Gathering Necessary Gear & Attire

No need to buy a bunch of special "hiking clothes" for your first backpacking trip. Simply go through your fitness wear and find clothing made of moisture-wicking, quick-drying fabrics like nylon and polyester. (Moisture-wicking fabric pulls sweat away from skin to keep you dryer.) Avoid cotton, which slurps up water and takes a long time to dry when wet—that can chill you and, in a worse-case scenario, lead to hypothermia.


Your backpacking clothing should be grouped into layers:

  • Next-to-skin base layers (aka long underwear): Important because even warm days can end with cold nights.
  • Hiking layers: Nylon pants (may be rollup or zip-off), T-shirts, sun shirt, sun hat.
  • Insulation: Puffy vest or jacket, lightweight fleece pullover, warm hat and gloves.
  • Rainwear: Definitely bring a waterproof/breathable jacket; whether you also bring rain pants depends on the weather forecast (rainwear is also good at preventing mosquito bites).

The beauty of layering is that it lets you quickly adapt to changing conditions. It also lets you put together a robust clothing defense against storms that move in suddenly, bringing cold and rainy weather.

If you have a favorite pair of non-cotton athletic tights or yoga pants, they can work as either your base layer or your hiking pants. Worn as pants they won't offer you handy stash pockets and they'll be more susceptible to brush snags and rock abrasion than regular hiking pants.

Go To "The 10 Essentials"