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Travel Himalaya Nepal
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Clothing & Layers

Buy what touches your skin. Think harder about the rest.

About the links on this page.Some go to Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend: every card here also says who the item is not for, and a few things we think you should simply rent in Kathmandu or Pokhara instead, which earns us nothing.

Rab Cirrus Insulated Jacket — The mid-layer you wear every single evening
Best overall

The mid-layer you wear every single evening

Rab Cirrus Insulated Jacket

PrimaLoft synthetic, packs to a water bottle

Synthetic keeps insulating when it gets damp, which in a Himalayan spring matters more than the extra warmth-per-gram of down — it is noticeably less warm than a down jacket of the same weight, and that is the deal.

Still warm when damp — the whole case against down in wet seasons

Packs small enough to live in a daypack all day

Face fabric survives a rock scramble

Less warm than equivalent-weight down

Not enough on its own above 4,500 m

Not windproof

Not for you if: Sub-zero evenings at 5,000 m as your only warm layer. This is the mid-layer under a down jacket, not a replacement for one.

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Smartwool Merino Gloves — The glove you keep on to use the cameraBest liner

The glove you keep on to use the camera

Smartwool Merino Gloves

Thin enough to work a phone and warm enough for most walking mornings, and merino stays warm damp where fleece does not — completely inadequate on their own once wind gets up on a pass.

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prAna Stretch Zion Pant — One pair of trousers for the whole trekBest overall

One pair of trousers for the whole trek

prAna Stretch Zion Pant

Tough, stretchy and dry fast enough to wash in a bucket — they are not warm, so above 4,000 m you are wearing a base layer underneath.

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Icebreaker Merino 200 Oasis Long Sleeve Crew — The shirt you wear for eight days without anyone mindingBest overall

The shirt you wear for eight days without anyone minding

Icebreaker Merino 200 Oasis Long Sleeve Crew

Merino at 200-weight is the one true trekking base layer — warm damp, warm dry, and it does not smell; it is also three times the price of synthetic and it will eventually hole at the shoulder where the pack rubs.

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Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap — A cap with a removable neck cape, for the exposed approachBest sun protection

A cap with a removable neck cape, for the exposed approach

Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap

The cape covers the ears and neck that burn first and that no sunscreen ever gets reapplied to; you will look faintly ridiculous, and everyone who has burnt their ears at 4,000 m stops caring.

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Outdoor Research Helium Rain Jacket — A real waterproof that weighs almost nothingBest overall

A real waterproof that weighs almost nothing

Outdoor Research Helium Rain Jacket

Light enough that you actually carry it, which is the only property that matters in a shell — the trade is a thin fabric that will not survive being dragged across rock.

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Columbia Silver Ridge Lite Long Sleeve Shirt — Long sleeves in the heat, which is the counter-intuitive right answerBest overall

Long sleeves in the heat, which is the counter-intuitive right answer

Columbia Silver Ridge Lite Long Sleeve Shirt

Covering up is cooler than sunscreen and a t-shirt on the exposed lower Annapurna approach; the fabric is loud and crinkly, and it will never feel like cotton.

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Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible Pant — Zip-off legs for treks that start hot and end coldBest value

Zip-off legs for treks that start hot and end cold

Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible Pant

The zip-off is genuinely useful when you leave a 25 °C valley and arrive somewhere freezing; the zips sit right where a pack hip-belt or a knee bends, and some people never stop noticing.

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Outdoor Research Alti Mitts — Summit-night hands, and nothing lessWarmest

Summit-night hands, and nothing less

Outdoor Research Alti Mitts

The warmest thing you can put on your hands short of an expedition mitt, and useless for anything requiring fingers — which is why they live on a leash and come out for one morning.

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ExOfficio Give-N-Go Boxer Brief — Two pairs, washed nightly, for a whole trekBest underwear

Two pairs, washed nightly, for a whole trek

ExOfficio Give-N-Go Boxer Brief

Dries fast enough to wash one pair each evening and wear it the next day, which is the entire reason to spend this much on underwear; the mesh is hot in genuinely warm weather.

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Buff Original Multifunctional Headwear — Dust mask, neck cover, hat, eye shadeMost useful single item

Dust mask, neck cover, hat, eye shade

Buff Original Multifunctional Headwear

The best value item in this entire catalogue — it does five jobs badly enough to be worth carrying two, and none of them well enough to replace a real hat.

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Arc'teryx Beta Jacket — For monsoon walking and long wet passesBest in sustained rain

For monsoon walking and long wet passes

Arc'teryx Beta Jacket

Keeps working after six hours of rain when lighter shells have wetted through; you carry the extra weight every dry day too, and the price is genuinely hard to justify for one trek.

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Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket — For people who will use a down jacket at home tooBest down jacket to own

For people who will use a down jacket at home too

Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket

Warm, well-cut and light enough to carry all day — but understand what you are buying: a rental shop in Thamel will hire you a warmer expedition jacket for a few dollars a day, and we earn nothing telling you that.

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Smartwool Classic Thermal Merino Base Layer Bottom — What you change into at the lodge and sleep inBest sleeping layer

What you change into at the lodge and sleep in

Smartwool Classic Thermal Merino Base Layer Bottom

The single best sleep-warmth upgrade above 4,000 m and it doubles under trousers on a cold pass; at 250-weight it is too warm to walk in on any ordinary day.

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Under Armour Tech 2.0 Long-Sleeve — The one that dries by dinner when merino does notBest synthetic

The one that dries by dinner when merino does not

Under Armour Tech 2.0 Long-Sleeve

Dries in an hour and costs a fraction of merino, which makes it the better buy on a short trek — it will smell by day three and nothing you do changes that.

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Baffled 800FP down, rated around −20 °CRent, do not buy

The big parka for two cold nights of a two-week trek

Expedition down jacket (−20 °C)

You need this for perhaps three evenings of an Everest Base Camp trek. Buying one costs several hundred dollars; renting one in Kathmandu costs a few, and the shops keep them in good condition because their business depends on it.

Rental shops in Kathmandu and Pokhara carry this — about usd 1-2 per day in thamel or lakeside. We take nothing from that.

Smartwool Merino Cuffed Beanie — Worn from four in the afternoon until you fall asleepBest warm hat

Worn from four in the afternoon until you fall asleep

Smartwool Merino Cuffed Beanie

Merino stays warm when it is damp with sweat, which a cotton beanie does not — it is thin enough that in real wind you still want a hood over it.

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