<p>Soo, I would email this to some of the Outdoor Odyssey people, but they might just think I'm rude/dumb or whatever. But is there some BS items on the equipment list?
Like:
1 long underwear top (polypropylene or wool, not cotton)</p>
<p>Most bras aren't cotton right? Whats a long underwear top?</p>
<p>2 to 3 insulating layers, any combination of the following:
medium to heavy wool sweater
medium to heavy wool shirt, pile vest
synthetic (pile, fleece, synchilla) jacket, vest</p>
<p>Most of the people on the pictures on the site are just wearing regular tshirts. And can I just bring a plain sweater...? </p>
<p>1 to 2 pairs long underwear bottoms (polypropylene or wool, not cotton)</p>
<p>I have no clue what a long underwear bottom is. :/ And I don't know where to find wool panties.. :x</p>
<p>And it also says to bring 2 pairs of liner socks and 2 pairs of hiking socks...can I just bring 4 plain socks? </p>
<p>And for swimsuit, I can just wear bikini right? Idk never done anything outdoors before..</p>
<p>you should be fine without the repeat of all of the stuff then. Important things are rain gear, and one warm layer set. They will check and make sure you have all your gear before you leave though and may give you a hard time. The problem though is that the gear list they have is universal, and you need a lot more gear for a trip to the dacks then a multi element trip</p>
<p>I did outdoor odyssey last summer, backpacking in the finger lakes. I remember stressing out because I didn’t have every little thing on the list lol. But when I got there I realized that it wasn’t really a big deal, those are just guidelines. The guides go around and check everyone’s gear and half the people forgot or didn’t have at least one thing. </p>
<p>Don’t stress over long underwear. Almost no one owns long underwear because its a pain to buy/find. I brought leggings and a thermal long sleeve tee instead, which was fine. Plus you most likely won’t be using it, unless it happens to be freezing cold. But I imagine thats only the case for the long mountain trips when you’re high in the mountains. They say not cotton because it takes a long time to dry, but we ended up never washing our clothes. </p>
<p>For the jacket/sweater/shirt, bring 2 out of the 3. You don’t want to be hauling around things you’ll never use. Honestly on my trip we all wore t-shirts and shorts all week, I guess it was just good weather. </p>
<p>We all wore bikinis last year. Don’t stress over wool underwear, bras, or hiking socks. They say “wool” because its the warmest or something like that, but its not super important. You’ll probably want 1-2 sports bras. The only thing about hiking socks is that they help prevent blisters. </p>
<p>Those guidelines are just what you would want in an ideal situation. But everyone just brings what they have. Most of the time you’ll be in shorts and a t-shirt. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks! I also have another q.
Is it necessary to bring another pair of tennis shoes besides the hiking shoes?
And when we go check in for it the first day, do most people have most of their stuff in a backpack? thanks :)</p>
<p>Outdoor Odyssey and other outdoor organizations are big on wool and synthetic material, not because it’s necessarily warmer that cotton, but because while cotton stays soaking wet for hours, wool and wool-like products (like Smartwool) dry very quickly. It’s not too big of a deal unless you’re stuck in a downpour with bad rain gear - in which case cotton may make you very uncomfortable and very cold - but it’s also nice for hiking and other strenuous activities - sweat dries faster.</p>
<p>I’d say long underwear isn’t a big deal (long underwear is like a pair of sweatpants (bottoms) and a long sleeved shirt (top), made of special material, that you wear under your clothes to stay warm - it’s not like regular underwear). You definitely don’t need to worry about it being non-cotton unless you think you might be in a circumstance where you’d be wet sleeping. I brought part-cotton long underwear to Alaska and it kept me nice and warm - but in New York in August - probably not essential.</p>
<p>It would be a good idea to bring layers but again, don’t worry so much about material. Cotton t shirts are fine. You could bring one synthetic shirt just in case but I doubt you’ll have problems if you don’t.</p>
<p>The only thing I think you should really look into getting are hiking socks. Hiking socks are very much better and more comfortable than regular socks if you’re going to be hiking for a while. Wool socks won’t make your feet feel as drenched in sweat as regular ones and they tend to be thicker, so you’re less likely to get blisters, or to have the socks run down your ankle and bunch up under your heel. Good socks are a good investment because if your feet are uncomfortable or painful while you’re hiking, you won’t have as much fun. </p>
<p>It’s probably not necessary to bring a pair of tennis shoes (or crocs or tevas or whatever) but after a long day of hiking, it sure feels good to take off your boots and put something more comfortable on your feet :)</p>
<p>Hope that helped, and that I didn’t just repeat a lot of what Angelfish said :)</p>
<p>I’m just bringing whatever I could fit in my school backpack (along with my sleeping bag/hiking boots/rain coat). I’m not bringing a lot of the warmer clothing/layering (I’m doing a multi-element trip so idk if you’ll be in colder weather or whatever); I’m bringing a bunch of hiking socks, shorts and running shirts (synthetic material). I’m planning on bringing my crappy holed-up New Balance shoes for the reason GaviaImmer stated (it’ll also give my hiking boots a chance to dry). Also another question, which may sound really strange, but is toilet paper provided? It just hit me that I’ll be using the bathroom in the woods for a week…</p>