Clothing (No, seriously, that's the topic, really.) Clothing

[Viper28001]

Ok, like a half a million other readers, as soon as I started reading I started comparing my bag to Morgan's bag. Somewhere along the way I remembered I hadn't adjusted my clothing in my bag for the season. I usually rotate out the clothes in my bag at least twice a year. It would really suck to have to use my BOB in July when I hadn't take out the cold-weather stuff from January.

That got me thinking about minimums, types, etc.
So, what are the general thoughts on clothing (for the normal person, not you preppers with merchandise discounts from suppliers and incomes over $150K a year) lol.
Yes, we'd all love to have a full complement of REI clothing for every occasion, but you'd easily drop $1,000 on that alone so let's be realistic for the normal John Doe Public making 40K a year with three kids that probably has to be the one to make up his bag, his wife's bag, and all his kid's bags too.

Here's my thoughts: please feel free to adjust/correct/educate me if I miss something

Socks: 3 pair wool, one one normal pair of cotton. Chances are I'm wearing cotton socks anyway on any given day so I'll have one pair on. That gives me 4 other pair total. The wool would be lifesavers in the event of lots of water, rain, moisture, etc.

Shoes: Most of us are stuck with what's on our feet at the time. I try to buy high-qualigy hiking boots for work anyway, so I'd either be in tennis shoes or my Ariats. I think carrying shoes is overkill... thoughts?

Pants/Shirts: I lumped these together on purpose because of my own bag. I had the original consideration of durability and somewhat camouflaged if needed. ACU uniforms are overall pretty durable, have plenty of pockets, hold up well, resist water decently (as opposed to blue jeans) and are a great barrier against briars, small cuts, etc. So great.. two sets of ACUs with thermal undershirts. Then I had the thought recently: Wait... you want to be the only guy walking down the road in Army ACU? So much for blending in dummy.

Morgan made a concentrated effort to remain Average looking during his journey. Blend in and don't draw attention to yourself. Ok, that actually makes a LOT of sense. So now I'm re-evaluating. I'll still probable keep one uniform because of the previous factors I mentioned, but for normal treks through the world, in the event I needed to be walking and living out of my pack, what's a good consideration towards normalcy that also would hold up and be quick-drying?

2 T-shirts. Cotton? Underarmour?
2 Long Sleeve Shirts. Same question.
1 pr blue jeans? or Tactical pants?..something quick-dry but durable? Thoughts?
1 Pair athletic shorts (so you're not sitting around naked while your other stuff dries, or so you have something to wade a creek in without doing it naked)??

Mosquito Net/Flymask/whatever you wanna call it?
It'd be more for sleeping in the woods, but I hadn't thought of that addition to my pack before reading the books because it's kind of clothing, but kind of filed under sleeping bag/hammock stuff. Having a face full of gnats and spiders isn't fun when you wake up in the morning. What are people using for that need?

Hat: I'm usually wearing a hat anyway, but I pack a boonie hat because.. well, just because it's comfortable, but you need something to keep the sun off your face. We all like a tan but a protracted march across long miles in the summer is a whole new level of sunburn day after grueling day.

Good gloves: Totally forgot that. Warmth is a reason, but so is briars, blisters, etc. I always have about three good pair in my truck, so I'd have access to them, but don't have any IN my pack. (going to put gloves in my pack right now before I forget.. again.) Any super important reason to have one kind of gloves over another? I like the Mechanix work gloves you get at lowes. They hold up to hunting, work, hiking, fourwheeling, so I figure they'd be good to go, but I'm open to suggestions.

Poncho: What idiot forgets to pack a rain coat? *looks innocently at the floor*
Old army poncho to the rescue. No. I don't pack a woobie just because I already carry a full ACS sleep sleep system and I'm not sure that much more weight is worth it. Am I wrong there?

Ok.. what did I miss?

[Sacajawea]

Well, given the heat & humidity around here this week - I'm going to suggest those cooling neck wraps. Just dip in water.

[Viper28001]

Enduro-Cool.. yeah those things rock! (Got on myself)

[Zef_66]

Knit hat for winter. Winter gloves. Balaclava for cold weather.

Several pairs of underwear.

[unseenone]

Enduro-Cool.. yeah those things rock! (Got on myself)

All of the above, with Crye Precision Multicam, black and standard load of all the other crap I want but don't want to carry. Military Gen 4 under garments.

On the Enduro-Cool, they also make a head cap, as well as the towels. I got them for Son In Law who has a landscaping business in Florida, as well as the towels, he says they are awesome.

We keep them in Vehicles, and also in first aid kits.. good stuff..

Just repack for the season, or generically pack for an assortment... EDC car bag has shorts, etc. Damn you AA

[W.Lynn]

I do have a knit watch cap that is warm, but it's not in a bag. If it's cold weather, I'm already wearing it. Recently though, I bought a boonie hat at a gun show that has a bug net for the head, pretty nice. It has a zippered compartment on the crown to store the net in so it doesn't get torn up.

[Concerned Dad]

Be aware that cotton absorbs water so you may want to rethink jeans. They get heavy and they chaff. I have some Carhart cargo pants that I treated with the bug repellant as in AA's story. And in a SHTF scenario, at least around here, army surplus is going to be commonplace I think.

[kscmac]

Here in Florida in the summer, just about anything above a bathing suit is too much! When the temp is 98 to 100F and the humidity is around 92% to 99%- you don't move too much or fast durring the daytime. Even at night the temp drops to only 85 to 88F. Anyone that has not lived through a Florida summer is in for a rude awakeing! Clothing is heat wicking stuff that wont rub you raw. Mosquito netting is required if you dont want to be carried off or drained dry!

[Liv2dive2]

Viper28001, a few observations.

First you stated you want to look average, that's fine but remember you would be walking with a ruck on...about 3-5 days after things go to garbage there will be two different groups of people, the haves and have nots... the ruck on you back will put you in the second category.

If your plan is to walk down the major roads to get home you have to decide what is more important to you, looking average or being actually camouflaged. I would argue that first walking down a road is not a great idea, as roads are for ambushes. If you are going to walk down a road you should at least choose secondary roads out side of major population centers and walk after dark only preferably after 2200 and be bed down by 0400 ish. Making great easy time sounds good, but if you get killed between the place you are and your destination the ease of the walk to where you get killed isn't worth much.

Now lets talk about the clothes you chose...ACU's are garbage, they don't blend in with anything other than your couch, they are reasonably durable, but if you are in the woods they actually draw your eye to them, a much better and frankly cheaper option would be surplus woodland BDUs, they work much better in terms of camoflauge, especially in the woods, and can be had very inexpensively, often times if you look carefully you can find reasonably good sets for 15 bucks at flea markets...I actually found a little place not far from my location where I got BDU blouses for 3 bucks each. BDUs area also much more durable and don't have many of the features that suck in ACUs...ACU cargo pockets don't have buttons they have Velcro...if you're actually in the field that Velcro craps out very quickly and you will loose thing in your pockets.

In terms of shoes/socks/boots...if you are trecking hard off road or even on road tennis shoes won't last long when they start getting wet often...if you're shoes wear out you are unlikely to make it home. In my ruck I carry a spare pair of boots, and 3 pairs of socks, that way if I'm in a t-shirt a flip flops I still have footwear that will get me home. You can buy high dollar hiking boots if you'd like but a better option is simply a good pair of surplus military issue boots. Bellville 300's would be my choice for non water proof boots, for socks wool are ok, but if they get wet they take for ever to dry and they're not great IMO at preventing blisters...I've been through some of the Armys most demanding training, I've personally covered over 200 miles in Bellville 300 (standard issue boots) do yourself a favor and replace the stock insoles with Superfeet Green insoles...they're a little pricy (30 bucks) but work their weight in gold. For socks I swear by fox river blister guard heavy boot socks...they have a special toe/heal blend that prevents blisters. The pair of boots in my ruck I've thoroughly broken in...you don't want to bet your life on new boots...you'll get blisters and that will at best slow you down if not stop you entirely.

For cold weather I'd add components of the ecwcs system...the level 3 fleece is a great piece of kit that is warm and light at the very least I'd carry one of those, the waffle grid fleeces top and bottoms (level 2) are great too if you have the room and and can carry the extra weight. I would not have a knit cap, instead I carry a polar fleece cap just like they used to issue us (black instead of the newer foliage, I don't care for the color but they still work well) they're cheep (6 bucks), light and very warm, they're lighter than knit, don't take near a long to dry when wet (and they will get wet if you start moving hard with one one)

A poncho is a great piece of gear, again don't go with ACU pattern, just sticks out like a sore thumb in the woods...and if things actually fall apart you're going to want to bed down in the woods, well off the road. You really want to find a very thick patch that people won't want to get into if you're traveling alone...a mil surp poncho can be used as a tent very easily and the woodland BDU ones blend in well.

Just my .02

[angeryamerican]

For socks I've found a new brand I really like, Seal Skinz. And the best part is, they're waterproof! The inner is a merino wool blend and are very comfortable. They breath well also. The company also makes gloves, watch caps and a number of other products. Unlike what Viper was talking about, they are a little spendy. You're going to pay north of $40 for a pair of socks. But they really are a great product. I learned a lesson in Vancouver about dry feet. I wore very good wool socks and they never dried out. These would have been a God send.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G7VZXI/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000G7VZXI&linkCode=as2&tag=angerameri-20&linkId=TLYSMAHNNJZ6ZA5Y

[gcokimberman]

i keep 1 set of woodland BDU's in my army bed roll along with wool socks.thay stay in my bed roll all year long.i change my other clothes in my bob according to the season.they are usually light earth colors including my socks.