From drying your socks using your body heat, to dealing with spots that are contaminated by mold. Here’s the best way to protect the clothing that protects you when you’re out in the wild.
Being in the elements, you need to be protected from the elements, and as anyone who has hiked knows an outdoor trip usually involves sweating or wetness. It’s part of the fun when dirt, sweat, and dampness are allowed to sit for a while, they can affect the performance of equipment for outdoor use, turning something that is cheap into one that is very costly.
“Consistent laundering of gear really helps prolong the life of a product,” says Corey Simpson of Patagonia, since technological fabrics “all perform better when they’re not clogged or covered with dirt and oils“.
You can wash your hands while hiking
If you need to clean your gear in the middle of a camping trip, Simpson says to “find a creek, stream or river to rinse the garments“. Rinsing your clothes is fine, using soap in a stream is not. If your camping site does not have laundry facilities on site the clothes must be hand washed in a tub or bucket using soap made from biodegradable materials and the grey water is to be poured out away from running water.
Lastly, hang the clothes for drying in the breeze or sun.
What to do when it rains?
Keeping gear dry is among the most essential elements of maintaining it, however, this isn’t always easy in the event that you are caught in the rain, halfway to the top of a mountain on an extended hike.
The first step is to shake out any water that has accumulated and then find a dry location for it to be hung. General manager of the product department at Kathmandu, Robert Fry, suggests using “your tent’s vestibule” as an ideal drying location, “so there’s no chance it’ll drip and wet your dry gear, like your sleeping bag“.
Using your body heat
If your down jacket appears to be wet, Simpson suggests you “shake the jacket to get the moisture off … and get the down to loft up again“. You could also apply your body heat to help dry the jacket. Put the jacket on over any layer of wicking you have before rubbing your hands across the jacket in order to cause friction and heat entering the garment from the outside. After that, put your shell over the jacket and move around so that the body heat can enter the garment from the inside too.
This also works for drying your socks. If your socks and shoes are wet, Simpson suggests wringing out the excess moisture from your socks and hanging them to dry. But if they’re still damp when you next take off, “put them in the inside pocket of a jacket to get your body heat to dry them out”.
Post-hike cleanup
When you come home from an excursion, begin by shaking or rinsing off any dirt or debris that may have accumulated on your gear, then wash each item following the guidelines for cleaning. Fry suggests that waterproof as well as breathable fabrics must be cleaned “using a cleaning agent made specifically for [them] on a cold, gentle cycle“.
Inspect and repair
If your gear is becoming older and beginning to show indications of wear and tear, Fry suggests that you recognize this, as it can impact “your overall experience and safety when spending time ‘out there.”
But, often, the damage is not as severe and won’t have any effect on your gear’s performance. Simpson adds, “If your favorite hiking Arcteryx alpha SV jacket has a few holes in it, no worries, you can continue to use it and earn some more rips and tears.”
Fry suggests checking your gear every time you go on a trip, and if you spot any significant issues – like broken zips to bring it to a specialist repair place. In this way, you won’t be able to take the time to overlook problems before you embark on the next trip.