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Howdy,
The last couple years I have been getting more adventurous and wandering off trail through the woods to lakes fishing. With out brush the hikes are almost easier that trail hiking but lately I have discovered that my desired destinations are up valleys thick with body shreading picker bushes and other assorted hazards.
What is the recommended clothing for beating through this stuff when it can’t be avoided ?Do you wear gators all the time ?
How about water proofing, blueberry bushes seem to hold thier weight in water in the morning ?
thx for sharing your experience
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If I’m battling thick stuff I wear hiking pants, a long sleeve shirt or just a windbreaker for the slickness and a pair of leather gloves. Sometimes glasses for eye protection are thrown in. Depending on the trip, I may or may not wear raingear in wet brush. If it is a truly wet and difficult bash I feel it is better to just get wet than suffer in hot gear. The clothing is just to save you from “death from a thousand cuts”
Just remember to pack some dry clothes.
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The first thing I do is try to avoid the brush. Instead of valleys look to see if there is an alternate route up a ridge. Ridges shed water and downed timber so they are generally easier to walk.
If the huckleberries are wet there is no really good answer to what clothes to wear. In recent years I’ve been fooling around with soft shells to see if they would offer an alternative to raingear that would shed water from the brush and not be prone to be picked full of holes by devils club and breath at the same time. Well, plowing through brush seems to put pressure behind the water so it is forced right through soft shells. I actually like many of the soft shell materials, but they don’t help much in brush. I’ll put on raingear unless it is just too hot in which case I’ll just get wet.
Clothes should be all synthetic right down to your underwear. I like long pants that are narrow or even elastic at the bottom so they sort of act like gaiters in keeping debris out of my boots. I wear long sleeved nylon shirts. I don’t use gloves. I figure a few devils club thorns in the hands never hurt anyone.
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I went to Dream Lake last Thursday, wearing shorts, short sleeves. My legs show the bushwack for sure. But it wasn’t too darn bad. I would recommend long pants or something tho.
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Most of us oldtimers wore “tin” (Canvas) pants; if we also were duck hunters, we wore our duck pants. I wore heavy cotton or Army fatigue pants over 90% of the time. Many times, I was happy I did so. BTW, a lot of us wore leather gloves, too. I considered them one of the 10 essentials. Also wore high-top (Buffalo) boots, too. – Oldtimer
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I wear a pair of nylon North Face zip off pants on just about every outing I go on. They’re extremely tough (thicker than many nylon pants) and dry very quickly. Obviously, the legs can be zipped off. Also, the pockets are actually very functional and well designed. They hold alot, if needed, in the right spots. I have worn one pair for the last 3 years, and just love them.
I think they’re called “Paramount”
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