All

I'm replacing my poly/cotton long underwear bottoms with some polyester or poly-wool ones, taking advantage of the spring sales on winter gear.

My question is if you all would characterize a generic pair of fruit of the loom long johns as mid weight or silk weight?

I used my fruit of the looms on a hike last weekend, and they are the right weight for local conditions - I'm just trying to replace with something more weight concious and water phobic.

Steadman

I would consider them mid-weight.

I have both silk and poly-pro and there is a significant weight difference between the two.

Depending on how cold it is going to be determines which ones I take and I usually only wear them to sleep in or for sitting around the campfire under my wool pants(when I go car camping.)

Here in the east, I've found that midweight is pretty much an all-purpose, 4-season base layer. They're a great layer to put on in camp, when it's cooler, and nice to wear in the sleeping bag. In cold weather, they're good for hiking under a pair of shorts; they keep my legs warm enough, but let the excess heat built up by activity dissipate. (I don't like hiking in long pants, myself, but the long-johns' close fit keeps them from feeling like long pants.)

I once bought a set of expedition-weight wool longjohns, and I think I wore them once. The problem is that, by the time it's cold enough to need them, it's too cold for them alone. They're definitely too hot to hike in. In camp, they're usually not warm enough by themselves. If I add a pair of light down pants, I get too hot. So, it's back to the midweights, which are just right under the down pants. (Layering the midweights and expedition weights just means too much bulk and the constricting feel, I think, cuts off circulation in my lower legs, which actually makes me feel colder!)

Stick with mid-weights.

Thanks guys. That helped.

I think that water phobic in a base layer is just hoping for too much, and not necessary. You want your water-phobic stuff on the outside to protect all the stuff under it. I have been trekking for many many years and the best base layer that I have found is polar-tec 100 weight. It is very warm, breathes better than any thing that I have ever tried and what I like about it is that if you are trekking in colder weather you can remove pants and jump right into your sleeping bag with the polar-tec still on and usually have a very pleasant night's sleep. It will keep you warm without cooking your ass like most long underwear will do. It's the only thing that I can sleep in comfortably without getting too hot. I have also used what is called "polar skins" that work well too. They are for less cold weather and will function almost as well as polar-tec in not so cold weather...sabre11004...

Sorry, I meant quick drying. Looking at the Gordini stuff that REI has on sale and making a couple selections to replace my poly cotton Fruit of the Looms.