Please post tips you have for clothing for kids paddling the BWCA. Include items for: outerwear, rainwear, footwear, and general wear (or others!).

Some of my favorites (budget minded mom here). Keep in mind we trip in May and Sept/October usually:

OUTERWEAR / RAINWEAR:
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Rainwear doubles as extra outer layer when need be.

THICK (as in 1" thick) fleece pullovers, denser and warmer than any winter jacket, add rain jacket on top if snowing. Wish I could find more of these, kids have almost outgrown them and nothing similar in sight.

Rain suits from REI when they were little and I could find them on sale. Lately only rain pants from REI (jackets too expensive). Have also used rain coats from Lands End (packable into a pocket) and upcoming large sizes of pants are also from Land's End. Current rain jackets are Adult Smalls from Gander Mountain sale ($15 each at 1/2 off the sale price). Nylon, nothing fancy, but they work and I save them ONLY for BW trips or other backpacking use.

Tend to use combination FLEECE and Rain Gear for most outerwear. Even on legs, fleece pants (one or two layers) covered with rain pants if super cold.

As toddlers, fleece under a rain suit was perfect 90% of the time. They could crawl around in the rain suit, if it was muddy and get all messy without too much issue!

The usual fleece hats and mittens (probably should invest in something waterproof but haven't yet).

FOOTWEAR:
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Snow boots if they are waterproof, used on the paddling days. Otherwise rain boots (Land's End sale $15) again on paddling days. Slip on water shoes or Tevas for at camp or day trip if we know it is warm enough.

Know your kiddo - one of mine will not get a drop of water inside a rain boot. Two will likely fill them with water. Try to get them out of boots and barefoot/water shoe before they play too much!

Fleece socks times 100 (Campmor and Land's End have good sales), or REI brand wool socks (SmartWool when kids were tiny). REI often has other brands of wool socks on sale at outlet web site too.

OTHER CLOTHING:
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Fleece, fleece and more fleece. Bought anything fleece I could find at second hand kids stores. Land's End had 2-piece plain pajama sets that looked like sweats and could be found on sale for $20/set or less. Kids wear fleece tops and bottoms the entire time (unless we get lucky and nylon shorts for wading if it's warm enough). Easy to clean when you get home, easy to dry or stay dry when wet in camp.

Possibly a Tshirt underneath (LS when it's cool). Maybe two layers of fleece if it's really cold.

Swim suits come along just in case and can be worn as shorts if we get a nice warm day. Swim tops too (rash guards) mostly for sunscreen.

Hats - try to use a hat on kids whether it's fleece for warmth or with brim for sun. The ones in picture below we could use as a wet frisbee (or dry) if we wanted to.

Land's End Fleece PJs

Super thick pullovers

Land's End PJs, rubber boots, camp hats

I found a bunch of fleece blend socks at Pamida in Two Harbors for my kids for only $2 a peace!

quote Canoearoo: "I found a bunch of fleece blend socks at Pamida in Two Harbors for my kids for only $2 a peace!"

Score! I think it's good when I can find them for <=$5. Nicely done!

Smaller versions of the same stuff I wear.

Just to clarify, when you say "fleece" you're talking about polar fleece, correct? (as opposed to "sweatshirt fleece."

Where did you ever find it super thick? That sounds awesome.

Does anyone have a toddler rain suit that they would like to sell? If so, what size and how much? I need a 3T. I found a youth size small and a youth large at Canoecopia for $6 each (rain pants and jacket). They are thin and simple but will work. I am sure they are not breathable like mine, but like someone here said once, kids don't seem to need that the same way as adults do (that's not it exactly but I think you know what I mean). The youth large fits my older girl, but the youth small won't fit the toddler for a few years at least.

I will check on size. I have some REI pants in my craigslist pile in the garage.

Yes, I mean some kind of polar fleece. The microfleece worked great as first layer with toddlers, any decent fleece seems to work now that they are older - try thrift stores too. I reserve some clothing JUST for camping trips so that it is always available when it's time to pack up and it doesn't get lost in regular use.

That super thick fleece pullover I bought years and years ago at KMart!! I got 3 sizes I think before we even had three kids because they were just 11$ each. I was worried because they were cream colored, but fleece seems to just wash dirt right out with regular laundering. They still look good as new, but I'm saving them for grandkids ;-) It is a brand name called "extreme" model maybe "limit". 100% poly. What was so cool about them is tighter weave fleece on outside and looser inside so they were WARM and windproof.

My kids never minded wearing too big clothes, so buying ahead when on sale was my strategy (still is).

Now that Land's End doesn't seem to carry the plain fleece PJs and my kids are old enough to know they are PJs, I've had a hard time finding bargain pieces. I ordered a ton from REI (outlet?) last year and some were so thin and poor quality they were worthless. Did find some pants for $15 or so and stocked up, and maybe a few shirts, but at least 1/2 my order was returned.

Will check the rain stuff later today and let you know. You are correct that kids (at least mine) don't care so much about breathable. But the PVC stuff tends to rip/tear when crawling through the brush, though I have used it even so. I suppose it's mostly nylon then lately.

I have one "fussy" kid with textures. You?

My older daughter is a bit fussy with textures, yes. I don't think she would like marino wool even though it's very soft. We have to be careful with sweaters.

For fleece pants, my mom has made them for the kids. Right now they each have one pair. I can't decide if that's enough or if they should each have two. For the little one I'll just use a pair of PJ pants. For the older (who is almost 11), I'll have my mom make another pair. If I decide they need them; we are going up Aug. 22. (Camping at Fenske Lake with day BWCA trips.) I think I'll leave it how it is this year; we can have plenty of extra clothes in the car 200ft from our campsite. ;-) But I'll definitely have them in either shorts or the fleece on a regular trip, so they don't get all wet.

Sorry, didn't get to the garage, kiddo spiked 103+ fever today. Will try tomorrow.

No worries! No rush at all. ;-)

i'm just starting to gather clothes for our kids (6, 4, 2, 3 mos). we have done weekend/overnight stake park car camping. this summer brings the first bwca trip for the 6-year-old.

the best thing i've found so far are some packable, breathable nylon rain jackets from rei-outlet: Molehill Packables Jacket - Toddlers/Kids - 09 Closeout.

they arrived the other day. they appear to be well-made. they are going to show up in easter baskets this weekend (hopefully, the kids don't cry at getting clothes!), and they'll get field tested when we get spring rain showers.

i saw that rei-outlet had some turtle fur and gordini fleece sweatshirts. is this some of the stuff that failed to pass inspection last year, BWPaddler?

I looked at what I KEPT mogos, and there are two Gordini tops I kept, BUT they are very thin, more suitable as longjohns than standalone. I must have been desperate. At $12 each, not a total failure, but not a steal either. They ran small I think, so might have always been intended as longjohns.

Other things I kept were Molehill fleece zip-neck tops (not quite as thin but still thin, fairly well made, cut roomy) and REI fleece crew (nice medium weight fleece) and REI fleece pants - BONUS, great quality and nice medium weight, zipper pockets and ankles, perfect for tripping and wearing under rain paints if needed. Paid maybe $15 for the pants and I think worth it.

I have the best luck just shopping Once Upon a Child or thrift stores, and going by feel with fleece. Don't care about name brand, just if it's warm enough and will not fall apart. I also want something I can "reserve" for BW or other camping trips only which is what - 30-40 days a year, tops? So, for me, $$ is important.

Fleece pajama pants on sale right now for end of winter, had to tie my hands from grabbing a bunch as we're set for this year and next probably. I can always get kids to wear those and they are warm (especially under rain gear) and wash well and dry well at camp.

The jackets look great - and better price than the REI cascade ones. Hope they work great! Turtle fur looks very cool colors! Not sure if it was that brand I passed on or not, but it was not the tie dye colors anyway. At almost $20 a piece, it better be good quality. (see my frugality showing) Sometimes you can't know til it arrives.

mogos, or anyone - if you are interested in hand me down fleece, let me know. I'd love to pass it on to someone who'd use it to get kiddos into the BW. Doubt I have toddler stuff left, but age 6 might work. My kids are all into 10-12 and up at the moment.

PS Land's End in the SEARS stores right now has %70 off the CLEARANCE price of winter items.

So fleece with partial zip neck or button neck (boys/girls) are somewhere around $6!! Didn't see that on catalog items, but IN STORE was a fantastic deal... except I'm all set for fleece for a while.

It's great quality lightweight fleece tops for kids. Thin but tightly knit if that makes any sense. I think it would still be very warm.

Thanks for the tip on Sears - will have to check in tomorrow.

We buy all of Canyon's outdoor clothes on E-bay. He uses the same brands I do. Marmot for Rain Gear, Patagonia for long johns, Patagonia or Wintergreen for fleece, North Face for Down coat / vest and carhartt pants. He wears smart wool socks year around so they are just a given. For boots he wears neoprene knee high muck boots in spring and fall, low top hikers in the summer and tevas for camp. I think we got the boots at Cabalas.

E-bay has some great deals on kid's outdoor clothing. You can get high quality gear that is gently used and pay no more than buying something of lesser quality in a store. We sell everything he outgrows on ebay so we basically purchased the first set of gear and sell the old stuff to buy new stuff.

I would encourage that the one area where you do not try to save money on is rain gear. Buy good stuff!! It rains a lot in the BWCA and leaky rain gear is not really and option for kids or anyone else.

They also have a packable rain jacket 20% off (at least they were yesterday):

http://www.landsend.com/pp/PackableNavigatorRainJacket~198977_7.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::KGR&CM_MERCH=IDX_00003__0000000637&origin=index

$22.50 online and $20.40 in person at Sears. We've had previous editions of this jacket that held up well and were easily packable.

Cute pics whiteh20!! Canyon is an awesome name too, and he sure looks at home in the photos. Love it.

OK, last Land's End run today. They have DOWN vests (80% down 20% feather) for $6.80... Tie dye design in orange, navy, dark green and yellow. Mostly smaller sizes. Some left at MOA, Burnsville and Eden Prairie Sears stores. Not sure if the Inlet carries them. They seem perfect for keeping kiddos warm with layers, though not if chances of getting wet.

Campmor has sale on kids rain gear:
Campmor Cascade II tops and bottoms
also White Sierra Trabagon, Columbia storm surge.

We do mostly fall trips with our kids. Warmth and economy is a concern as well.

I scout for stuff online as well as hit the thrift store once in a while. Plus the kids grow fast, so everything is neutral enough to be handed down. I also buy a size too big to get lots of use out of the gear.

Here is what we currently do. The prices below are current.

Baselayer (also double as pjs):
Terramar children's Thermolator II crewneck/bottoms with Qwik-Dri.
www.campmor.com
$12.99

Main-layer:
Molehill Polar Fleece pants with reinforced Teflon knees. Tops, we get various sources: thrift store, Lands End, Old navy...
www.molehillmtn.com
www.rei.com
Just got some from REI outlet for around $19.

Top-layer:
Zip off pants (on nice days this is main layer, sans base-layer, doubles as shorts)
Can be found for less than $25 end of summer deals.
www.rei.com

or

Raingear:
Campmor Youth Cascade II Pants.
www.campmor.com
$14.99
We are currently using their waterproof parkas from their winter jackets.

One year we bought cheap rain suit sets from campmor and they lasted one trip. Good price, but cheaply made and got holes easily.

Gloves: fleece/winter (weather depending), I agree, I would like waterproof as well.

Hat: Fleece and/or wide-brim.

Socks:
2-3 pairs of Smartwool, or equivalent. Grandma + grandpa give as gifts for birthday/Christmas.

Shoes:
Snow boots, water sandals (we find clearance Keens) or gym shoes.

Might also be a good forum to have ongoing post related to kids camping clothing/gear for sale/free/swap? Might or might not work. I like the idea of helping others get their kids to the BW as well.

Its starting to snow...put the gloves on.

Good ideas! The For Sale forum here in general has been used to post items you want to sell or pass down. I've sent off stuff to a couple folks here, sometimes advertised sometimes not. I do check there and would contact someone if they posted a kid item I could use. I think whiteH20 has some gear posted there at the moment. Not sure what you'd search on. So does Kiporby?

Sorry about your cheap Campmor stuff, I hope you sent them back to Campmor! I've returned one item there, but it was no problem. I have some Land's End rain pants that cost only about $5. I figure if they last a trip or two it was worth it... Only tried one set out so far and it did fine, but my younger two will give them a true test!