The Secret Naturist Handbook

[jbeegoode]

Overview, now a summary of the activities section: From the Secret Naturist Handbook

There is no limit to the number of activities you can do as a secret naturist. In just about every instance, if you can do if while fully clothed you can also do it in secret naturist fashion, totally naked. This section of The Secret Naturist Handbook looks at some of the more usual activities, and not a few more unusual ones, available for those who follow this pastime. The activities included here are those that do not require additional or expensive equipment or specialised training. With the exception of the bicycle or motor vehicle, both of which are in common use, all the activities discussed do not require anything other than yourself. I have also kept the activities listed here to those that I have first hand knowledge and practical experience of under secret naturist field conditions. In other words, I've tried them all myself.

[jbeegoode]

We've finished up the "Activities" section and now move on to the "Clothing" section of the SN Handbook.

Clothing: Overview: From the Secret Naturist Handbook

You might be wondering why a web site devoted entirely to the subject of naturism and secret nudity would have an entire section of the subject of clothing. There are a number of reasons for this.

During any secret naturist outing, the secret naturist will, on most but not all occasions, required the use of clothing when travelling to and returning from the chosen location. Obviously, if they were not to wear clothing problems would occur. Once on location, clothing is still an important matter. In the first instance, it has to be removed quickly and efficiently with a minimum of hassle and fuss. Secondly, should the secret naturist wish to travel ultra-light, they would want their clothing to be minimal in weight and bulk, for ease of carrying.

Should they desire to travel without the burden of clothing, their garments would need to be hidden for later retrieval and a minimum amount of clothing is easier to conceal. The need might also arise in certain circumstances for the secret naturist to dress quickly and clothing that has been chosen with this in mind will allow them to do so without undue haste.

Clothing is also required for protection against the elements such as sun and wind as conditions often do not permit nudity for extended periods, for example, during the winter months when only short periods of outdoor nudity are desirable. Operating in the Great Outdoors also requires clothing that will cope with a wide range of conditions. For example, items of clothing may need to provide good insulation yet be low in bulk for carrying in a small bumbag. They might also have to be quick drying and provide good protection from the suns rays.

As you can see from the above, clothing is very important to the secret naturist and as with all subjects concerning secret naturism, great care and considerable thought goes into the subject of clothing selection, colour, material type, performance, etc. No stitch is left unchecked by the secret naturist.

[jbeegoode]

Backup Clothing: From The Secret Naturist Handbook

To be honest there are not that many occasions when you would need backup clothing, though the main exception is when hiding clothing to travel totally naked. If using this technique, having some form of backup clothing for use should your main clothing be unavailable is good practice.

While it's highly unlikely that your hidden clothing will go amiss, it is not impossible. Even if you follow the guidelines elsewhere in TSNH, that possibility always exists and backup clothing also gives you peace of mind should the worst case scenario actually happen.

Backup clothing consists of enough clothing to get you home while providing decency. In my own view, all you would need are a cheap pair of shorts and a t-shirt. You could also supplement this with a couple of polythene rubbish bags for use as wind and waterproofs should the weather turn for the worst.

If you have a favoured location where you regularly hide clothing, creating a permanent stash of backup clothing might be a good idea. One method I use is to get hold of some cheap and cheerful shorts and t-shirts and hide them on location, using a water and rodent proof container for this purpose. A large coffee jar does the trick but anything else will do equally well. If you have various locations, create a clothing stash at each one. It will only cost a few pounds each.

Another way of ensuring you have backup clothing available is to create a drop bag. My drop bag simply consists of a waterproof stuff sack containing a set of clothing that is hidden near the car when I head off on a secret naturist outing. Should I somehow loose all my clothing there will always be a set near my vehicle. I often use this method to leave my set of waterproofs near the car. This gives me additional clothing to wear should I return to find the vehicle has been stolen. Quite useful when returning after late night outings in remote areas.

My own secret naturist clothing system, by design, also allows me to leave backup clothing on my outings. My shorts and t-shirt form one set and this is usually carried. Jacket and trousers forms another which can be hidden for later use if required. The third, waterproofs, has already been mentioned above.

You might think having backup clothing is a waste of time but I have found myself having to resort to backup clothing when I had been unable to find my main set of clothing hidden under some trees. This was in my early days as a secret naturist and I now take much more care.

[jbeegoode]

I truly love leaving all my clothing behind and venturing out freely. My concerns are usually about animals running off with my pack or clothes, or somebody crawling into them, while I'm gone. I have hung them in a tree. Its like losing a car key, or concern that ones car may be stolen.

It sometimes will limit an excursion to be out with no clothing, if I change my mind and can't follow through because I have no clothes. Like coming across a camp, or town and can't just walk through them naked to get to the other side.

If I'm at camp, it is great to just wander off completely nude at a whim, direction unknown. In that case, the whole of the camp is backup.
Jbee

[Greenbare Woods]

In many places where its uncrowded enough to be hiking naked its also uncrowded at the car park to leave my clothes locked in the trunk.  Keys are easy to hide near the vehicle.  There are sometimes a car park at a crowded picnic area but the trail is rarely used.  In which case I tend to carry my backup outfit in my day pack with my water and emergency first aid kit, etc.

[BlueTrain]

In the one place where I have hiked nude most, there is a rather large parking lot at the trail heads (on opposite sides of the parking lot). I try to arrive at first light and often as not, I'm the first one there. Sometimes there have been no other cars all day, other times two or three. Yet on the aerial view on Bing, the parking lot is full, at least fifty vehicles. That's only visible on the closest magnification and I think it must have been during fall colors. Anyway, I've always started out entirely nude save for footwear but I've always carried something to wear--sometimes not enough. My last trip there was on a rather cool day but it wasn't too cool for nude hiking. But when I reached the ridge, it was another story. I did not bring quite enough to keep comfortably warm while on the ridge. But once off the ridge, it wasn't too bad. I passed another hiker on the way down but I was dressed by then.

Once in early June I had finished a nude hike in the same place, staying nude the entire distance, about a six or seven hour hike. I was sitting in my car, still nude, making notes, when a school bus pulled into the lot and about twenty or thirty grade school kids, some in swimwear, got out and ran (they run everywhere at that age) up the trail I had left not ten minutes earlier. Timing is everything.

[jbeegoode]

Yes, I have gotten myself into some cold temps with little or no backup. It has been a bit of a grace, because, I got my chilled self down back to base quicker, which I needed to do, more than I knew. I move quicker to stay warm and to make sure I don't get way cold. But, I like to enjoy my hikes.

I did that in the Tortolitas, and two canyons, as I remember. The sun goes down behind a hill, or canyon ridge and those shadows drop temps probably 20 degrees from sun to shade. In Agua Fria there was a strong wind all afternoon, which began to howl about shade time. The chill factor was dropping fast. I haven't endangered myself, except maybe that day.

We can cut sometimes more than half of the time that getting to a place takes. We take photos and really get into the nature. Out in Happy Valley, I took nothing, we bushwhacked lots through that canyon and going was a bit slow. To the rear harch was much more reckless, just a little breeze can make a huge difference. It feels urgent, like running out of water in the heat.

Then there was that time in the 1980's when my wife and I took off at night through the neighborhood without watches, BEER in hand. We were at a mile of two distance from the house, when the sun began to brighten the sky around the distant mountains. We high tailed it, but the last of it was spent walking through the neighborhood in daylight. It was fortunately a Sunday morning early.
Jbee

[jbeegoode]

Here's an article about no-back-up policies.

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2017/06/27/on-nudity-without-back-up-coverings/#more-2653

Here's a thread here about "no net":
http://freerangenaturism.com/forum/index.php?topic=1075.0



Jbee

[BlueTrain]

What happens, weather-wise, is, there can be a significant difference between conditions down in the hollows and up on the ridges or between sunlight and shade or between differences in elevation. Those things don't happen all the time, of course, but they can. In the place I frequently mention in hiking from my back door to a local man-made pond or lake, the top of the dam is one interesting place. Sometimes it is a nice place to sit and watch the goings on down on the water. Other times there is a fierce wind blowing. It's also a place where I meet interesting people and talk.

If you stay in the woods or on the level trail alongside the creek, conditions probably won't change much. But there can always be a change in the weather, usually bringing rain. I don't care to walk in the rain, though I have, but I find being out while it's snowing to be delightful. We really don't get much snow around here, though.

[Greenbare Woods]

In the one place where I have hiked nude most, there is a rather large parking lot at the trail heads (on opposite sides of the parking lot). I try to arrive at first light and often as not, I'm the first one there.

This reminds me of when I was visiting in Albuquerque, NM, USA, a couple of years ago.  The east side of Albuquerque is Sandia Mountain which is public land. The last row of homes bordering the wild are more expensive because of the open wild behind.  One of the access points for one of the hiking trails comes down an arroyo (dry river) and then between two expensive homes onto a neighborhood street.  On street parking.   

One morning early before the sun was up I parked on the street and walked between the expensive homes to the arroyo where I looked around for a good place to hide my city clothes.  Its pretty much of a desert so there wasn't any good hiding place.  I finally went back to my car, stripped off, and locked my clothes in the car.  Going back between the homes naked I noticed one of them had a glass wall toward the path, with lights on inside, but nobody was watching for walkers. 

I hiked around the mountain trails for a couple of miles when I came to another trailhead parking, passed a bicycle rider, and then started back toward my car.  I passed a couple of other walkers on my journey back.  It was broad daylight with sunshine by the time I reached the arroyo, passed between the houses, and came naked onto their residential street. I found my car key behind the tire and retrieved my city covers.  Its always disappointing when you have to get covered again.

[BlueTrain]

What I really want when I pull into a parking lot is for no one to be there and sometimes that happens. One time, though, I had parked in said parking lot with no other cars there already. I dutifully set out totally nude, except for shoes and my pack. Somewhere, maybe halfway to the ridge, a runner passed me going the other way. I have no idea where he came from except from the direction I was heading. This particular trail is about ten miles as a circular hike, more or less depending on a couple of alternate routes. It connects with other trails, one of which leads to a supposedly "family" campground not far from where I usually park. There's also another large paved parking lot, picnic shelter, the works, less than a mile away, too (at Elizabeth Furnace). So the trail runner probably came from there. I've been there several times and generally do not see anyone else on the way up but frequently pass people on the way down. I like to go during the week when, in theory, there will be fewer people there. According to one source, the trail gains 2,680 feet from the parking lot to the summit. There are few places along the trail with any view worth mentioning.

There are also trails on the opposite mountain but I've done little hiking over there.

I've had a no clothing outing on my list of things to do but I can only think of two or three places to do that without undue risk. Maybe someday. It's a case of risk with no gain, only a bragging point. I would always carry a light pack no matter what, so there's no gain from not bringing a pair of shorts. One of those places, though, is near my hometown, less than 20 miles away. It isn't a place that attracts hikers and campers from far away (I think) but it's probably well known to local fishermen and bikers (including motorbikes). Access is limited, which helps a little and there's a good view of the New River the entire way. It's where some of my ancestors settled sometime before the revolution. Nobody lives there now. I keep mentioning things like this as a way to encourage myself. We'll see if it helps.

I actually know of one trail in Shenandoah National Park that would be a suitable place for a no clothes hike. But it's not at all scenic and the return involves a steep trail. But it's closer.

By the way, it snowed here yesterday. We still have about an inch on the deck.

[jbeegoode]

Basic Layer: From The Secret Naturist Handbook

After many years practical experience I've found that my basic layer of clothing consists of simply a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I find that these two items helps me to best cope with both ground and weather conditions, while also allowing me to present an appearance of normality to members of the public.

Some fellow enthusiasts have commented that these two items could be reduced to less, perhaps just a pair of shorts, or even a g-string. However, in this part of the world wearing only these items does look out of place and I think it important to "blend in" with the other people at the locality being visited. Having said that, I do have a basic layer that could be regarded as being less. A pair of running shorts and a running vest are about the minimum I would consider for my basic layer.

Your basic layer need not be anything fancy, just about any shorts and t-shirts will do fine. However, if planning to carry your clothing with you, look for lightweight items that take up little space in your bumbag.

One important characteristic for shorts is the ability to be taken off and put on over footwear. I find that baggy shorts permit this to happen. Too often in the past I have found myself falling over when trying to pull on shorts that will barely fit over my footwear.

There are all manner of lightweight and low bulk shorts on the market and it is very much a matter of personal preference what you prefer. My own preference is for synthetic materials that dry quickly and are lightweight, for example, swimming shorts with the pockets and liners removed. These can be picked up for a few pounds in end of season sales. This low price also allows you to purchase spares for use as backup clothing.

The same applies to t-shirts. Any old cotton t-shirt will do the job but I find that so-called "technical" t-shirts from outdoor shops will provide better protection from the sun and also warmth, than cheap versions. Again, cheap cotton t-shirts can be bought for a few pounds and make ideal backup clothing.

This basic layer, comprising of shorts and t-shirt, forms only one of three layers of clothing in my secret naturist clothing system. The second layer includes both a lightweight jacket and lightweight long trousers. The third comprises a set of lightweight waterproofs. These allow me a great deal of flexibility to cope with varying weather conditions and terrain. When hiding clothing I can also hide each set separately for greater security against loss.

With respect to clothing colours, there are two ways of looking at it. One is to go for light coloured clothing that closely matches your skin colour. The theory being that if seen naked from a distance ad then later seen while clothed, some doubt may be cast that you were actually naked at all. I have witnessed this on one occasion.

The other option that can prove useful at times, particularly when active at night is to go for dark coloured clothing. When the need arises for you to do a quick vanishing act, slipping on dark coloured clothing helps you achieve this. Studies completed by some martial arts groups have shown that dark red or burgundy is the best colour for not showing up at night, not black as you would expect. However, I also think that dark grey is also quite effective.

[Greenbare Woods]

This basic layer, comprising of shorts and t-shirt, forms only one of three layers of clothing in my secret naturist clothing system. The second layer includes both a lightweight jacket and lightweight long trousers. The third comprises a set of lightweight waterproofs. These allow me a great deal of flexibility to cope with varying weather conditions and terrain. When hiding clothing I can also hide each set separately for greater security against loss.

That's what I usually carry when I'm worried that I may need some cover. Shorts and T. 

With respect to clothing colours, there are two ways of looking at it. One is to go for light coloured clothing that closely matches your skin colour. The theory being that if seen naked from a distance ad then later seen while clothed, some doubt may be cast that you were actually naked at all. I have witnessed this on one occasion.

Light color stands out against the woods in daylight.  The woods are dark, almost black.  Leaves do a really good job of soaking up sunshine.   Some years ago they repainted large water tanks in the woods above Los Alamos where I lived.  They chose a light tan color.  It stood out like a sore thumb against the dark green and black woods.  Naked people probably stand out too until late in the summer.

The other option that can prove useful at times, particularly when active at night is to go for dark coloured clothing. When the need arises for you to do a quick vanishing act, slipping on dark coloured clothing helps you achieve this. Studies completed by some martial arts groups have shown that dark red or burgundy is the best colour for not showing up at night, not black as you would expect. However, I also think that dark grey is also quite effective.

I would go with black or very dark brown for hiding in a woods at any time of day or night.  Even the pinion and juniper they have in NM are mostly black if you stand near them. 

[jbeegoode]

I don't see the need to blend in with the locals so much. Perhaps times have changed. I assume that this has mostly to do with day hiking. I'm not concerned that anyone knows that I am free hiking, just that they don't get offended by my less legal parts.

 I wear a sarong often for this. I'll often put on a kilt in more public areas that a trailhead. The leg holes are a problem when in a hurry, with shoes and all.

The kilt is camouflage, the sarong is dull green. I'd wear a camo sarong if I had one.

At night, dark grey, even black works great. The fashion is that in DF's neighborhood, and these shadows are hard to spot. Still, seldom but when I do get out at night, the kilt is fine. The see the kilt, not the nude. I sometimes wear a sweatjacket with a hood if the temp is down or, I'm out in the Tortolita neighborhood. It has front pockets and pulling it down with them, one must assume that there are shorts under, or that the stuff is covered enough.

A t-shirt isn't necessary, if the weather is good enough for shorts or nude. Sunburn is a concern, but a sarong on the shoulders is good enough.

People assume that you are clothed. I have my mailpouch shoulder bag that shifts in front of me if I see anyone that can see me. perhaps a tan sarong would work as suggested.
Jbee
 

[jbeegoode]

Footwear: From The Secret Naturist Handbook

Personally, on secret naturist outings, I much prefer to walk barefoot where ground conditions permit rather than wear any form of footwear. It seems to me that you are only truly naked when you are without clothing and also barefoot. Anything less just isn't the same.

During my early days as a secret naturist, I wore my normal footwear and that was my hiking boots but soon found these cumbersome and awkward. Then I started wearing training shoes and while this was great improvement over boots, I still did not feel truly naked. Next, I bought a pair of sports sandals and finally found the ideal footwear for secret naturist adventures.
The great benefit of sports sandals is that they provide a mid-point between wearing footwear and going barefoot. They provide protection to the soles of the feet yet allow the feet to be almost naked. Admittedly not quite going barefoot but as near as you can get. You do still have to take care not to stub toes on rocks and branches but that just takes a little practice.
Sports sandals are also great for when conditions are wet underfoot, such as after rain and even when skinny dipping. They are easily cleaned and tend not to start to smell and eventually rot as do trainers.

Some have commented that you must wear proper protective footwear when outdoors and to a point I agree with them. However, I've worn both boots and sandals on the same routes and have only ever twisted an ankle while wearing boots! With sandals you tend to take your time and look more carefully where you step. I even wear sports sandals when nude cycling or mountain biking.

There are few good tips for getting the most from sports sandals when using them on secret naturist outings. When walking along level ground they can be worn loose or lightly fastened. On rough or sloping terrain tighten up the straps to stop your feet sliding inside the sandal. Its also worth noting that sandals are quite useless when muddy as your feet slip around no matter how tight the straps are.

When purchasing sports sandals for secret naturist use, go for models that are fully made from synthetic materials. These are much easier to clean than natural fabrics such as leather. Velcro straps are also more practical than buckles but can be a bit noisy when you don't want to be heard. You also want the best gripping soles you can find, ones that will provide secure footing on wet grass and the like.

I find sandals really practical on secret naturist outings as you don't have to worry about getting wet feet. You can cross streams, rivers and even bogs without bothering too much about getting wet or mucky. Everything is easily cleaned up afterwards by simply washing in a handy stream. I find them particularly useful for protecting the feet when at the coast, either from sharp rocks, glass or shell fragments.