How much warmth are you looking for while wearing the Kuiu DCS Guide? It’s tough to get much insulation under the Guide and thus retain the benefits of the Guide as an outer layer. The Kuiu Superdown puffy isn’t bad at all under the Guide, but it won’t be comparable to a true warm puffy like the Chamberlin if your glassing or otherwise not active. As for the Kelvin Active, if you wear it under the Guide it will defeat the purpose of the Kelvin Active, that is to breath well. I don’t wear my Guide much anymore. I do think there are times a shell is useful, mostly limited to areas where I’ll be hiking through a lot of brush or things where a light jacket such as the Kelvin Active or Arc’teryx Atom would not hold up well. The issue with the guide I have is it neither breathes real well in warmer conditions nor does much when it’s really cold. However, if I’m moving through the woods around my house or retrieving a deer nearby, I need something like the Guide otherwise the briars will destroy softer jackets.
Last edited by prm; 01/03/19.
