BALANCING AND LAYERING

The clothing required by someone generally staying still in the outdoors (eg, a birdwatcher or photographer) will need to prevent much more heat loss than for someone who is active on a hike. Brands like Buffalo, Snugpak and Keela make some very thick, heavily-insulated windproofs which are superb for low-energy activities. If you have to hike in them though, you get very hot very quickly.

So it’s important to realise that if you’re active, you don’t want to prevent heat loss completely. Instead it’s best to think of balancing your heat loss with whatever activity you’re doing, and we can easily do that through the right combination of gear.

For activities and days out where you’ll be stopping and starting, you’re usually better to go for a layering of garments that get progressively warmer – and transmit heat efficiently.