Dressing for the weather

Bad clothing decisions on your camping trip can spell doom for any ‘happy family’ camping trip. Just because we all enjoy typically comfortable weather where we live, we can afford to wear pretty much anything we want. However, when venturing into nature for camping trips and treks, everyday wear won’t be enough to protect you or keep you comfortable. Nature isn’t really known to take it easy on those that venture into its extremes.

So for an assuredly enjoyable camping trip, you will want to be fully clothed against the elements. Over the years advances in clothing technology has spawned a lot of camping wear designed to help keep the elements at bay on your camping trips. However, with the glut of clothing choices, it can get a little confusing to find out which clothing best fits your needs.

Here’s a rundown of the stuff you can find off the rack at stores to keep you comfy during your expeditions and the technologies behind them. Knowing their characteristics will help you find out how these technologies can benefit your outdoor life.

The Materials
The most popular materials for camping wear include technologies that allow water to escape the material, but don’t allow any water in. Ever since man started intentionally developing materials for the comfort of campers and trekker alike, the biggest problem they had to face was how to somehow draw moisture away from the surface of the skin so that the camper did not have to wear wet soggy shirts that made for bad temperature control. The new clothing had to accomplish this while keeping moisture out – it had to have some waterproof properties.

In response to this need, developers have unveiled three breakthrough technologies in the field of outdoor and sports apparel – microporous laminates, microporous coatings, and monolithic membranes. All these materials somehow allow water vapor to escape while preventing moisture from settling on the skin. The monolithic technology is particularly interesting since it absorbs water vapor into itself while using body heat to dissipate the vapor. The harder you work, the more heat you make, and the more vapor is dissipated making for an interesting bit of technology.

You may want to check garments nowadays for this or similar technology. This technology helps keep you dry and comfortable, and makes maintaining a good temperature easier – especially in unforgiving cold climes.