Base layers are very important, they keep you warm when it’s cold and also attempt to wick the sweat away from your skin when you are working hard and believe me, you will sweat even on cold damp days!

Synthetic base layers are a must, you should not wear cotton as it will soak up the sweat and stay wet all day making you damp and cold, cotton may be comfortable in normal every day life but it has no place in the D of E kit list.

There are two main types of base layer that are regularly used in the hills, one is bamboo the other is merino wool, both are known for their excellent qualities in moving sweat away from the skin and also their resistance to smelly sweat, you can wear the same base layer for several days and it still smells o.k. the same cannot be said for cotton. The downside of these base layers is that they can be quite expensive, the cheaper alternative is to use a synthetic sports top as these contain some of the qualities of the more technical base layers.

I would normally recommend that two should be enough, one for wearing during the day, one to change into in the evening to have something fresh to wear and be more comfortable, the wet one being worn again the next morning as it will dry out during the day or if not then at least you have a clean dry one to change into again at the end of the 2nd or 3rd day.

I’m not saying that you won’t smell a bit at the end of the expedition, that’s almost inevitable, you are traveling light with little or no opportunity to shower or wash properly, personal hygiene should always be considered on these trips but wearing the same clothes for the few days while on expedition just makes sense as it will lighten the load, remember, you have to carry everything you want while on expedition and carrying five or six base layers just isn’t practical.