CDT Gear Review, part 2: Layering System

Clothing is where function meets fashion more than anywhere else. Bring on the colors.

Torso layers

Torso

A high number of highly specialized items

The theory goes by the name of Strict Layering, which I described at length in the provided link. This is a review of what I used on the CDT so I’ll go through the specific items.

Base layer

Polyester shirt

I went for a polyester shirt this time. I had it clear that wool would be too warm for me in too many occasions along the trip, plus a thin wool shirt had all the tickets to not make it to the end, forcing a replacement operation that I would rather avoid. Polyester can be made thin, hence cool enough, while keeping good durability.

The model I chose follows the Strict Layering paradigm by the book: thin, comfy against the skin, light grey color, long sleeves, chest zip and wrap around neck collar. I chose it from existing closet stock and the one I fell for was a Decathlon brand model. Sometimes Decathlon is a sweet spot of simplicity that makes it ideal for the thru-hiking task.

Boring shirt

It worked very well except on the durability side: the shirt started developing holes for no apparent reason other than early wear and it made it to trip end just before major disintegration in some spots. I wasn’t happy with this, I’ve used similar shirts in the past that were far more durable.

Right sleeve after war time

Active insulation

Thin fleece Haglofs Solo Top

I treasure this item because I know it’ll be difficult to replace when it finally wears down. Ironically, it’s a very simple garment, classic Polartec 100 in pullover fashion with a chest zip. The trick to keep weight down was to size down, this is a S size (when I normally use a M) that fits tight so it layers very well as long as it can go comfortably over the base layer, which it does. It kind of feels and works as a thick version of a shirt and it actually weights similarly, just 187 gr.

Simple fleece

Its use as active insulation was heavily conditioned by the very particular environment along the Divide: it was often cool or cold at night but mostly warm during the day so I didn’t need to use the fleece much during the hiking. Typical active use was in the early morning when it was still cold enough, the sun was not up yet and while I was warming up. On the other hand, it was common that wearing it was the first thing I did when I stopped for the day. Bottom line, I used it as stationary insulation more than active.

I would still take it again. I’m a firm believer in the theory.

Stationary insulation

Nunatak Skaha down pullover

This is another specialty item, a baffled, lightweight down pullover. It is debatable whether a baffled construction has a better warmth/weight ratio for light insulation loads than the simpler sewn-through option and I tend to think the latter being cheaper is the main reason why it’s more popular. This pullover is only 9 oz/270 gr and it doesn’t give you the Michelin Puppet look.

Baffled down

This item is several years old and it’s never been washed. I take it in all my main trips where cold temps in camp are expected but use time is limited so the garment still feels quite like new. On the CDT, it was often used in camp, particularly during the first and latter two months on the trail where temps would commonly plummet as soon as the sun went down. I used it for sleeping in many nights with the added value of easing the getting up in the cold mornings as I could benefit from the warmth within.

Shell

ZPacks Ventum

Yet another specialty item: very simple construction, super-lightweight fabric for a final weight of 1.7 oz/50 gr despite being a full zip jacket with a hood, yet no other extras. Hood brim, wrist and waist cuffs are elastic, I’d rather have cord locks at the hood and waist, hook & loop at the wrists but elastic is probably lighter. It’s very light denier nylon, heavily calendered to provide wind resistance. It was a new item that I got shortly before the trip and it was open to scrutiny how it’d fare in the two key aspects of concern: wind blocking vs. breathability and durability.

Very windy and cold in the Colorado highlands

It turned out one of my favorite pieces of gear in the trip. I love wind jackets, they’re a key element in the Strict Layering paradigm. This particular one performed very well. It’s in the more wind-blocking/less breathable side of performance which is my preferred spot, I often dislike feeling the wind chill through the more breathable shells when it really blows. The durability was excellent for such a light garment, it still is in great condition despite the heavy use I made throughout the trip, the Divide is a windy place! The only damage was a small rip after it got caught in a branch on an off-trail bit, partly my fault for not being more careful. The rip didn’t propagate.

You can live with a minor rip

I used the wind jacket a lot, mostly in its main role as a wind block, also as extra insulation which was ideal while on the move, often all I needed on top of the base layer. I also used it heavily as bug protection during the worst of the season. In this use, I would bake inside but sometimes this was better than being bitten all over the place. It was still more comfortable than I’d have expected so I take moisture management wasn’t that bad after all.

No wind, just bugs

The jacket has an extra long torso but wears fine around the waist thanks to the elastic. I wonder whether the extra length was actually needed but given the super light weight I won’t complain.

Legs

A do-it-all

No layering for the legs. I looked for a rugged pair of trousers that would take the beating and go the distance. I also looked for some kind of bi-component fabric with little to no stretch. I would need safety pockets and I wanted convertibles. The only item that met all the conditions was to be found in Decathlon.

Rugged, thru-hiking worthy convertibles

The bi-component fabric is nice against the skin, reasonably so even when wet. The no-stretch is probably a very personal thing but I dislike fabric clinging onto my legs and the lack of stretch makes for a looser wear that helps with the heat, which is a potential issue when the fabric is relatively thick.

The trousers were worn all the time except for sleeping. They worked as expected and they became another one of my favorite pieces of gear. They were of course bug proof. It was easy to lower/raise the lower leg section on the go while using them in full length version according to temperatures or to protect the lower legs when the mosquitos were bad enough.

I had a bad rip when negotiating a huge blown-down tangle. It didn’t propagate further and I didn’t even fix it. I took it as added character.

You can live with two rips

There were two weak points that gave me trouble, bad design that could have been easily avoided. One was the pockets: they were made of mesh. The fabric itself looked robust enough but it apparently didn’t hold seams well enough. One of them started failing along the seams due to fabric wear, eventually making the pocket unusable.

Pocket with too many holes

I see no benefit or reason to use mesh for the pockets. A tougher, solid fabric would have fared better.

The other issue was a very obvious design failure that I was aware of: the lower legs had side zips to ease taking them off / putting them on without undoing the shoes. Maybe worthy if you’re using boots but low cut shoes are actually easier to take off than it is opening/closing the damn side zips, which also add a bit of unnecessary weight. The key problem with these zips is they’re very exposed to dirt and stress and it’s a matter of time they fail. One of them did even though I was not using it! I had to cancel that zip and hope for the best.

Damaged zip

Contrary to expectations, I used the trousers as shorts very little. It was warm at times but not as much as I had expected and most of the times I was comfortable with just raising the lower legs to below the knees. The elastic + lock at the cuff provided an easy adjustment on the go.

I could have used non-convertibles and I’d have probably been fine. I would still take convertibles again as long as I can find a model I like, a potential problem as the offer is not as wide as with normal trousers. I think I’d appreciate having the shorts option.

Waterproofs

A mess

I see rain gear as the most difficult role to fill and the most common use case where theory that appears great on paper can quickly go down the drain following the rain water.

This is what happened to me on the CDT. I started with a very minimal set of jacket and trousers. As soon as I could, I had a different top from my wardrobe sent over the mail, a pullover-style cape that covers down to knee height, and I was much happier. The cape would make the rain pants mostly redundant but once free from the tyranny of spreadsheets I decided to keep them. This was the final dream team:

Waterproofs

The cape is a very basic model from Decathlon and it became my third clothing item from that brand on this occasion. While price is often a main reason for Decathlon gear, I wouldn’t compromise on dough for such an important trip and I was actually carrying those items because they were the best I could find for the job.

To be fair, I must mention I could have requested from home a tighter fitting, better engineered and bit lighter cagoule that I’ve used successfully in the past but I preferred to risk the cheap stuff on the mail. Actually, the whole truth is that I also wanted to use this cape.

Rain cape

It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing of garments but it worked well. I particularly like the feeling of protection upon wearing it and how it puts the drip line below the knees, where it doesn’t hurt that much. Beware this model is rather short for a cape, more like a very long jacket, and I find this a sweet spot between cover and comfy wear. Long capes I find too cumbersome in anything but a very good trail and certainly not best for general purpose.

The idea is good, the actual garment maybe not that much. It is a cape designed to wear over a day pack with no room for a big one so I had to wear it under the pack. This is actually how I’d prefer it but then the cape could have been a bit narrower without losing function. The actual waterproofing (impregnation on the inner side, most likely PU) could have been more Hi-Tec even though it worked reasonably well as it was. Breathability wasn’t great but ventilation would probably compensate enough for a decent performance in that regard.

This cape is 300 gr. I’d like to see a thru-hiking-specific model with better design and fabrics but I doubt it’d be significantly lighter.

After I got the cape, I never wore the rain pants in the rain. It still gave me peace of mind to know they were there and I still used them at night inside the sleeping bag in the coldest nights with surprisingly good results. At 84 gr, they’re easy to carry. They are a backpacking-specific item from As Tucas in Spain.

Sleeping

Betraying the paradigm

The goal here is keeping my dirty skin off the sleeping bag lining and doing it for minimal weight. Big emphasis on the weight because these items will always be carried and here comes yet another compromise: a one-piece, liner bag would be almost half the weight of a two-piece set but you cannot wear the former for anything else but sleeping or the occasional sack race. Between Strict Layering or Multi-function, I commonly choose the latter in this use case and so did for the CDT.

Brands/models shouldn’t matter much as far as performance requirements go, I’d only value low weight. Tights are North Face polypropylene and weight 87 gr/3 oz, shirt is Patagonia Capilene at 90 gr/3 oz.

Pyjamas

Other than sleeping, I commonly used this pieces as laundry-time wear. Depending on location, the laundry logistics could be tricky and it was nice to have some viable clothes for the meantime.

At the time of sleeping, the tights were always used. The shirt, on the contrary, never was. I’d have worn it at night if I ever needed to sleep with minimal clothing, can you believe it never happened in 5 months? A combination of consistently cold night weather, a fringe sleeping bag and everyday exhaustion meant I always wore at least the fleece. In such context, I would happily spare the before & after shirt change.

The obvious question is could I have spared the second shirt entirely? In theory, yes. In practice, it feels hardcore to leave home for 5 months with just the one shirt you’re wearing. I’m not that hardcore, I’d take it again.

The CDT may be rough, remote and very long but in the end it’s about just walking and pretty much anything works if you make it work. You can theorize endlessly about clothing and it won’t hide the fact that there’ll be hikers in thrift store shorts, hawaiian shirts or straw hats. Hopefully they won’t write 2k+ words about it.