Weighty matters of legwear

Paring down the weight and bulk of the travel wardrobe is what going light is all about, and it’s achieved not just by carrying fewer pieces of clothing. The clothing chosen needs to weigh less than our everyday duds. Pants - men’s or women’s - are a great place to start. Case in point: A pair of cotton denim jeans in my size weighs 28 ounces, a pair of cotton khakis weighs 18 ounces, and a pair of polyester summer-weight slacks comes in at 12 ounces - that’s 42% as heavy as the jeans. And, the polys will dry overnight; the jeans might never dry in some climates. Obviously, to go light, the place to start is below the belt.

Extra towels, please - travel laundry

If you’re doing in-room sinkwashing you’ll need extra towels. Ask for them when you check in to the hotel so you’ll be sure to have them when laundry time rolls around. Some clothing will dry overnight easliy. Other clothing items need extra help. That’s where the towels come in. After rinsing your sink laundry and squeezing it out gently, lay it out on the the extra bath towel, then roll it up in the towel, then unroll it and hang it up. With all the moisture the towel soaks up, air drying overnight is a cinch. And no more puddles next to the bathtub. Your clothes may also dry more wrinkle-free since using the towel means you don’t have to wring them out so brutally, which probably also makes the clothes last longer. I like to pack a couple of plastic hangers in addition to a bungee clothesline - more space efficient and makes shirts dry with better shape/fewer wrinkles.

The power of the sport coat

The most powerful piece of clothing in the male traveler’s wardrobe is a good sport coat. This doesn’t apply to 20-something hostel-stayers and backpackers, but for most men, in most parts fo the world, a nice coat is a real plus. In Europe, where standards of appearance are often higher than in shorts-and-flipflops America, the sports jacket may ensure higher regard and better treatment for the wearer. It will get you in most restaurants, art galleries, and churches with no discomfort. A well-chosen coat can also double as a raincoat and provides a hedge against rapidly changing weather. There’s a reason why so many gentleman dress the way they do in the UK; they simply cannot trust the weather. And they like to look good.

My packing list - show me yours

Here’s my latest light packing list. Please send your own suggestions or your complete list so I can publish them on this blog.

Unseemly, malodorous conversation

Packing light means taking fewer clothes, which means washing them as you go. Any discussion of travel clothing and laundry involves unpleasant discussion of odor and  the results of the dreaded sniff test. Please forgive all such comment found on this site. It is necessary. That being said, the more testing I do on the Incredible Stinkfighter 1.0 homemade sink-wash laundry formula, the more convinced I am of its effectiveness. It turns ordinary poly/nylon underwear into high-performance anti-microbial underwear that doesn’t stink at the end of the day. Since travel is about spending time in close quarters with people you know and meeting new people you don’t know, odor reduction is definite plus, even if it makes for unpleasant, travel-geeky conversation.

Traveler's super shirt

The Ex Officio Air Strip Lite shirt is recommended by many serious travelers. The 80% polyester/20% nylon fabric dries quickly and shows few wrinkles after a sink wash. The fabric is soft, has a nice hand, is very comfortable,  and doesn’t wear blisters  on your neck like some “travel” shirts do. An adjustable back vent and slits on the sides with mesh lining make it a perfect choice for mild or hot weather. The fit is excellent and it stays tucked nicely, if you’re a tucker.

My ony quibbles are that the pockets are placed a little too low on the chest and that the pocket gussetting is too baggy. The Air Strip Lite is available for men and women, in long and short sleeves. I prefer long sleeves even in the summer to protect from the sun and from overly-aggressive air conditioning (I’m cold natured). I bought mine when a local store put it on the end-of-winter sale rack because it had long sleeves, but it’s definitely no winter shirt.

Incredible Stinkfighter 1.0 - BETA TEST

Doing laundry on the road is one of the necessities of light, one-bag travel. You don’t need ten changes of underwear for a ten-day trip; you can get by with three. But, you must use synthetics to successfully wash and dry overnight in the hotel room or hostel. Therein lies the problem: Synthetics get stinky fast. One solution is to pay $18-$35 for high-tech underclothing which has expensive fabric with built-in anti-microbial (and, hence, anti-odor) properties.

I have discovered another, cheaper way: Sink wash your garden-variety synthetic (polyester/nylon) undies using my odor-fighting concoction. Here’s how you do it. Fill the sink about half way with luke warm water. Mix in a couple of glugs of clear Softsoap antibacterial handsoap and a couple of spritzes of Febreze Anti-Microbial. Handwash the undies, then rinse them out quickly - not too aggressively. Apparently enough of the anti-bacterial and anti-microbial stuff stays in the fabric to make it perform like the $25 hi-tech variety. My $10 Champions now finish a sweaty day as sweetly as my  more-expensive Terramar briefs (with Visaendurance wonder fabric). The hi-tech fabrics are probably still a little better, and they are definitely still preferable for backpackers who may have nothing more than a creek to wash in or who want to stick with green, biodegradeable detergents. But, for the cost-conscious light traveler my method may be just the ticket. This method works equally well for briefs or undershirts. I’ve used it on my ExOfficio Air Strip shirt, too.

I get this stuff through the carryon screeners by filling two 2-ounce hand sanitizer bottlew with the soap and a 2-ounce spray bottle (half-full) with the Febreze. This is enough for ten days or so.  I don’t mix it together until it hits the sink.

I haven’t been using this concoction long. Please let me know how it works for you.  Your input may result in an even better Stinkfighter 2.0,

DISCLAIMER: I cannot guarantee that this method will not harm or shorten the working life of some garments, but I have no reason to believe that the method is detrimental to any fabrics or finishes.