I took a hike at lunch today. Just a couple miles around the mountain I live on. It was 14deg, windy, and sunny. Had a base layer of Patagonia silk weight capilene, Prana Zion pants, Salomon Quest boots, Kuiu Yukon Pro Gloves, polartech beanie and a ~45-50lb pack (Kifaru Reckoning). Started by adding a Kuhl Interceptor fleece. Not bad. Retained a little moisture, arms were a little cold. Probably not the best for me due to lack of moisture management, but not terrible. Swapped the Kuhl fleece out for a Guide DCS jacket. I was surprised, my arms were now very cold. The relatively tight fit of the sleeves and the apparent lack of insulating properties of that jacket didn't work well at all. I did like the hood. I've never been much of a hoody user, but I may rethink that. Keeping the wind off the neck was nice. I could just use a gaiter. Lastly, I switched to Mountain Hardware wind stopper jacket. It's pretty old so I don't know what a comparable model is today. Anyway, of the three it was by far the best. Putting it on was instant warmth, but I never got clammy or overly sweaty. It has pit zips but they were closed. That jacket, with a hood would be perfect. It also fits so that my kuiu super down fits well underneath for when stopped, or just around camp. Only drawbacks are it is not water resistant and it's black. I don't need camo, but black is probably not preferred. Just a nice earth tone would be fine. Edit: The gloves. Not sure I understand the design. They are relatively thick in the palms, but very thin on the back. The back of my hands felt almost numb from cold, especially side facing into wind, while the palm side was toasty. Weird.
My plan for the base layer is to have 2. Probably the capilene and maybe an aerowool. They are so light and small its not much of a penalty to carry an extra and then I can simply rinse one in a creek and hang in tent during the day. Maybe have to do that once over a 5 day hunt.
Last edited by prm; 01/05/18.
