After spending some time camping in the mountains I got to really like some of the equipment and the clothing layers that we adopted for the environment. Typically you make good use of Nalgene bottles, carabiners, your daypack, and lots of fleece and wicking materials. Those things turn out to be very useful and adaptable in the rest of the world too, and some of the ideas have stuck. I see carabiner keychains all the time and I especially grew accustomed to the warmth and comfort of wearing a layer or two of thin fleece to keep warm and dry. It seemed no matter what the activity level or the weather conditions that was a great base layer. Of course I could wear a thicker fleece vest or jacket over that, but most of the time the one long-sleeve shirt was perfect. Wearing my polypro undies as pajamas is just fantastic. I also got to like the thin hiking socks a lot. They’re made of a mix of materials that give good texture and they’re pretty warm. I see Richard wearing his Mountain Grabbers™ fleece vest most of the time, so it looks like he took onto the habit as well. Clothing made for hiking is just so comfortable, relaxed, and versatile that you feel you could get out and do anything, or just sit down and have some more hot chocolate.

Exactly because it is reminiscent of an outdoors adventure the hiking outerwear industry has become mainstream and fashionable, and online sales are way up. Camping isn’t just for mullet-haired deer hunters anymore and you won’t find the latest outdoor fashion trends at the army surplus store. REI and LL Bean are targeted at yuppies who go to work looking like they missed the bus to go camping that day. Those stores are either in shopping malls or would fit right in because they have glossy catalogs, attractive but earthy models, and authentic sounding product names. I can’t possibly cast any criticism because I have now adopted the comfort and freedom that these clothes give. Maybe some of the shoppers at REI are actually filling out their packing lists for a hike through Yosemite or are sleeping in snow caves at night. But considering how popular the “look” is and how much REI reminds me of shopping at The Gap I’m not sure everyone remembers the outfits were supposed to be for the outdoors.