Drying clothes and gear in camp

For water to evaporate, it needs energy in the form of warmth and air that carries the resulting water vapour away. If the air is still and already very humid, it can hardly take up any more vapour – then nothing dries. Wind constantly replaces the moist air right at the fabric with drier air, and sun supplies warmth. That is why a shirt dries quickly on a windy, sunny day but hardly at all on a foggy, still evening.

Most of the work is mechanical: every drop you squeeze out no longer has to evaporate later. Wringing hard, or rolling the item in a towel and kneeling on it, saves a great deal of drying time. Clothing hangs loose and spread out, not folded, so that air reaches as much surface as possible. Socks are turned inside out and pockets pulled out.

Wet clothing is so cold because water conducts heat much better than air and because evaporation draws extra heat from the body. The air pockets between the fibres that normally insulate are filled with water. Wool and many synthetics still keep you somewhat warm when damp, whereas cotton hardly does – which is why it is often not recommended for wet, cold trips.

The most important rule is the dry sleeping set: underwear, socks and a hat, packed in a waterproof bag and worn only in the sleeping bag. No matter how wet the day was, this set stays untouched. If you wear it during the day, you have nothing dry left in the evening. It is your insurance for a warm night.

Use every chance: during breaks in dry weather, damp things go on the outside of the pack or over a bush. A line in the wind but under the tarp dries things a little even in light rain. You can dry slightly damp socks or gloves overnight in a thin bag inside your jacket or sleeping bag with body heat – but not dripping-wet items, or the sleeping bag gets damp and keeps you less warm.

Boots need patience. Take out the insoles, open the laces wide and stuff the boots with dry paper or cloth that you change regularly. Place them at a distance from the fire, never in the embers. In very humid climates some things do not dry for days – then it is more important to avoid getting wet than to remove the wetness later.

Stoves, barbecues and heaters that burn gas, petrol, wood or charcoal have no place in a tent – not even “just briefly” for drying. They can produce carbon monoxide, a gas you can neither see nor smell and which is dangerous even in small amounts. Tent fabrics also burn quickly. Anyone who notices headache, dizziness or nausea near such devices goes into the fresh air at once and, if in doubt, calls the local emergency number (112 in the EU).

By the fire: keep a distance and stay with it. Synthetics can melt if they hang too close to the heat, and sparks burn holes in them. Leather becomes hard and cracked with too much heat, and boot soles can come unglued. A drying rack of two poles with a cross bar stands at a safe distance beside the fire, not in the direction the sparks fly.

Hypothermia often starts quietly with feeling cold and shivering; later come clumsiness, slurred speech or confusion. Take these signs seriously in yourself and others: get out of wind and wet, put on dry clothes, wrap up warmly. If someone seems confused or stops shivering although they are cold, that is an emergency – call the local emergency number (112 in the EU).

Try the system on a short trip or even in the garden: pack a dry sleeping set in a waterproof bag, string a line under a tarp and watch how quickly wrung-out socks dry in different weather. That gives you a feeling for what is realistic.

Get into fixed routines: arrive, take off wet things at once, put on dry ones, wring out the wet things and hang them up. Do not leave them crumpled in the pack – nothing dries there, and it starts to smell. Never string the line across a path, or someone will walk into it in the dark.