Choosing a Hiking Jacket
When you go hiking, you need good outerwear. These can be different for everyone, but they should all have a few key elements. These elements are essential for your hiking trip.
There are different types of jackets that you can choose from. You wouldn’t want to wear a desert hiking jacket in the mountains, you would want a mountain hiking jacket that would keep you warmer. There are different styles for different situations.
This article will give you some ideas on how to choose the right hiking jacket. It will give you some ideas of what to look for. You could do research to find more information.
Things to Look For
When you are dressing for this activity, you need to do so with a system of 3 layers, that is also called layering. The first layer is a base layer that is breathable that is next to your skin and moves the moisture away from your skin. The insulated mid-layer is next and should be a garment that is worn over the first layer if it is cold. A protective outer layer is the last layer and should be able to protect you in weather such as rain, wind, or snow.
How Much Protection Do You Need?
If you are doing this activity in hot, dry weather, you will still want to bring outerwear – even if it stays in your pack most of the time. The perfect jacket for this would be a lightweight, water-repellant, compressible jacket. These are affordable and would make a great first purchase for your hiking experiences.
If you are hiking if there is a chance of rain, snow, or wind, you might want a coat that is water-repellant with a covering that is softshell. This can help you if you are out for about an hour or two in light rain. If you are going to be longer than that or if the weather gets worse, you will need a windproof and waterproof coat that has a Gore-Tex type membrane: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/goretex.html. This will help to protect you from the weather.
If you are going to do this activity in extreme conditions, you will want a coat that has heavy duty protection against the wind and water. You will want to choose one that is waterproof and has a Gore-Tex type membrane. You also want waterproof zippers and seams to protect you even more.
Prioritize Breathability
This is an active sport and because of this you want your base layer to be able to wick away your sweat. You want it to be breathable so that it can allow sweat to escape from inside the outerwear. See here for more information. It doesn’t matter how protective the outerwear is, this is very important for all levels of protection.
Water repellant outerwear that are the softshell type and that don’t have a membrane are the best for breathability. These are best for hiking and other active sports such as mountaineering. If the outerwear has a waterproof membrane, it is not very good for breathability.
Cold Weather Protection
Your lightweight jacket can provide some protection from the cold weather, but you get most of your protection from the middle layer of clothing. This middle layer can be a flannel shirt, long-sleeve synthetic t-shirt, fleece jacket, or light down jacket. This type of layer will help to warm you up.
Choosing the Right Features
Your hiking jacket can come with many features that you can choose from. One of these features is a hood. This essential feature should be waterproof and should have one or more elastic adjustments.
Pockets are another feature that your jacket should have. You should be able to close your pockets and be able to store some things in them. The outside pockets should have waterproof zippers or flaps to make sure the water stays out.
You should have adjustable closures on your hiking jacket. You want to be able to tighten it at the hips and around the arms. These can be Velcro closures so that they can be adjustable.
You want some of the areas to be more reinforced than others. The shoulder area is one that needs to be more reinforced, especially if you will be carrying a backpack. This way these areas don’t deteriorate as quickly.
Color Choice
This is another important feature that you might not have thought about. You don’t want to choose a jacket just because it has a pleasing color. If you want to be able to be seen by rescuers, you want to choose a bright color. If you want to blend in so that you don’t disturb the wildlife around you, choose a color that will help to camouflage you.
Conclusion
It is important that you choose the right jacket for your hiking excursions. You want one that will keep you warm and dry in all conditions. You also want one that will last for awhile and do the job that it was meant to do.
