I am trying to refine my skills and learn something from you guys. I usually take two pair of those quick dry expensive REI underwear, and a pair of long underwear, three pairs of wool socks, two pair of pants, two shirts, one fleece pullover and raingear. I bathe before dinner and wash out my cloth and hope they will be dry the next day. I don't mind starting the day in wet cloth but I want to go to bed clean and dry. What is your technique?

i rarely wash clothing on a trip. when i do its only a pair of socks or a tshirt. wet wipes do wonders for that clean feeling.

btw... your clothing list looks much like mine.

I carry a little less than you but close. I wash (rinse) socks and underwear every day and hang to dry when we make camp, and of course put on the previous days "washed" things. Every 3 or 4 days I'll rinse out one of the shirts and take a solar shower.

haha. I normally will have at least 3 pairs of unwear to change into, gotta stay clean. Pretty an every day change. After the 2nd or third, the other 2 get washed, like my socks :)

I wear one pair of clothing until it feels grungy. My socks get changed out more often since I like clean and dry feet. After a few days if I feel grungy I rinse out my clothing (weather permitting)and line dry.

You might consider bringing a down vest depending on when you trip.

I keep a clean pair of lightweight long johns, socks, and toboggan in the waterproof compression dry sack with my sleeping bag. These are just for sleeping. Otherwise I don't really wash clothes much, although I do have an extra pair of underwear/t-shirt (the odor-control type) and dry socks/shoes for camp. I go in mid to late Sept though, so heat, humidity, and sweat are minimized.

My raingear is my second pair of pants, other than that, my list is almost identical. I generally dont wash clothes unless I am going to be in camp the whole day on a layover, wash in the morning.

I bring enough undies for the whole trip. They don't weigh much. I bring three pair of wool socks, though last trip I only wore two of them. For clothes I bring two full sets: two t-shirts, two pants, two fleece shirts. I also bring one warm jacket and my raingear jacket and pants (I run cold...many people would not need the warm jacket as well as the fleece). During the day I will wear whatever dirty thing I have, after I've changed the undies, but the most important thing to me is to have clean clothes to sleep in. I have a pair of long johns and a long sleeved merino wool shirt. If that isn't warm enough, I'll add a fleece...even if it's dirty. The clean clothes are to have next to me. I guess I am getting them dirty by wearing them, but compared to my other clothes, they are clean. ;-)

I bring two full sets in case what I am wearing gets wet. Otherwise I would just wear the same thing all week. Except for the undies. I splurge on the undies.

I also bring wet wipes and will take a sponge bath if I feel I need it.

If it got really cold I would give in and wear my "PJs" under my dirty clothes. I suppose I'd rather be warm than sleep clean. Washing is always an option, but I'd rather not. I DO NOT like putting on things that are damp, and I find it's sometimes hard to get things to dry out up there, even with quick dry stuff. With cotton...forget it!

I am packing right now. Let's look at it.....

First of all, I take a duffle bag for the road trip. In it is my first days clothing for paddling: t-shirt, long sleeve light-weight shirt (if cool), camping shorts, poly-pro socks and light-weight wool socks and my portage boots. Also in the bag are my clothes for the trip home and an extra set of bathroom supplies for my bunkhouse nights. No digging in the packs for clothes or toothbrushes etc.

My clothes compression sack: Long sleeve button shirt, t-shirt, long sleeve poly-pro shirt, long sleeve thermal shirt, a lightweight fleece, long pants (zip-off...also my spare shorts), 2 underware, spare pair each of poly-pro and lightweight wool socks and one pair of cotton socks. Also in a ziplock are my nylon swim trunks and my shamwow towel.

My rain pants are my extra pants and if it gets really cool I can layer everything plus put on the rain jacket.

On some really grubby trips, I have washed underware and socks. A ziplock and some campsuds makes a decent washing machine (back in the woods of course).

This is for June through August trips. A few extras get added for May or Sept/Oct.

Thanks for the posting Doc. I've needed a new camp towel and now I know what I will get. A sham wow towel.

quote SevenofNine: "Thanks for the posting Doc. I've needed a new camp towel and now I know what I will get. A sham wow towel."

Remember the Pac-Towel .... and the famous Pac-Towel Girl that appeared in the gear catelogs barely covering herself with a Pac-towel? Well, I have a new candidate ....

I also have one of those pack towels, but it's a different brand. Got it at REI. A Sham-wow? That's a fun alternative :)

Bannock......that candidate will only work if you're selling MUCH LARGER TOWELS!
And....I do remember that add ;)

Well I to like to clean up. Fresh socks and clean skivy's are nice.
On my first solo, it was August, Hot and Sweaty. After two days my Skivys were so bad, that when I took em off, I burnt em. right there on my fire. NO WaY I was going to get them clean anyway. I just figured what the heck, don't have to carry those discusting things out.

Thought you would all get a kick out of that, Maybe should invent disposable skivy's for adults.

SunCatcher

quote SunCatcher: "Well I to like to clean up. Fresh socks and clean skivy's are nice.
On my first solo, it was August, Hot and Sweaty. After two days my Skivys were so bad, that when I took em off, I burnt em. right there on my fire. NO WaY I was going to get them clean anyway. I just figured what the heck, don't have to carry those discusting things out.

Thought you would all get a kick out of that, Maybe should invent disposable skivy's for adults.

SunCatcher"

Depends...

I like to take an evening swim after dinner. Helps to cool off and clean up before getting to bed.

I rarely wash all my clothes. I'll rinse out my socks - especially if they got sand in them. But for the rest of the clothes, I'll take a swim with them on if they're getting ripe or building up too much of my sweat salt, but really just a quick rinse.

quote SunCatcher: "Thought you would all get a kick out of that, Maybe should invent disposable skivy's for adults.

SunCatcher"

Warning, this is kind of an "earthy" comment.

Women's ones exist. I have some from the hospital when I had L. I didn't use them. They are kind of mesh-y. But I saved them thinking they'd be good BW undies. But no, I don't think I ever will...they look uncomfortable to sit on for long periods, like when paddling. Guess I should toss them.

Paul, my husband has burned clothes up there before, too. ;-)

I usual travel in cool (possibly cold) weather so I wear silk or wool longjohns to bed.

I too take two pair of the quick-dry REI boxer shorts.

I pack too much clothes (if I dump in cold water I want to have a near complete set of dry clothes to get in to): 3 pair of smartwool socks, 2 pair of polypro socks, one pair silk longjohns, one pair Smartwool longjohns, 2 pair zip-off leg cargo pants, two quick-dry sleeveless t-shirts, one long-sleeved quickdry buttons-up-the-front type shirt, one Smartwool longjohn zip-up collar shirt, one silk longjohn top, one medium weight fleece shirt, one medium heavy MountainHardware zip-up sweatshirt, one microfleece beenie, one heavy weight fleece balaclava, one pair Sealskin gloves, one pair of heavy whole mitten/gloves.

I don't usually bathe with water below the belt. A good rub-down with a few baby wipes below the belt and above the knees (if you know what I mean) usually keeps the stink level down so I can at least live with myself in the sleeping bag.

smelling bad is a part of wilderness travel. i look and smell like a voyageur in a matter of days, swear like one too. i only carry an extra heavy wool shirt in summer travel, everything else is what i wear. that and a good rain jacket.

Over the years, I've gotten it down to two outfits for a trip up to five days or so: the one you wear in, and a dry one in which to change if the first gets soiled/wet/too stinky to bear. For a longer trip, I might add one extra outfit (e.g., swim trunks and a light t-shirt), but otherwise will just wash what I have. For skivvies, during the hot months I like snug-fitting compression shorts--they limit chafing. Other times of year, well, read on...

I'm partial to the outfitter pants that have the mesh liners--no need for skivvies with those. On my most recent trip (Sept. 2011), my rain pants were my second set of pants. For cool weather trips like that one, however, I'll always add a decent set of long underwear (didn't use them this year, even with night temps in the 30s to 40s). So, basically, no underwear unless extremely hot or cold weather.

For socks, I like to have at least two pair of good wool socks, perhaps polyester dress socks as liners, and one extra pair to wear overnight.

In general, I try to pack in only tech clothing--things that wick fast and dry quickly. Though, if I had wool trousers or shirts, I might well take those.

I've gone up with guys who wear the same briefs all week and then have a ritual burn of them on the last night. I just prefer the pants and shorts with liners. You really can stick to two outfits--the one you wear, and the one "just in case".

quote jwartman59: "smelling bad is a part of wilderness travel. i look and smell like a voyageur in a matter of days, swear like one too."

You swear in French?

Every piece of clothing is Dacron, socks, underwear, everything. I take two of everything, wash almost every day by going for a swim with my clothes on, no soap, then hang them up and put the dry ones on. Dacron dries super quick, it's what they make sails out of for sail boats. Also goes by the name of Cool Max, although I never see that being sold anymore. Black clothes for cold days, white ones for hot days. It is super light and compact, sometimes I take 3 of everything.

quote HikingStick: "I've gone up with guys who wear the same briefs all week..."

Wow! These guys take it to the extreme!

best mens briefs money can buy

First thing is leave the underwear at home.

Second if things get a bit too ripe head to the water and take a swim.

I just want to second the quality of exofficio underwear. I work for a canoe/kayak livery in the summer. That can often mean a 10 hour day of carrying boats in 90 plus degree heat. Nothing, I mean nothing is as nice as those exofficio boxers. They are all I wear now.

Whether it's one week or five my clothing is the same.
2 pair underwear (right now it's one pair icebreaker, one pair ex officio)
3 wool socks (one wet, one dry, one for sleeping)
2 Merino liner socks
2 Icebreaker T's
1 Smartwool long sleeve
1 Very light long sleeve bug and sun shirt
1 Rain jacket
1 Rain pant
1 Pair shorts
1 Pair long pants
1 Pair wet boots (Redwing Irish Setters)
1 Pair mocs for camp
1 Fleece pullover
1 Down vest
2 Bandanas
1 Wide brim hat

Underwear and wet liners and socks get rinsed daily, all else on an as needed basis.

I agree.... I thought Jan was just being silly about the fancy pants before but I bought a pair of Starter brand breiefs from WalMart.

They are pretty much the same as the exificios but cost 9.50 per pair.

It's the only thing I'll wear now.

This thread cracked me up! I realized that I'm filthy compared to a lot of other people- I'll wear the same thing for a week no problem. Every now and then I might hang the socks out for air, or rinse a few things.

As for the towels, I will say that the shamwows have an odd feel and texture. For me the cheap yellow "camp" towels are best. They do the job.

A couple pair or underoos and long johns for the evening. I don't wear my long johns outside the tent. They're my evening luxury.

I also keep a pair of merino socks, longjohns, and t-shirt in my bag for tent use each night. During the days, it's 2 pair of boxer briefs, merino socks, liner socks, merino t-shirts, long-sleeve nylon button-down shirts and one pair of cargo pants and shorts. Wet/cold weather means rain pants, jacket and full zip polartec fleece. On long trips, I'll use a 2-gal ziplock and some suds every 5-6 days as a washing machine.

I go commando (but wear breathable synthetic pants with a mesh liner). It saves a few ounces and some space in my pack.

I take much the same as the OP. The underwear are Terramar and are supplemented with a cheap "Gold Bond" substitute.
Towards the end of a week-long trip, I am usually putting on damp socks in the morning that had been rinsed the previous day. However, I always maintain one pair of dry socks for use around camp because you never know if washed socks will be able to dry. It is better to wear slightly dirty dry socks in camp than to have to suffer damp socks.

I like this topic. A good detail to not overlook.
My underwear of choice is Patagonia Capilene boxers, with print.
Similar to REIs I suppose. I wear one and pack another. It doubles as swimwear, if needed. Otherwise the birthday suit is the best. Although, wearing them in does help in washing them out. The artful print on the Patagonia boxers also help them pass as actual swim trunks if that's a persons concern. Plus, the green fish patterned ones seem to be appropriate for such trips....
I'll also note that during some spring or fall cooler weather trips I usually add a pair of Ibex merino wool type boxer briefs...nice for sleeping

I am on the filthy side of things. I come out with what I go in with. One complete change in case of getting wet. The only thing I indulge on is extra wool socks in cold weather. I will swim or sponge bathe in warm weather. Trips are too short and infrequent to waste time on frivolous chores.

Underwear......One pair, rotate. Front, back, inside, outside.....rinse out the evening of the fourth day, start over! (LOL)

Change undies every other day, sock about every day, no jumping in the water in early may, a little dirt don't bother me.

quote awbrown: "Underwear......One pair, rotate. Front, back, inside, outside.....rinse out the evening of the fourth day, start over! (LOL)"

On my very first trip in back in 1973 with BWCA through Charles Sommers Wilderness base I vividly remember trip guide doing a shakedown the night before. Going though our Duluth pack (3 scout's personal gear to a pack)he said "seven pairs of underwear? Did your mom pack for you? I don't wear any....you get one extra pair."

I usually bring about the same clothes as everyone else but I will ease the strain on my nose by using a camp washing machine. About 20 years ago my brother took his "ripe" clothes, strung them onto a rope, and tied the rope to a branch to let them hang in the little stream we were camped on. He said that he got the idea from a book by Chuck Yeager. After a couple hours, he wrung them out, hung them from a twisted clothesline and had great smelling clothes the next day.
If I am not camped near current, I just anchor down my wash with rocks on a wind blown shore for a few hours.

quote vandolomeiu: "I usually bring about the same clothes as everyone else but I will ease the strain on my nose by using a camp washing machine. About 20 years ago my brother took his "ripe" clothes, strung them onto a rope, and tied the rope to a branch to let them hang in the little stream we were camped on. He said that he got the idea from a book by Chuck Yeager. After a couple hours, he wrung them out, hung them from a twisted clothesline and had great smelling clothes the next day.
If I am not camped near current, I just anchor down my wash with rocks on a wind blown shore for a few hours. "

Good idea. Tie your laundry behind the canoe while fishing. Eliminates the need for an anchor and you do your laundry at the same time.

quote OBX2Kayak: "

quote vandolomeiu: "I usually bring about the same clothes as everyone else but I will ease the strain on my nose by using a camp washing machine. About 20 years ago my brother took his "ripe" clothes, strung them onto a rope, and tied the rope to a branch to let them hang in the little stream we were camped on. He said that he got the idea from a book by Chuck Yeager. After a couple hours, he wrung them out, hung them from a twisted clothesline and had great smelling clothes the next day.
If I am not camped near current, I just anchor down my wash with rocks on a wind blown shore for a few hours. "

Good idea. Tie your laundry behind the canoe while fishing. Eliminates the need for an anchor and you do your laundry at the same time."

drift undies

Sounds like a good use for one of those mesh bags. Of course, I'd need other clothes to wear or really warm weather in late Sept.