Africa Tour wear
 

Hi All,
Recently did a ride through Africa from Morocco to the Congo and had a few ideas on what to wear. The ride was August to November.

I brought a new AGV AX8 dual sport helmet and was not disappointed. Comfy, very light and great venting. It did get a bit hot at times so I just wore some safety sun glasses with the shield open. Watch the bugs though!.
My jacket was a Held Hakuna. I chose this due to the large amounts of vents. These did not really help due to the humidity and high temps. This jacket was very hot. Any full coverage jacket will be very hot in these conditions. I think a full mesh jacket or a dirt bike armour mesh jacket would be ideal. The dirt bike armour with an over jacket would provide enough protection while still being cool enough and, with the over jacket, waterproof.
I wore Klim Chinook pants which I would highly recommend. They were comfy, had massive thigh vents and handy pockets. No armour though so separate knee armour worked well.
My boots were Sidi Adventures and apart from the squeaking were fantastic. Comfy and waterproof without being too hot.
You really just need very light gloves with plenty of venting. I took a pair of over gloves just in case but didn't need them.
For wet weather I wore over pants and jacket rather than stuff around with the internal liner in the Held jacket. With all the small storms I stopped using my wet weather gear as it took longer to put it on than to ride through the rain storm. I found it was that hot a bath was refreshing and I dried out pretty quickly.
I think if I was going again I would go with dirt bike armour and an over jacket for rain/cooler temps. I would definitely use the AGV helmet, Klim pants and Sidi boots again.

I've done hot/cold/wet rides with my gore tex Klim jacket & pants and have been satisfied. Why not a textile jacket with good venting?

The Held Hakuna jacket is covered with vents. The main issue was the humidity especially in towns/traffic where I wasn't moving very fast. If I was going again I would definitely go for the dirt bike armour even though I'd look like a storm trooper!.

Jack's got it right! In high heat & humidity vents aren't enough. Mesh works well if supplemented with decent armor. I do the same ... and also use light weight rain jacket and rain pants over dirt bike desert gear.

The KLIM Chinook pants seem very good, I've not tried them but have used similar dirt pants for years using my own knee and hip pads. In super heat I don't use a back protector ... risky yes ... but you can also die of heat stroke.
I stow my regular ADV jacket in heat. (it has built in protection) The Klim Baja and Mojave pants are both better in heat than the Chinook, but the Chinook is more versatile.

Riding in 35 to 40C temps with 90% humidity can destroy those not accustom to it. Takes a while to acclimate. Keep moving and always park in the shade. Drink water constantly, steady small sips is best.

Gore-Tex is actually a major hindrance in high heat. It does not really "breathe"
Remember: Gore-Tex was designed to work in the COLD ... not the heat.
(like for cross country skiers and Winter hikers) Gore-Tex seals you up and par boils you. Go MESH.

I did a trip in Southern Africa and was quite comfortable in my Klim Chinooks, a compression suit and Darien shell. When it was hot, no Darien. When it rained i put the Darien on over my compression suit and slipped on Frogg Togg pants. BTW I took all of the armor out if the Darien and used it as a shell. Rode in the 30's upto the 90's, rain or shine and very comfy.