[pct-l] trail clothing

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

I have a 1lb 20 degree quilt. I've used it into the 20s, staying warm  
even with frozen water bottles next to me.

Instead of long johns, I slept in my clothes and balaclava. I had  
long underwear to sleep in and changed into it every night until one  
night when I was too tired I just fell asleep in my clothes. When it  
turned out I slept just as well, I ditched the long underwear and  
never looked back. Whenever I was a little chilly, I either wore or  
draped my jacket over me under my quilt like an extra blanket.  
Sometimes, when my pants were wet, I wore my jacket like a skirt. I  
was toasty and happy.

I left my house with 11lbs of gear. It was pre-tested in colder  
conditions than the PCT, and also pre-tested on the PCT itself since  
I did the trail in two long sections. It served me well.

Diane

On Feb 13, 2010, at 9:14 PM, Stephen Adams wrote:

> I don't much like seeping binded up in clothing.  Long johns are  
> enough.  And wearing a bunch of clothing in a sleeping bag only  
> helps a little.  If you had a decent bag it should actually be  
> warmer without all that stuff on.
> Actually starting with a light backpack is the key to lowering your  
> weight.  Lowering your sleeping bag weight will remove that safety  
> factor form your kit.
> My kit excuse me.  My light rig weighs about 10 lbs and includes a  
> 2lb 20 degree bag.  To me sleeping in clothing is uncomfortable,  
> but it is a stop gap if you get in trouble or uncomfortable.  But  
> if it works for you I can't argue that it doesn't.  But I would  
> suggest anyone thinking about this get out there and test out the  
> theory.
> On Feb 13, 2010, at 8:21 PM, Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com  
> wrote:
>
>> My Patagonia down sweater is a very light jacket with only a tiny  
>> bit of down in it. It's not a big puffy thing. It was the most I  
>> ever needed.
>>
>> My philosophy is, if I've got a bunch of clothing I'm not wearing,  
>> my sleeping bag is too warm. Making full use of your things is key  
>> to keeping your pack weight down.
>>
>> Diane
>>
>> On Feb 13, 2010, at 8:02 PM, Stephen Adams wrote:
>>
>>> I'm an old man, and actually live in So Cal.  And my down  
>>> sweater, maybe I meant to say jacket, weighs more like 2lbs or a  
>>> little over.  winter only.  And why didn't you just get a more  
>>> comfortable sleeping bag?
>>> For a light sweater I got the Mountain Hardware Compressor on  
>>> sale and that is a light weight sweater and still only used that  
>>> when the temps really dropped, but never hiked in it.  I'd  
>>> venture to say the Mtn Hdwr sweater is too lightly built to last  
>>> thru a three season of constant use, but I'ma a young old man who  
>>> is hard on things...
>>> On Feb 13, 2010, at 2:11 PM, Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com  
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> My down sweater didn't weigh even 1 lb. I wore it every night in my
>>>> sleeping bag through late June and often in early July, too. I also
>>>> wore it constantly during town visits. It's not always as warm  
>>>> in So
>>>> Cal as you think. I thought it was weight well spent. But I am  
>>>> female
>>>> and might get colder than young men do.
>>>> On Feb 13, 2010, at 1:17 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Do you really need a down sweater that weighs two pounds when you
>>>>> may only wear it for thirty minutes and then only on a few nights
>>>>> when it will more often than not be overkill?
>>>>
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>