[pct-l] Keeping a VERY skinny guy warm in SoCAL

[Paul Mitchell]

Hi all

Well, I couldn't be more excited ... my two buddies have both confirmed
they're coming down for two weeks to start the trail with me!  I'm SUPER
happy that they're going to get to experience a couple weeks of this amazing
trail, and I'm pretty sure it'll be a life-changing experience that couldn't
come at a better time for both of them.

So, even though I know fairly well what works for me as I've done a good
sized chunk of California, these guys are built pretty different than I am
and I need to help them make some gear choices.  I've got a couple questions
for the list.

The first thing I'm worried about is that one of these guys is very skinny.
I mean, roughly zero percent body fat.  He hates the cold, and because he
has no insulation, he gets cold easy.  I know how cold it can get in SoCal,
so I need to make sure we get him enough layers to be warm at night.

I already have three sleeping bags, all of them are ultra-light bags so not
super warm on their own.

So, let's say we get him the typical layers - underlayer, his hiking
clothes, a down flight jacket - and then what else would be best to add so
that he can stay warm both in camp and in his bag?  I was thinking perhaps
we'd get him the warmest jacket we can find, even if it's on the heavy side,
get him an extra fleece layer, and a bag liner.

So, in camp he'd have his silk (or whatever) underlayer, then fleece, then
possibly his hiking clothes, then the jacket, toque, mittens, etc, and in
his bag a liner should really warm things up, no?

On the topic of down jackets, I found a couple at a local store.  One was
900 fill goose down but didn't have a lot of loft, another was 750 fill
goose down but had more than double the loft.  I would think the 750 would
be warmer?  Better quality fill isn't going to be warmer if there's half as
much of it, no?

Any other suggestions from hikers who tend to get cold?  Since these guys
are only on the trail for two weeks, there's no time to make gear changes so
we need to get it right from the start.

Ah, what a great feeling ... brainwashing friends into hitting the trail!
:-)

Paul