There's no doubt a great sense of freedom and separation from the stress of the world is to be found in walking the countryside with nothing, absolutely nothing, no clothes, no shoes, no possessions. But is naturist hiking a good enough approximation to that? Walking in boots and socks, wearing a hat, toting a rucksack and carrying a cover-up garment, you might think yourself so nearly dressed that you might as well be. Wear a T-shirt to stop the rucksack rubbing and you're more nearly a flasher than a naturist. You need to be a hermit, or to have a accomplice to come along and carry or to meet at dressing and refreshment points. Wouldn't it be good to be able to walk really naked in accessible places.

What is the best cover-up garment for walking in the countryside? It depends. For men, by far the easiest is a wrap-around skirt or kilt, Velcro-fastened. Properly-designed, this can be light, can roll up to something very easy to carry and can be put on quickly and easily. The alternative of some kind of shorts is more awkward especially if it's necessary to get them on over boots. On the other hand, once on, shorts are more conventional. Casually wrapping on a kilt shows the intention of being ready to cover-up so as to not cause offence without trying to hide the fact that you really want to walk naked, which is exactly what some may want to say, whereas hopping around trying to put shorts on might look more furtive. Many regular walkers devise their own system, often based on shorts split in various ways so that they wrap rather than go over the feet. Many of these suffer from there being no easy way to fasten between the legs without bending and fiddling. One good idea I have seen is to split just one side and to wear the other side around one ankle; deployment is then a simple matter of pulling them up that one leg and wrapping around the other. It's harder for women, especially if wearing a backpack. I have seen it done, but I didn't ask the details.