[pct-l] Insulating Layers

[patch at aidshike.org (Dr. Patch O'Malley IV)]

It seems to be a less popular technique, but I love my down sweater that 
I took last year. Ounce for ounce, it was incredibly warm...however, as 
they say, you can't get it wet. Especially if you are carrying a down 
sleeping bag that might get wet at the same time. The margin for error 
on a wet day goes down drastically when you start carrying down clothes, 
a down sleeping bag, no pack cover, a thin ground pad, no spare clothes 
and a tarp.

I guess the question here is, how much risk are you willing to take? If 
you're experienced with keeping things dry, and prepared for the 
consequences - Down is awesome, and can't be beat ounce for ounce. 
But...If you don't have a lot of wet weather experience, and you have a 
family to provide for the other eight months of the year, perhaps 
synthetic is the way to go.

That said, my vote is down all the way. It's fluffy, warm and light. 
When it's too warm to wear your down clothes to bed, you've got one hell 
of a pillow. My choice was the patagonia down sweater, which I think 
they still make, though you don't hear much about it cause it's goofy 
looking.

-patch


stillroaming wrote:

>Given the weight of fleece it's not really a good choice these days with so
>many better options.
>
>Synthetics such as primaloft and polarguard are good due to their
>performance when wet. Down tends to be the lightest and warmest, but useless
>when wet.
>
>Marmot and GoLite have good synthetic products of varying degrees of
>insulation.
>
>Hope that helps!
>Scott
>
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