If you spend time in the mountains, you have probably felt this before. You stay warm while hiking uphill, but the moment you stop, a sudden chill runs through your body. Even in cold seasons, sweat builds up without you noticing because sweating is inevitable during physical activity. Rain or snow can also penetrate your clothing and leave your layers damp.
These conditions often lead to what we call "sweat chill" or "wet chill". Your body shivers to restore temperature, burning energy and increasing fatigue. In more serious situations, this can raise the risk of hypothermia. This is especially risky in backcountry environments where conditions change fast.
Even the Best Base Layer Has Limitations (Including Ours)
A base layer’s job is to wick moisture and dry quickly. In theory, if it dried instantly, you would stay dry and warm all the time. But in real conditions, moisture does not disappear that easily.
Sweat chill happens when a wet base layer clings to your skin and pulls heat away as it dries. No matter how advanced the fabric is, once it becomes saturated and sticks to your body, it will start cooling you down. Modern quick-drying technologies, including those in our Finetrack base layers, have improved significantly. Even so, a fully soaked base layer can take up to seventy minutes to dry completely. That number will never reach zero.
Layering an insulated jacket on top does not solve the root problem. As long as a wet garment is touching your skin, it continues to draw heat away.
The Goal Is Simple: Keep Your Skin Dry
So we shifted our perspective and asked a different question.
What if we added a thin barrier between your skin and the wet base layer to keep your body dry at all times?
For this barrier to work, it needs to repel moisture so it does not absorb sweat. At the same time, it must allow sweat to pass through so the base layer above it can continue wicking effectively. And because no one wants extra bulk, this piece must be ultralight and extremely thin.
If a garment could achieve all of these things, it would create an entirely new approach to moisture management. This is the foundation of the Dry Layering system.
Dry Layering is the practice of wearing a water-repellent, next-to-skin layer underneath your high-performance, sweat-wicking base layer. This thin barrier helps keep your skin dry even when the base layer becomes wet from sweat, rain, or snow.
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Just Add One Extra Layer Under Your Usual Base Layer
The Elemental Layer and your base layer work together to create the Dry Layering system.
The Elemental Layer is an ultralight, water-repellent mesh worn directly against the skin, under your regular quick-drying base layer. This single addition significantly reduces sweat chill and wet chill.
By forming a dry barrier on the skin while still allowing sweat to pass through to the base layer, the Elemental Layer helps prevent that cold, sticky feeling when your base layer becomes wet. The result is improved comfort and safety during hiking, mountaineering, skiing, and many other high-output outdoor activities.
The Elemental Layer is trusted by many professionals, and about ninety percent of general users reported a clear reduction in sweat chill.
It is a small piece that makes a big difference. Once you experience Dry Layering, it becomes hard to go back.
Shop L1 Elemental Layer
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