[pct-l] Clothing questions...et al...

[Brandon McGinnity]

Good info, though I don't agree that a tan is damage to the skin. A tan is
just increased melanin levels the skin develops to protect itself from solar
radiation. You can obviously overdo it, and the melanin isn't perfect
protection, and I will be covering my skin for sure on the PCT, but I don't
share the dermatoligist's dim view of sunlight, for the same reasons I don't
share a police officer's dim view of humanity. Just my two cents...

On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 6:47 PM, <abiegen at cox.net> wrote:

> Steven dvsteven <dvsteven at hotmail.com>  wrote:
>
> >Hi once again all.....
>
> >Do I need long pants and shirts to hike the PCT?
>
> As a long time resident of southern California and someone who's on a first
> name basis with my dermatologist here's my take on long shirt, long pants:
>
> 1. A long shirt can be changed into a short sleeve shirt by rolling up the
> sleeves. Vise versa - no.
> 2. Long pants that have a zip off can be changed into a shorts-like
> garment. Vise versa - no.
> 3. Decidedly different from the east coast ( I lived there for my first 20+
> years) you cannot count on southern California being warm at night. A warm
> evening in SoCal is as common as a thru-hiker that smells like roses. Shorts
> and a short shirt will not help when the sun goes down and the temp drops 20
> to 30 degrees.
> 4. My dermatologist tells me that a tan is damage to your skin, not
> protection. If you have a tan you might not get sunburned but you have
> damaged and will continue to damage your skin.
> 5. Exposed skin needs to be covered with sunscreen. The less exposed skin,
> the less sunscreen you need to carry.
> 6. Sunscreen contains oils. Oils attract and hold dirt. The more sunscreen
> you put on the more easily you will become dirty and the hard it will be to
> rinse it off.
> 7. Evaporation cools your skin. However, on a very hot and breezy day your
> sweat will evaporate from exposed skin too quickly. A long sleeved shirt
> will hold that valuable sweat for a longer period of time and release it at
> a more controlled rate.
> 8. A breezy day on the PCT is very very common. Remember, it is a crest
> trail and crests are breezy.
> 9. When you come to a creek, you can soak that long shirt in the water and
> wear it cooling all of your skin. Feels real good. A short shirt, not so
> much.
> 10. You will get old. Not a threat but it does happen to most. You will be
> on a first name basis with your dermatologist. You will have little white
> spots where he removed those pre-cancerous lesions. People will shun and
> avoid you because you look like an old farmer or fisherman who has spent too
> much of their life out in the hot burning sun. You will cry yourself to
> sleep at night wondering why this had to happen to you; what ever happened
> to your beautiful skin.
> 11. Or not. ;-}
>
> Trailhacker
>
> "When my feet hurt, I can't think straight"
> Abraham Lincoln
>
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~ Moccasin