The Well-Outfitted Traveler

Photo: Frank W. Ockenfels 3

When Heather MacLeod is not quite as well-outfitted as she is here, she's attired in tight stockings and uncomfortable suits, brooking the boys in cigar-smoke-filled boardrooms as a financial-services marketing consultant in New York City. But she frequently leaves it all behind to work as an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School. Or to climb peaks all around the lower 48. Or to journey farther afield to bag others in India, Alaska, and Bolivia. Look for her this year atop Ama Dablam in Nepal. En route, she'll forsake DKNY for slightly more practical traveling duds and accessories like these: Timberland Ute rolling convertible pack, Eagle Creek Large Cargo Gear Bag, The North Face Kit Bag, Cascade Designs PackTowl Combo, Pangaea Atlas Travel Document Holder, Woolrich Destination Jacket, Motorola TalkAbout 280 SLK and SLK Arm Pack, The North Face Santa Monica Pullover and Timbuktu Pants, and Wigwam Ultimax Travel-Lite crew socks.

LUGGAGE

Convertible travel packs are the ticket for adventure trips that'll also see you into civilization. Wear one as a backpack for trekking or airport schlepps; then zip away the straps and it's a suitable-about-town suitcase. JanSport's Fiji ($180) is neatly organized, with side pockets, a sleeping-bag compartment, and a 1,500-cubic-inch zip-off daypack. Don't load the 7,300-cubic-inch main pack to the hilt, though; the pillowy straps aren't up to heavy loads. More streamlined is the Pangaea Expatriate (6,200 cubic inches; $200), with a tidy front organizer pocket; a zip-off, 1,000-cubic-inch lumbar pack; and dense foam straps that can bear more weight than you'll want to carry. Wheels can handle more than your sacroiliac can, but most retractable-handle rollaboards are made for trips to Milwaukee, not Bolivia. However, Timberland's Ute ($225) is a 3,800-cubic-inch brute on in-line skate wheels with a clean and low-key look. Shoulder straps (no hipbelt, alas) get you where wheels won't. Or dispense with all the folderol and just portage a good duffel, like Eagle Creek's Large Cargo Gear Bag (3,600 cubic inches; $100). Its big side pockets seclude boots and damp gear from the rest of your neatly packed goods. High Sierra's Drop-Bottom Gear Bag (4,900 cubic inches; $105) puts a padded isolation chamber underneath the main compartment; the bottom drawer is big enough for boots, stout enough to protect dressy duds.

CLOTHING

Throw out everything you know about packing and jettison all your bulky, slow-drying cotton garb. A few low-bulk synthetic pieces that sink-rinse and dry overnight can see you through months on the road. Ex Officio's Active Tee (men's and women's, $38) is the rare synthetic base layer that doesn't look like underwear, and the breathable polyester fabric just can't stay damp. Same goes for the svelte polyester Women's Heathered Tank ($24) from The North Face. Both layer nicely under a roomy long-sleeve shirt, like the Ex Officio Wayfarer (men's, $68; women's, $64), made of a soft cotton-polyester blend, with snaps in place of vulnerable buttons, roll-up sleeve tabs, and hidden zippered chest pockets.

The most versatile trousers around are the nylon Royal Robbins Zip 'n' Go Pant (men's and women's, $74). As long pants, its gusseted cuffs slide easily over shoes or boots. As shorts, the zip-off legs stash in their own pouch. New favorite pants are BertramMann's elastic-waist Men's Alpine Chino ($97), which uses a supple, slightly stretchy blend of nylon, polyester, and elastic that's strong enough for beating through brush, yet utterly nonclammy. Women can pick up a few style points with Timbuktu Pants from The North Face ($58), a very lightweight nylon number with a contoured fit and drawstring-closing waist. The most comfortable travel shorts I've worn are the new six-pocket Pursueder Short from Zoic ($50). Their extremely strong Supplex/Cordura fabric has swatches of stretchy, airy Spandura in the gusseted crotch and waist for mobility when you're chasing a train in Djakarta, and breathability when you find a place to sit. Some shorts do double duty: TravelSmith's Guide Shorts ($46) manifest a swim-trunks-style mesh liner (in the men's version) beneath a supple nylon hiking-short shell.

The go-light/dry-fast policy applies also to underlayers. CoolMax UltraLight Performance briefs (men's and women's, $14) from Duofold dry so fast that you need only a couple pairs for any trip. The same goes for Wigwam's Ultimax Travel-Lite crew socks ($9.50), which weave CoolMax with nylon, acrylic, and spandex.

Up top, the new tumbled-fleece Men's Santa Monica Pullover from The North Face ($98) is a light but warm middle layer, yet it's dressy enough for a night out in one of New Delhi's better eateries. Woolrich's 21-ounce, water-resistant/breathable Destination Jacket ($80) does double-duty in a different way: When not a shell, it's a 1,300-cubic-inch duffel bag, with room to spare for lunch and a Santa Monica Pullover. Top yourself off with a Tilley T3 hat ($49): Its cotton/polyester canvas fabric can survive duffel-stuffing or most any other abuse.

ACCESSORIES

Sometimes the gizmos are as much fun as the getting there. To wit, the Swiss Army Brand Midnight Messenger ($38), a two-inch knife/scissors/opener that adds a retractable pen plus a red, find-the-keyhole light--but no toothpick. For better illumination, don the xenon-beam Pelican VersaBrite ($20), the lightest hands-free light on the market. The PackTowl Combo from Cascade Designs ($25) is perfect for the trekking/hosteling circuit: A quick-drying, ultra-absorbent towel comes with a container of biodegradable soap, and both tuck into a case that's part mesh (for the towel) and part zip-sealing plastic (for maps).

Organization is always a challenge. Eagle Creek's Pack-It System tames the tangle in your pack with pouches of see-through mesh and Cordura; get the Half Cube ($10) for socks and undertrou, the Cube ($12) for T-shirts and travel trousers. Similarly, the Atlas Travel Document Holder from Pangaea ($25) consolidates passport, tickets, credit cards, and oversize funny money in a slim, water-resistant, 11-by-6.5-inch case. The North Face's Kit Bag ($34) does the same for toiletries in a three-compartment bag (11 by seven by three inches) that hangs securely from a buckled nylon loop. Or go with the more compact Travel Kit (ten by six by six inches), a one-chamber bag from TerraPax ($30), made from organic hemp.

Finally, I'm a recent convert to the kicky advantages of the Talk About 280 SLK ($400/pair), the smallest of Motorola's two-mile-range two-way radios, which carries nicely via the TalkAbout SLK Arm Pack ($20). Just strap one on and your partner can track you, whether on the trail or in a labyrinthine souk. As in, "Sweetie, I'm about to buy some giant authentic native carvings. The man says Ronald Reagan bought one just last week." —ROBERT EARLE HOWELLS

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