Travel clothing
on the road train or plane

by Brian C. Lenke
(Washington, Washington , bc)

If you think that travel clothing for on the road train or plane is common knowledge, you might be proven wrong.

Do you know how many people wear a jacket or have a jacket with them wile driving a car? You can ask the coroner, about 43% of the people involved in a car crash die of wounds AND hypothermia. Even on sunny days!

You probably have seen car-accidents with people shivering outside their broken vehicles. They got lucky.

Although less visible there are a lot of lot of bad clothed - unprepared or ill-informed people stepping on a plane too.

This advisory helps you deciding on good clothing traveling in comfort, style and safety and is meant for both man, woman and children.

Travel clothing from bottom to top! Exhaustive and complete!

Socks
You might need to step out of the car in the pouring rain and misstep in a pool of water before entering the dry terminal and plane. In the privacy of a car you can dry your socks, but in a plane bus or train?

Wet or sweaty feet can cause a lot of discomfort for you and your fellow passengers. Wet feet are host to bacteria, who love a damp closed environment, this is the main cause of smelly feet.

There is only one real solution Tightly knit wool socks. Just like the military combat socks. They really don't itch and have very favorable properties.

Wool guides moist away from the skin and helps keeping your feet dry at all times. Wet feet will be dry in under 30 minutes. Wool is also mildly antibacterial.

A modern variation of the good old wool sock is the wool walking sock witch has minute deposits of silver woven into the fabric. Silver is also antibacterial and prevents bacteria to grow. Wool is also fire resistant.

Shoes
You need to walk to the terminal, bus or train, even with luggage that is doable!

Getting off your ride is causing the strain. After sitting hours on end, witch effectively cuts the blood flow to the lower limbs and feet. you are asked to stand up shuffle in a line or race to the luggage band and carry your stuff over unknown grounds to the destination.

This is the time you see twisted ankles, or torn muscles or even broken splint-bones. You really need a shoe that walks well, is very stable on diverse underground water repellent and breathing.

Modern walking shoes fit these demands perfectly. If you get big feet after long sits take the lower fit walking shoes. You can opt for the high walking shoe if you have colder feet. Try to find leather based walking shoes. Do NOT use the energy return or fitness shoes with rounded soles.

Underwear
For reasons I will not further specify I advice men to not take the loose-fitting boxer shorts but try tight-fitting shorts. Cotton-with-Lycra underpants will do.

Odor absorbing versions are being experimented with. We need to wait for that.

Pants
Have you ever wondered why there are so many burned passengers in a plane when the interior is made of non-flammable material.

You guessed it, the passengers burn themselves.

Dress pants made out of non natural materials are downright dangerous to travel in. They catch fire easily. Wool dress pants are, on the other side, one of the safest pants around.

Dress pants are usually a nudge longer than jeans, this to keep the legs covered while sitting.

Jeans are also excellent travel pants. Try to find jeans that fit up to the shoe wile sitting in a chair.

Loose or regular fit jeans usually do well. Do not use jeans with prefab holes in them. In case of fire you want to be covered. Remember, you cant walk out mid-flight.

The flight crew always appreciates newer clean clothing.

Buckle
You need a small thin buckle, preferably without pin that is easy adjustable. The only really good buckle for this purpose is the flat military dress buckle. That is fully adjustable. Available in black and silver.

Shirt
While sitting you want your back covered, a simple over-sized t-shirt does that trick. One size extra for the long sit will make you happy. Take a crew neck or v neck shirt along your preferences. The colour white is always good.

Sweater
I see websites who suggest that fleece or fleece like material sweaters are best used in planes etc.. I strongly feel that is a irresponsible advice. Fleece burns like a torch and melts into your skin. The first death cause in airline incidents is smoke, the second one is fire, with fleece sweaters you sure are trying to be one of its victims. And than I am not even evaluating the terrorist arson attempts where you fleece-volunteer to be the source of the fuel.

Fleece and travel do not make great partners even in a car or train.

Tightly knit cotton- or super tightly knit wool- sweaters however are great apparel in transit. You can also opt for a cotton or wool vest if you wear a dress long sleeve shirt over your cotton t-shirt.

Always wear a tee or shirt-underwear underneath the sweater or dress shirt to capture sweat.

Tip -> thin shawl
When you need to sleep in a plane try to take a small tightly knit cotton or wool shawl in your hand luggage. your neck will stay warm and you can blind your eyes if needed.

Jacket
Thin flexible leather jackets are great, just as the wool hip sized length jackets. When you need a watertight jacket try not to take the nylon types. The more modern cordura or MPC types of jackets are far better and protect in case of emergency. Those flashy plumpy nylon are unsafe and bulky.

Conclusion
The result should be a fairly plain , not under or overdressed well prepared traveler.