Outer Clothing for Legend Tripping

 

Hey Legend Trippers

I sorry I haven’t submitted a post in while. I’m just finished going over the final draft of my upcoming book. In this post I want to talk about in this post is clothing. Recently I took some of my cadets out on a legend trip to a Boy Scout camp appropriately called Bigfoot Wilderness Camp. It is located deep in the green swamps of Florida. The Withlacoochee Rivers flows not twenty feet from the camp. When we first arrived, I had the cadets go out and gather fire wood. I checked the weather and found out it was going to get cold that night, which believe it or not is not uncommon in Florida this time of year. Later that night I took them on a Bigfoot hunt. We all walked single file down this hiking trail. We went out about two miles and returned. During the hike back, the temperature started to drop. By the time we got back to camp, some of the team was getting cold. I noticed that I felt warm and comfortable in my jacket. We got the fire started and later that night we ran out of wood. Nobody’s clothing was keeping them warm except me and all I had was a t-shirt, a sweat shirt and my Gore-Tex rain jacket.  I end up going out and getting the fire wood. Later I looked at all the cadet’s jackets that they had brought to keep them warm. Most had some pretty good jackets from name brand companies.

 



I got to thinking, when it comes to outdoor legend tripping, what is the best kind of outer clothing to bring on a camp out? There is certainly enough name brand outdoor clothing on the market today. Some of them are expensive and some are pretty reasonable priced. Now when it comes to me, I don’t like to bring a lot of clothing with me. In other words, I like to travel light. When I do purchase outer clothing like jackets, I buy dependable clothing that is not too expensive. Let’s be real, not matter what how expensive you pay for a jackets, they are not indestructible and eventually they will need replaced, even the expensive stuff. With that being said, I like to look around and see some of the reviews posted on the internet on a certain clothing item, then I look on the web to find it for the cheapest price. Some websites will have sales going on.

 

 



I do like jacket that are made of Gore-Tex. It is a waterproof/breathable fabric membrane and is best known for its use in protective, yet breathable, rainwear. The simplest sort of rain wear is a two layer sandwich. The outer layer is typically nylon or polyester and provides strength. The inner one is polyurethane (abbreviated: PU), and provides water resistance, at the cost of breathability. I first used Gore-Tex, when I was issued a jacket made for the material while I was in the US Army. I found that it not only kept me dry in the rain and snow, but also warm, without having a lot of clothing on underneath. The Army started having boots and other equipment made with Gore-Tex. The only problem is that if you wash it in the washing machine it will destroy the outer protective covering. The jackets can be clean with a warm wash cloth. After I retired I continued to buy Gore-Tex jackets. My sons wear them as well. Now you can find used Army Gore-Tex jackets in military surplus stores that are used and responsibly priced. They are however camouflage, which some people like.

I recently purchased a jacket made with AquaDry polyamide ripstop. This jacket cost a fraction of the cost of Gore-Tex and works equally well. The jacket feels lighter than a Gore-Tex and keeps me just a warm in cold weather. Craghoppers makes these jackets under the Bear Grylls line, so it can be expensive. I was lucky enough to find mine at half the price of what the normally go for. This jacket is my favorite because it light weight and holds up well to the elements plus it keeps you warm in the wet cold weather.  

So if you plan on going legend tripping in the outdoors, make sure you are prepared for the bad weather. Always have a dependable jacket in your vehicle or your backpack for bad weather. Now some of you are going to go out and purchase the expensive jackets and then on your trip out there it will get ruined and now you’re out a jacket and the money. Make sure you read the reviews of a jacket before you buy it. You may find out that it is not as great as it is advertised. I’m not telling you what to purchase, I am saying make sure it is a dependable jacket. When you’re deep in the woods and it starts to snow, it too late to take it back to the store. Well go out and have great legend trip but stay dry and warm.