Summer farming clothing

Hi guys, what do you wear during the summer for outside work?
This topic is for people living in places with temperatures above 30ºC or 40ºC during the summer time.

What kind of hats, shirts and pants and from which materials?

Velho Barbudo wrote:Hi guys, what do you wear during the summer for outside work?
This topic is for people living in places with temperatures above 30ºC or 40ºC during the summer time.

What kind of hats, shirts and pants and from which materials?

Great question! We don't get to 40 where I live, thankfully. About 33 or 34 is the hottest it gets. But I'm a 30 minute drive from the Atlantic so it can get pretty humid. When it's really hot I wear synthetic t-shirts that I find on close-out sales on Amazon (ugly colors and they don't fit, but they're cheap and far more comfortable than cotton). If it's light-duty outdoor work I have synthetic hiking pants that are far cooler than denim, but they are expensive and not-at-all tough (Exoficio, meant for hiking!)... so if I have hard work I either just wear denim and feel miserable, or I just wear shorts (if I'm not working on my knees).

I hate sunscreen but try to not expose my skin to UV so I wear long pants and long sleeved shirts as long as I can stand to. Again I have synthetic hiking overshirts (Exoficio again... I used to do a LOT of back packing) for light duty days... super comfortable on hot days but you wouldn't want to move logs in them, they'd tear easily. If I'm doing something hard (like carrying logs) I'll wear a long-sleeved cotton overshirt even on the hottest days and, again, just feel miserable.

All my synthetics are either polyester or a polyester/nylon blend.

But there's times it's still just too hot and I resign myself to just baking in the sun in shorts and a t-shirt and start using sunscreen. Man I REALLY hate sunscreen...

We have the privilage of having fairly hot temps AND a lot of biting flies, so in hot weather I have this:
https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Research-Bug-Bucket-Hat/dp/B003S3RFSQ

Keeps the sun off, it's fairly cool and if I don't need the bug net I just tuck it up into the hat. Again, fairly expensive, so the rest of the time I wear crappy cotton "boonie" hats because I just happen to have two. But when they wear out I'm sure something like this would be MUCH nicer:
https://www.amazon.com/Henschel-Aussie-5310-Khaki-Khaki-Large/dp/B001HLIDP0

I'm on a VERY tight budget. I just happen to have some "high tech" stuff from my old affluent, backpacking days. Nowadays - apart from underwear - pretty much everything I buy is from the closest thrift stores. So it's pretty much guaranteed to be cotton. So I just plan on being soggy, dirty, stinky, and uncomfortable for much of the summer. But hey - at least it's cheap!  

I bought 24 white gildan cotton t-shirts for $60 (cheap quality, but still much better than wal-mart) and have been using those the last 2 years. I don't mind the 30'C days too much, so I can wear cotton sweatpants for that. We get a few 37'C-40'C days and I'm in swimming trunks or cut-off sweatpants then - though I'll take a siesta in the afternoon for those days.

I've tried different types of conventional hats including straw hats, but they are just too irritating for me. If the heat is getting to me, I'll usually tie a spare t-shirt around my head.

So yeah, basically all cotton here. :)

Jarret Hynd wrote:We get a few 37'C-40'C days and I'm in swimming trunks or cut-off sweatpants then - though I'll take a siesta in the afternoon for those days.

You are very wise :) I need to learn to do that!

I have always found that anything with polyester gets stinky in a single day of hot weather, but cotton doesn't. But the guy above finds the exact opposite, so I really don't know.

I don't mind stinkiness.
All the hats i tried are bad, the heat the head too much, at 11 am with 35ºC i feel better without them!
So for you guys cotton or linen is not confortable?
Jarret is your summe humid or dry?

Velho Barbudo wrote:Jarret is your summe humid or dry?

Last year was 80 days of no rain from mid-june to the end of august with pretty much every day between 28'C and 40'C. It's not typically that dry, but you get the picture.

I value flexibility a lot while I'm working, so this is another reason I use cotton. I forgot to mention I do use a long-sleeved cotton shirt in the morning until about noon. (I would rather be a bit hot than have mosquito bites)

I find the cotton quite comfortable, but maybe it's because I buy the better quality apparel. The Fruit Of The Loom brand that's usually in wal-mart/amazon isn't the same as these ones. They hold their form really well and a tighter fit allows the sweat to be wicked off your skin much faster. That's what I found anyways.

I don't wear anything that is knitted as it's too clingy to the skin when damp with sweat. Same goes for synthetics which I wouldn't buy even if they outperformed natural fibers. It's very humid here in Minnesota. I like an open-weave or seer-sucker weave shirt of cotton or linen/hemp. Long sleeves for sun protection until it's too hot. Prefer skirts all year, especially in the summer where they shade my legs, let air circulate, and swish the bugs away. When really hot I like a dress as then there's no tight spot around my waist. For hats, woven straw or cotton with a wide brim keeps the sun off my head and face. If it's really hot, a hat can be worn wet. I feel naked without a hat. Summer clothing criteria: shade from sun, light in color, breathable, insect barrier, loose-fitting. Big pockets are handy but an apron with pockets can always be added when harvesting or planting.

I guess I have the advantage of tanning easily and deeply, and I hardly know what a sunburn is.  In any weather over about 28C I'm out there in my cutoff shorts and shirtless and sandals and that's it.  As heat worsens I wet my hair, and over 40 or so, my entire body if I need to stay out in it.  

I wear a straw hat to keep the sun off my neck, face, and bald spot; I like a good straw cowboy hat. It's dry and sunny wear I work in the summer, and I try to keep my skin covered if I'm working all day, so I like long-sleeve shirts and pants (plus the pants protect my legs from abrasion). I teach at a university fall through spring, so my professional clothes are mostly khakis and cotton dress shirts. Once they're too worn for teaching, I use them for working outside in the summer. I find khakis are lighter and looser than jeans, and cotton dress shirts are cooler than t-shirts. Sure they wear out quickly, but then I just throw them out (saves doing laundry).

All my farm work clothes are junk clothes that are either given to me as castoffs, or I buy for super cheap at rummage sales or thrift shops. As far as I'm concerned, work clothes just need to functional, not fashionable. I keep a plentiful supply and wear them until they either get too many holes or rip out along the seams. I usually change into fresh clothes at lunchtime, and again if they become uncomfortably dirty.

Shirts - t-shirt or pull over top (preferably cotton), a size larger than my usual fit so that it is very loose fitting. On hot sunny days, I'll often dampen the shirt before putting on so that it helps keep me cool.

Pants - shorts, cut offs, or men's swimming trunks (I'm not proud. Just about anything will do.) I prefer them fitting at the waist and baggy otherwise.

Hat - a straw cowboy hat or a straw/bamboo coolie style hat. I like straw because I can dip the hat in water to help keep my head cooler. I like a wide enough brim to keep the sun glare out of my eyes and the direct sun off of my ears.

I alternate between simple cotton t-shirts and long-sleeved cotton button-up shirts.  The benefit of the latter is the ability to leave the top few buttons unbuttoned, increasing airflow.  I tend the roll the sleeves up, but can roll them down to keep the sun off.  For a couple years I had two such shirts made of Indian madras fabric.  The stuff is a godsend, but expensive.  These were thrift store purchases.  I cried a little when I finally wore them out.  While the madras is perhaps ideal, any lightweight cotton fabric works too.

For bottoms, sometimes I wear shorts and sometimes I wear long pants. Mostly it depends on what kind of work I'm doing.  The long pants are almost invariably a lightish-weight cotton twill; denim is too heavy.

If I'm wearing boots, then it's wool socks.  Cotton socks have no place on my feet in work situations.  Wool wicks moisture and keeps me much more comfortable.

Sometimes I wear a cotton ball cap, sometimes a wide-brimmed straw hat. In either case, a soaking in cold water is especially helpful when it's particularly hot.

Perhaps the most important bit is timing the work.  I'll take a good two to four hour break at midday when it's hottest.  But I'm up early and out until sundown, so I can afford it.  In any case, if I try to work through the hot part of the day I find I don't get any more work done than if I take a break, since I'll start to drag.

I have weather a bit similar to Saskatoon, canada by the sound of it.
28-45 degree days, no rain etc for about 80 days also Nov to March
The best thing I can add to the conversation is drinking water.
So often in Australia people forget to drink water on hot days, I have been through as much as 6 L on very hot days and I certainly notice my energy and tolerance levels are badly effected if I do not top up all day.

I live on Texas zone 9A.  It gets hot and humid here.  I use both high tech and cotton to work outdoors.  i have a fishing buddy who in another lifetime was a pro baseball pitcher. he wears short sleeve white cotton T shirt under a long sleeve cotton soft white shirt. It works for him.  The sweat soaks the T shirt and it slowly evaporates to help cool the body.  On a recent fishing trip to the Amazon I wore long nylon pants and nylon long sleeve shirts.  I drank at lease a gallon of water each day, wore a Tilley wide bream hat and sun gloves.  If I felt the need, I poured water on my head and shoulders.  

It seems almost all of we have the same summer conditions, what about sleeping patterns during the summer?
Normally i wake at 06 am and working until daylight is gone means i wont get in bed before 11 pm, so the necessary sleep after lunch is obligatory (it's hot to work anyway).

Velho Barbudo wrote:It seems almost all of we have the same summer conditions, what about sleeping patterns during the summer?
Normally i wake at 06 am and working until daylight is gone means i wont get in bed before 11 pm, so the necessary sleep after lunch is obligatory (it's hot to work anyway).

My summer sleeping is actually very stable overall. 10-11pm in bed and wake up at 5:00-5:30am. I have a room that only has a south facing window, so with double curtains I can sleep earlier(like in july) if I choose to.

I use my siesta time to prepare dinner or read. One of the main reasons for me avoiding the sun is not the heat, but the high UV index. At minimum we've got a 5kph breeze going through most of the time, so it can really mess up your perceptions in regards to heat. I worked through a 38'C day a few years ago and the next morning my back was so burnt I couldn't work that day. This still happens actually, except now it's usually just the back of my neck, which at least won't knock me out for a day.

Where I live we only rarely see temps of 40°C or above, perhaps 2-3 times in the last 15 years.  However, temps between 30-35°C are common from April to October and and we frequently see temps over 20°C even in January.  I usually wear shorts and sandals to work in the garden, even during the winter (on warmer days) so I tend to maintain a tan year round.
Because of our Altitude and Latitude, mid day UV can be quite intense so I usually don't spend much time outside between about 10AM - 2PM

I'm not picky about what kind of material I wear, I usually grab an old pair of PT shorts.  22 years in the military left me with a moderately large collection of those and even though they are 20-30 years old they are still serviceable.

Thank you all for your inputs. I have still another question.
What do you guys do for warm up before outside work? Summer and winter time.
I have been walking for around 30 minutes before i start working and that seems to warm my body nicely.

Velho Barbudo wrote:Thank you all for your inputs. I have still another question.
What do you guys do for warm up before outside work? Summer and winter time.
I have been walking for around 30 minutes before i start working and that seems to warm my body nicely.

I don't start the day with strenuous work in the summer. I'll do basic chores either inside or outside the house, then head off to my plot to do the intensive work. I get overzealous and end up bending my back eventually while working, so I've decided that every hour or so I'll just lay down flat on the ground for a couple minutes.

Not much work to do here in the winter. If there is any, it's spontaneous work where there is only 5 minutes or so to warm up. Lately I've actually been doing jump-rope which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

Shades, need some cheap ass oil rig shades in hot weather, and have a spray filled with home made garden mint ,sage or rosemary aerosol handy for freshness.

Thank you all for your input guys.