I Sweat When I Sleep: How Do I Stay Dry?

Question:

I’m an extremely heavy sweater no matter what the weather. Should I really trust my hi-tech clothing to be absolutely dried by my body heat? Or is it better to carry extra clothing to change? I can’t imagine risking the chance of sleeping damp.

Submitted by – Bernardo, Pomona, NY

Answer:

First off, you gotta get yourself the right base layer. Heavy sweaters should stay away from wool and steer towards super light synthetic base layers. (Personally, I adore wool base layers—they’re warm and fend off stink soooo much better than synthetics, but they don’t wick quite as well or fast as synthetics.)

Synthetic base layers–the thinner the better–will wick, which means, they’ll pull the sweat away from your skin, and through the fabric to the outer surface, where it will dry. The best base layers dry so fast that they never even really feel wet. One such wicked good wicker: Golite’s DriMove Lite shirts, which feel silky smooth against the skin and keep even our sweatiest testers dry.

As for sleeping damp, well, get over it. It’s the best way to insure dry clothes by morning. Have you ever peeled off a wet shirt and tossed it in the corner of your tent or even hung it from the ceiling, hoping, against all odds, that it would be dry in the morning? It never is.

The only way to really zap the moisture from your clothes is to bring them inside your bag. (It’s really not that bad. If you’re super chilled at bed time, also bring in a hot water bottle, which works wonders.)

For best drying results, wear them. But at the very least, lay them out along or under your body for maximum body contact. —Kristin