Lamont wrote:What sort of minimum temp extremes might you be talking overseas? Minus 15,20?
I guess the coldest I plan on doing is alpine Nepal so -20?
I think I'm more or less settling on the base layer and hard shell, but mid layer, and puffy/insulation layers are what keeps getting me confused.
Because there's all the advice to 'layer' very distinct layers, but then you get items like the nano-air which have this pseudo 2 layer function but provide way more versatility and less need to swap out layers & provide a more comfortable range.
And with puffys - I wanna get something that's warm whilst around camp, but not sure how warm I need to get given Australia/South america won't ever get that cold.
Moondog55 wrote:Almost anything synthetic will work here in Australia in winter if worn over those other layers but it is the lower temperatures in the high places that down would be more effective.
My understanding is that the NanoAir is usually worn next to the skin or over an UL base layer and not over a LW fleece.
My own experience above the snowline has seen me switch back and forth between down and Polargard and at the moment I am using either the old style Patagonia DAS parka or one of the US surplus clones [ the L-7 layers of the PCU system] because our soggy winter climate means we need more insulation to counter the humidity.
Warin may be right in one sense but I wear my synthetic puffy as an outer layer over my shell as in your first post, but I get belay parka cut garments too do so and pay the weight penalty for doing so.
Base layer plus NanoAir plus shell should cover almost all active parts of the day so a layer to wear when static?
Patagonia Nanopuff adds about 10C for me so OK for pottering around camp but not warm enough to bivvy in for my old body, for that I need the DAS or something with at least 300 grams of down.
Also important and not on your list is leg insulation, while your legs may not feel the cold as much you lose a lot of heat from the femoral area of your legs and this area needs as much insulation as your top.head and feet.
As Lamont asks; what minimum temperatures are you looking at ? -30 for Everest region with high winds would mean something different from Patagonia where I believe it has both very high winds and soggy conditions.
I think for a synthetic parka you need something with at least 100GSM of fill for Australia as a belay parka, other people I know can get away with and be comfortable with 40 or 60GSM insulation when used in conjunction with a couple of LW fleece layers. More important is fit, most of the clothing I see now isn't cut to layer and you need to go up a size or two in each layer to maintain a 5 to 7mm airgap between each layer, this can make the belay parka pretty big and bulky in the pack
Thanks for your insight! The Patagonia DAS looks like a serious beast. I've heard people hiking basecamp with mountain hardware ghost whisperer as their puffy so why do you recommend such a heavy duty puffy? I'm not sure what I'm missing lol