Layering for the Backcountry Hunter

Starting in with the clothing, there are five categories; underwear and socks, base layers, outerwear, insulation, and shells. As far as socks and underwear are concerned, as I said a couple days ago, the use of merino wool is crucial as it manages moisture in both liquid and gas states well and insulates when wet. Merino wool, which is as soft as cotton, lasts ages, and doesn’t hold odors like synthetics do. I use it for base layers and outerwear as often as possible.

I wear lightweight base layers starting in late August or early September, when the mornings are cool and the days hot, then transition to heavier weight garments as the fall progresses. When the weather gets really cold, I will even layer my base layers to provide the necessary insulation. The pieces that I have had the best success with are Ice Breaker 150 for early season, 260 for the cold late season hunts, and double layer them with 150 then 260 weight to fight off extreme cold

While I still have a closet full of Cabela’s outfitter camo, which are cost effective synthetic outerwear and last eons, the clothes are cut like regular old camos and don’t move as well as backcountry or mountaineering attire. There are some new entrants into the field that address this concern and do it with good camo patterns, Kuiu is making some cool patterns with the right fit and finish that are reasonably priced. Kuiu is the second evolution from the guy that brought you Sitka gear, which sold to Gore. Kuiu offers a good understanding of the way that gear needs to function, sells directly to the consumer, and with its small flexible platform can adjust to the needs of the consumer really quickly. Sitka, on the other hand, is now owned by a huge player in the industry and has some incredible resources to work with, either route offers good gear from what I have seen, and both deserve some attention.

Then comes insulation- an element that varies from season to season, and with specific conditions. These garments are anything from a light merino sweater, like those offered from Firstlite or Ice Breaker, to down sweaters from Western Mountaineering, to synthetic filled jackets from Kuiu or Mountain Hardwear. For wet conditions, synthetic fills or wool is the safest bet. While they may not dry out in the field and tend to weight a little more, they still keep the wearer warm, down on the other hand withers to nothing when wet - offering nothing for warmth until it is dried and the down has regained its loft. In the southwest, I have always carried a Western Mountaineering’s Flash or Flash XR. The XR is made with a DWR (durable water repellant) finished fabric that does a good job of keeping light rain at bay, the regular flash on the other hand is uber light, around 9 ounces. The regular flash, compresses a little better, and works well in weather from a cool autumn morning into the low teens for sufficient warmth when I’m glassing- in fact I think it is a little warmer. The key to selecting a good insulation layer is by making it appropriate for the specific situation at hand, I find down to be very dynamic, working well over a broad range of conditions, so I tend to bring my flash jacket even in the early season to fend off the early morning chill.

Shells are the pieces that do the actual weather resistance, and they are undergoing a revolution right now. While I have worn shells from The North Face, Mountain Hardware, and even Gore prototypes, they have all been a little loud, and fit a little weird, no more though. The technology has finally begun to reach the market that allows garments to be waterproof and stretch, so the new generation of shells moves like a soft-shell while protecting like a hard shell. There are still some tradeoffs between the stretch and conventional hard-shell versions, but the mere presence of an alternative is pretty exciting. The primary function most people see for these pieces is rain and snow protection, but they are useful under a broad range of circumstances. The breathability of the membranes on the market now allow the wearer to use them as stand alone pieces topping of their outerwear. When zipped up all the way-including the pit zips-the membrane is allowed to work and excess heat and water vapor are forced out of the shell, this is particularly useful when hiking in to a glassing point. They offer just the right amount of warmth, without letting the wearer overheat. When the glassing point is reached, simply add the down jacket or merino sweater for sustained warmth in the lower activity glassing. A good shell fends off wind and rain, moves well with the wearer and is slim enough to allow easy movement, including shooting.

I also include gators in the shell category, which go over the pants and boot tops and manage to protect the lower leg from brush, prevent the movement of morning dew, rain, or snow from entering the pant legs and being wicked into the boots. While there are several options out there, I find myself always using and recommending Outdoor Research (OR) Crocodiles or Expedition Crocodiles- both with Gore-Tex, my current pair looks pretty ragged after over four years of use, but they offer up no reason for replacement- that’s why they stay out of storage and get used everywhere from late season archery backpack hunts, running hounds in the snow, to clearing up the driveway after an over night flurry. For early season training and scouting, trail gators are great, they pair well with trail runners and keep rocks and burrs out of the shoe and socks and keep the laces under control.

Up next, we will cover tents and bivvys for backcountry hunting. There are more options than most would think, so I will address the pros and cons of each option, and some of the pieces that I have come to appreciate over the years.

Shelter for the Backcountry Hunter, Intro

The shelter category includes sleeping shelters, sleeping bags, pads, ground cloths or tarps, clothing, hats, and underwear- if it adds an element of protection from the outside world, it falls into this category. Circumstances dictate some gear be exchanged for others, as an early season high country deer hunt and a late season elk hunt generally pose dramatically different weather conditions. That said though, the basic set up is the same, and only a few pieces need to be exchanged.

I will be starting with the clothing aspect, and the proper selection of layers that will work under all conditions. Before I dive into the layering pieces though, I want to address materials so the layering plan I set forth is understandable.

The fibers used in clothing are cotton, various synthetics, and wool – each serves a purpose, and some do specific tasks better than others. Cotton is a natural fiber that excels in handling moisture in its vapor form, allowing it to easily pass through.. Cotton postpones perspiration well, but once the sweat starts, it doesn’t effectively expunge the moisture. Synthetics on the other hand don’t handle vapor well, the petroleum-based fibers have very limited ability to absorb the water vapor the body releases constantly, so the body tends to run a little warmer and perspire sooner. Once the sweat begins though, the synthetics acts as a conduit, helping to rapidly move moisture out and regulate temperature. What this means, is that cotton works well in less athletic environs, and synthetics don’t begin to function until they are confronted with intense, sweaty effort. Unfortunately, these two materials both harbor the bacteria that thrive in our salt and fat rich perspiration, the same bacteria that results in body odor.

Wool is different. Wool works as well as cotton at handling water vapor, helping to stave off perspiration longer than synthetics can. When sweat does start though, wool absorbs it, wicking it away from the body, much like synthetics. It functions as a conduit, moving moisture from the next to skin layers, and pushing it to the outer layers where it can then evaporate. Essentially, wool is the mid ground between cotton and synthetics allowing the same piece to function well in both hot and cold weather, not one or the other.

What scares most is that the wool many of us grew up with was itchy and uncomfortable. The wool from those days was a thick fiber, no different than our own hair or skin, with small characteristic scales found on keratin. Merino wool addresses this in two ways. First, Merino wool is a very fine fiber, making it more comfortable right out of the box. Second, companies like Ice Breaker, perform a super wash on the wool, stripping the small scales off the fiber making it surprisingly smooth while retaining its desirable characteristics. As a bonus, wools, merino in particular, shed the bacteria that result in body odor.

But it gets better, refined Merino wools is structurally stabile, making it machine washable. These pieces are exceptionally easy to care for as well; they need little detergent in the washer and then need only to be hung to dry – which happens surprisingly fast. I have a friend that put 30 days in the Grand Canyon in an Ice Breaker top, then he simply rinsed out the salt stains in the sink before wearing it to school. I also recently heard about a through hiker that had gone weeks without a shower, but wore Ice Breakers garments and offered almost no “fresh out of the woods” scent. This means that a Merino wool user needs to take relatively few pieces into the field (and still not stink) a significant weight savings, plus it keeps everyone on good terms in camp as the days add up.

The next post will deal with the actual clothing elements and how to layer them for maximum effect. But I felt it important to understand the back-story that justifies some of the pieces I recommend, and where they fit into the layering scheme. Tomorrow, the blog will address the layers, and links to some of the manufacturers that produce them. As always, if you have questions, please contact me here, or at Babbitt’s Backcountry – I’m glad to answer questions and help point you in the direction of specific pieces.

Water Treatment for Backcountry Hunting

The life support category isn’t complete without addressing the water situation. For some, drinking water is an all day everyday thing, then there are guys like me. I rarely drink anything unless I make a conscientious effort to do so. For me, having things that are appetizing to drink helps me to stay hydrated. But where does the water come from? There are several schools of thought, some ultra-lighters, even some Special Forces guys use bleach or other chemical treatments, others iodine, and still more use filters. If you elect to go with drops, alum – it’s in the bakery isle – helps to settle sediment if you take along a folding bucket (sea to summit makes several good, light options). This trick is also important for those using Steripens, as the sediment can hinder the effectiveness of the UV light to neutralize the unwanted goodies found in the water. Just pay close attention to the method you will be using, read up on how to use it and maintain it.

With that said, there are several options beyond drops and iodine tablets that make water safe to drink. Katadyn and MSR make great filters for backcountry use, but my favorite at this time is MSR’s hyperflow, weighing at just over 7 ounces, it is the lightest unit to ever hit the market, and it flows more water than any other backcountry pump I have been able to find. The reason I prefer filters to drops, tablets, or UV units is time – I know when the water comes out of the unit it is ok to drink, Steripens are the next step, and work very quickly but only neutralize a limited amount of water per treatment, which is actually really quick. I am not going to list a time frame for the use of bleach, because everything I have read about it shows different times and I do get nervous about water treatment. I know a good number of people using it to treat really bad third world water, but personally have no interest. The last two options are Aquamira and iodine, Aqua Mira seems to work faster and have less residual taste. This option works well and is simple to use, it is popular enough now that some stores still regularly sell out of it, so planning ahead is a good idea. Iodine can be found almost any-where, and has a good track record of slowly making water safe to drink and adding a nice greenish yellow color to boot. This option makes a lot of first timers squeamish, as one cannot tell if the water retrieved were green or not, and it has a little after taste that some cannot stand. The only real draw back I find with iodine is that it takes a long time to make water drinkable, a slow torture when all you need is one little sip to un-bond your tongue from the roof of your mouth. Three seasons ago I dropped a part from my old reliable ceramic filter, if I hadn’t brought the lightweight back up offered by Aqua Mira or Iodine, the trip may have been a real wreck.

It doesn’t matter how the water gets treated, so long as it does. The effects that result from Giardiasis or Cryptosporidium can stick with the poor bastard that drank unfiltered water for a long time, and there is nothing desirable about them.

Once the water is drinkable, I tend to add some things to it to keep me entertained. The wilderness athlete supplements mentioned under the Nutrition for Backcountry Hunting category from yesterday see the majority of work in the daytime, with green tea in the mornings and evenings. The warm beverages help to start the days off right and are a nice wind down at the end of the day. I try to avoid coffee, being a diuretic and appetite suppressant doesn’t go well with the caloric requirements addressed previously. If you have to drink it, try Starbucks Via if you take it black or VinaCafe if you add cream or sugar, both are convenient and good.

Life Support, Nutrition for Backcountry Hunting

Life Support

When life support comes up ambulances and hospitals always come to mind, but I like to look at these things as preventative measures rather than consequences. This category of gear is the stuff that not only keeps us alive in the backcountry, but the stuff that allows us to thrive. Within there are three categories, food, water and shelter. Of course, for legal reasons, these are guidelines, it’s your job to further investigate, and if you choose to hunt like a wild man you do so at your own risk – be it of adventure or peril.

Nutrition for Backcountry Hunting

Food, one would think, is pretty self explanatory, but there are a lot of pieces to the equation. If they are put together right, a hunter can go hard for an extended period with minimum weight loss and maximum efficiency, and it doesn’t have to taste bad either. Within this category I break my food into the following sub-categories: meals, trail snacks, and supplements.

Meals, for me, are generally breakfast and dinner, then I graze throughout the day on my trail snacks to keep hunger at bay and keep the influx of calories up for energy. Early on, heavy foods should be eaten first, both for weight savings and they help the transition into prepared foods from a regular urbanized diet. I am a big fan of meats like salami that don’t always require refrigeration- read the packets closely, and make sure they don’t need to be kept cold. These go oddly well with a blue berry bagel, as they both are packed with the crucial resource the body needs- calories. I am not a big breakfast eater, and prefer something light to start out on, so I will generally start with a granola bar for some quick calories then get going to where I want to hunt. When I set up and my heart rate starts to fall, I will bask in the goodness of the salamied bagel while I glass.

Another good alternate for a breakfast is grits or oatmeal, the grits don’t work as fast on the digestive track as oatmeal, and are a little easier to swallow when I’m a little dehydrated. Throw in some single serve fast food syrup for some flavor and a calorie boost.

For dinner, I pretty much always eat Mountain House, the food is consistently good- I had a friend try their stuff before coming on a hunt and he liked their beef stroganoff so much he ate everything he purchased for a backpack trip at home, forcing a second trip to the shop before coming out. I always recommend trying them out to get a feel for the preparation and taste so there are no surprises in the field.

Throughout the day, I am grazing on high calorie foods, I normally find myself with a package of peanut M&Ms or trail mix, two cliff bars or Wilderness Athlete bars and a couple Wilderness Athlete gels to keep the energy level up and support good body function. I look at them each for different purposes. The candy or trail mix I eat one or two pieces at a time, like a slow calorie drip. The bars are something to chew on in the slower points of the day, and the gels provide a quick energy source when major fatigue is looming ahead.

Supplements are relatively new to this kind of travel, but in my own experience they make all the difference. I have been exclusively using wilderness athlete supplements for almost three years now and they always have a place in my pack. I like to mix their Hydrate and Recover with Energy and Focus to make what they call a superman. The energy and focus is a good addition for a morning jumpstart, and helps keep the head on straight when the days start to grind on. Hydrate and Recover plays a more important role in day-to-day body function- when the body becomes dehydrated its ability to recuperate slows dramatically. When I feel my calves or quads trying to spasm or tighten up, I drink the hydrate and recover and feel the problem abate quickly. I have had my legs try to spasm on a stalk, and trying not to move when you desperately need to walk off a charlie horse just plane sucks. They also offer altitude advantage, which helps the body deal with acclimatization to elevation.

The body performs very differently in the backcountry only limited respite is available from the elements. High protein foods take more to process and slightly increase body temperature – a good thing to consume before bed or when the cold sets in. The activity undertaken in the backcountry means the body burns more calories, requiring increased consumption. In addition, the body needs to repair itself, and quality food hastens the process. A good rule of thumb for a backcountry hunter is to aim for 4500-5000 calories per day to maintain body condition. It may appear easy, but the amount of food required can be daunting, and when it’s all done I find myself in line at Jack in the Box with an overwhelming need for any combination of bacon and cheese I can get my hands on.