Birders travel. We have a fair amount to carry - binoculars, spotting scopes, tripods, cameras, books, and outdoor clothing. Airlines make travel hard, and one way they do it is limiting the amount of luggage we can bring. Savvy travelers bring the minimum anyway, and birding tour leaders (like me) really appreciate that effort because it makes the loading and unloading of tour vehicles that much easier.
But what do you do when your destination could involve anything from below freezing to over 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with chances for baking sun, strong wind, rain, and snow all on the same trip? How can you pack light faced with those conditions?
Serious outdoor people say, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.” Easy to say if you’re a “gearhead” and, own the complete Patagonia catalog line of outerwear. Even if you don’t, a few essential garments can carry you through. The photos accompanying this article depict the outerwear I chose for a recent trip I led in Wyoming. I wore every garment I brought at one point or another, but I never wished I had brought anything more; that statement defines good packing.
Top left - the shell, an uninsulated waterproof coat of high quality. My choice for this trip was part of Patagonia’s “Storm” line, which is not breathable but it sheds water as well as a raincoat can, and stops wind in its tracks. A good argument could be made for bringing a Gore-tex rain jacket instead, since Gore-tex is breathable and therefore more comfortable. I didn’t because a) hard, driving rain, in my experience, will eventually lead to water oozing through Gore-tex outerwear, especially if the stuff is over a year old; and b) the zipper on my Gore-tex jacket broke a while back, and I haven’t replaced it.
Bottom left - Packable Gore-tex rain pants, by Cabelas. Non-breathable rain pants inevitably leave the wearer sweaty in the most uncomfortable of places, so avoid them. These pants stuff into their own back pocket, winding up about the size of a pair of binoculars.
Top right - Patagonia Micro-puff coat, the warmest coat for its weight I’ve found. This coat rides in my truck all the time and has saved me, as well as several field trip participants, from many a cold time afield.
Bottom right - Fleece zip-up jacket with a chin-high collar and deep, warm pockets. This jacket does double duty - I wrap it around my scope to protect it in my carry-on, and wear it most of the time when a jacket is called for. Fleece is quiet and gray is an excellent color choice for birding. This particular jacket is heavy enough that it stops a moderate breeze. Fleece’s flaw is that it doesn’t cut the wind well, which is why a shell is necessary.
Across the bottom - two watch caps, a pair of lightly insulated leather gloves, and a pair of Gore-tex gloves insulated with Thinsulate. Two hats and two pairs of gloves only because I usually wind up lending one set out.
The outerwear from the above photo packs into a remarkably small space.