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

[Sabina Saib]

Hi Paul,
I remember that when I hiked in upstate NY in the
winter, we made a campfire and heated rocks to take to
bed to stay warm.  I do not know if you can have a
fire on this part of the trail.  I also remember that
we had to be careful not to heat up sedimentary
rocks-the ones with layers-because they can explode.
Sabina
--- Paul Mitchell <paul at bluebrain.ca> wrote:

> 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
> 
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