Building a sustainable and brilliant clothing system for the UK mountains and wild camping out of natural fibres
To complement my ongoing make your own gear (MYOG) project, where am working on a completely plastic free wild camping setup suitable for UK mountain and moorland areas, I am pulling together a clothing system to suit.
Much like the camping equipment I need to curate a set of clothing that provides protection from all the UK can throw at me. Flexible layering for warmth, breathability and of course waterproofness. The trickiest criteria for natural fabrics to meet, is of course weight. Natural fibres struggle to compete with artificial ones in terms of weight, especially when it comes to waterproofing.
Whilst the wild camping kit list entails making most of my own kit, somewhat fortunately there has been a growing movement towards natural fibre based clothing for the outdoors more broadly. An increasing amount of outdoorsy people, including myself, want to introduce less harmful plastics into their environment. Merino wool base layers are one example of natural fibres in popular use in the modern day with great, even superior performance.
Natural fibres saw Shackleton to the Pole and the likes of Mallory and Irvine at least within spitting distance of the summit of Everest. The Mallory and Irvine case is of particular interest because their clothing, having been reconstructed and tested in the modern day on Everest, proved to be both light and warm (for an account of this experiment click here). However, the high mountain environment is a dry environnment, so it’s not necessarily a complete answer for wet weather. Additionally, this was tailor made kit, made from the best fabrics, with associated costs, so a bit more useful to understand for inspiration than replication.
Another area providing inspiration is bushcraft. Having seen a huge surge in popularity in recent years, bushcrafters value robust, practical and warm clothing but are less concerned with weight than mountaineers. Some popular items for bushcrafting, for good reason, are not really suitable for mountain environments. Windy scrambling does not suit wide brimmed leather hats or ponchos. So this final dimension to the challenge is finding clothes in a cut suitable for active mountain use. i.e. freedom of movement, low bagginess, low friction.
So we have an objective. A flexible, functional and affordable clothing system that can keep pace with modern kit in the British Mountain environment, and preferably with modern looks. (am not aiming to emulate a 1930s mountaineer in style, just take the best practical aspects of the era and combine with modern requirements for cut).
A natural clothing system for cool wet and windy environments
Here is a comparison table to outline the plan. When this is fully assembled testing can begin!
| Clothing Type | Typical Synthetic Materials Approach | Natural Fibre alternative |
| Baselayers. Top + underpants/ long johns | Polyester | Merino wool/ Silk |
| Mid Layer (Insulation) | Polyester Fleece/ Microfleece | Heavier Wool |
| Windshirt (Optional) | Pertex | Lightweight Waxed Cotton/ Gabardine |
| Trousers | Softshell/ Polyester | Wool/ Cotton/ Gabardine (Lightweight waxed for cotton) |
| Waterproof | Goretex | Heavy waxed cotton/ Gabardine |
| Socks | Wool/ Polyamide blend is typical | Pure wool |
| Hat | Fleece | Merino (Light), heavier wool |
| Boots | Synthetic boots with Gore-tex liner | Leather boots + natural rubber soles |
Within each category of garment there are of course different weights and selecting an appropriate weight for the weather forecasted is part of the challenge. As well as supplementing if required (Mallory and Irvine’s Everest system was 9 layers!) e.g. adding an additional thermal layer for colder weather, or packing a stationary insulating layer, e.g. belay jacket, for overnight/ rest stops.
My specific provisional clothing choices will look as follows:
- Underwear/ base layers: 100% Merino, long sleeve with long/johns boxers depending on conditions. Am also interested in pairing a string vest with the merino base layer (yes really) for really cold weather. This is not as outlandish as it might sound. The Norwegians offer a great solution here. See Bynje Vests.
- Insulating layer: Dachstein guide sweater (boiled wool austrian army issue) or Beerenberg pullover (am trialing both. For warmer weather a lighter lambswool sweater will suffice.)
- Windshirt. Am constructing a light waxed cotton windshirt (details to follow). The cut will be based on Buffalo special 6 shirt style, a supremely practical and brilliant garment but 100% synthetic!
- Waterproof layer. The windshirt should offer a basic waterproof layer. Whilst there are a number of waxed cotton waterproofs on offer they tend to be heavy and very expensive, as well as not really cut for movement. I am favouring a simple unlined smock design to keep weight down by dispensing with zips/ linings/ multiple pockets. The other experiment I am looking at here is an ancillary head/shoulder cape which potentially provides a hood and heavier weight waterproofing for head and shoulders. (without becoming a sail in high wind as per a conventional poncho.)
- Trousers. This one is a bit of a challenge. I use light softshell trousers conventionally but these are fully synthetic. Most hiking trousers off the peg are polycotton, cheaper versions are often multi-pocketed baggy horrors. Fine for bushcrafting, bad for scrambling and mountains. For wetter weather finding a suitable well fitting tight cotton weave and waxing may be the best bet. For dry cold weather a tight weave wool might work. Fjallraven do some great fitting high end walking trousers but whilst these are waxable and well cut they are still a polycotton blend. A heavyweight waxed version may be the best compromise for properly wet weather.
- Socks. I already have a pile of wool walking socks. e.g. Bridgedale and Smartwool although will check for a suitable pure wool version.
- Hat. I have a 100% wool merino beanie
- Gloves. Merino liner gloves + dachstein mits (boiled wool) for colder weather.
- Boots. Its virtually impossible to get a decent set of british made walking boots in purely natural fibres. Unlined leather boots with a natural rubber sole would work but I have to make some compromise here. I am using Alt-Berg Malham walking boots (Britains last boot maker making boots in the UK). These are leather however do have a synthetic lining and I don’t think the rubber sole or laces are 100% natural.
So there we go. Over the coming months I will be creating a few of these pieces and sourcing the rest, as well as reviewing each item. Keep an eye out for follow up posts, videos to see the system in action and learn how well it performs.