your body temperature by changing its molecular shape. In other words, when you’re hot, the fabric pores open up for breathability; when you’re not generating heat the pores close.
Microfiber: Extremely fine, tightly woven fiber that combines natural breathability with wind and water resistance. Used in performance outerwear.
micro fiber jacket
MVT: Moisture Vapor Transfer. A term used to quantify how much water vapor a fabric can transfer from one side to the other.
Nomex: A nylon fabric that has been modified to raise its melting point and increase fire resistance; most often used in uniforms for fire fighters, race car drivers and pilots.
Nylon: A term for fiber made from synthetic polyamides extracted from coal and oil. Used widely in outdoor clothing and gear.
Olefin: A propylene/ethylene-based synthetic fiber that’s hydrophobic, quick drying, colorfast, and has good hear retention. It’s subject to shrinkage and sudden meltdown in hot dryers.
Oxford Nylon: A super heavy-duty basket-weave nylon cloth commonly used in basic rainwear and tent floors.
Packcloth: Typically a nylon fabric of medium weave with a urethane coating on the back to give it some water repellency.
Pertex: A particularly soft microfiber rip-stop nylon used for light windbreakers and sleeping bag shells; highly water resistant, but not waterproof.
Pit Zip: The underarm zippers found in higher-end outerwear.
Polyester: A synthetic fiber that features quick drying time, high strength, abrasion resistance, and crease resistance; frequently blended with cotton, rayon, or other synthetics.
Rayon: A generic term for fibers derived from trees, cotton, and woody plants; has a shinny appearance, dyes and drapes will and feels silky.
Semi-permeable: Fabric that allows some moisture to travel to the outside of the garment.
Storm flap: A piece of cloth tat protects an opening (usually a zipper) on a garment Keeps out wind, rain, and snow.
Tri-blend: Any fabric consisting of a blend of three fibers.
VBL: Vapor barrier layer or liner. Generic name of a thin, plastic-like layer of clothing that traps heat vapor in extremely cold conditions.
Waterproof: A term used to describe garment that block out water completely.
Clothing needed for outdoor activities can be found at many different stores ranging from Wal-Mart to Cabela’s, and in many different styles and prices. Weather can change unexpectedly so pack for any condition.
Considering the amount of time and energy an outdoor recreation trip can take, it is imperative to prepare for all situations. Having now learned the basics about food, terrain, and clothing and the effect each has on the outdoorsman, the beginner's experience should be made easier. By using the information on food and water, the beginner will now be able to prepare for and enjoy a weekend jaunt or a serious week long trip. With the information that covers clothing and terrain, buying gear for the trip should be very efficient and cost-effective. Also, knowing the difference between the types and styles as found in the dictionary section, purchasing gear should not be a "new" experience for the beginner. Being well informed is the best preventive measure against injury and having a bad experience in the outdoors.
