Winter gear on a budget for newbs

Try some of these for pants: https://sweepingthegarden.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/liner-cold-weather-trousers-mens-field-nylon-quilted/

Good call Craig :-)

for under a $100 you can buy gen III ECWCS Level 7 primaloft pants and jacket combined. around camp and properly layered -10*f shouldn't be a problem. A long underwear top and bottom set should easily come in at under $30, probably closer to $20. soft shell pants will be in the $30 to $60 range. I'm guessing for under $200 (excluding foot wear) you could put together fairly comprehensive kit. it might not be the lightest, or the most colorful, but your friends won't be cold. All of what you'd purchase for this trip can easily be repurposed or resold. for sleeping bags, there are always relatively inexpensive options on ebay and craigslist, but I'd also check into the cost of renting a bag. good luck and have fun.

I bought a Marmot Never Summer 0F 650 down bag at Campmor for about $250 around 2009. They're about 3.5-4 pounds, but accurately rated. Throw a synthetic 30F quilt or bag over that, and it should easily be good to -10F. The suggestions above for military surplus gear are great. I got a 3 pack of Swedish gauntlet leather/polycotton mittens with thin wool liners for $20. Surplus wool pants are a good softshell substitute, and much better around the campfire anyway. For dry-cold, cotton Swedish anoraks or "snow parkas" make a great softshell, often ranging from $10-40.

SOL Escape Bivvy 8.5oz (or the Lite 5.5oz) could help bring down the temps of a lighter bag. I will be testing it this winter to give my 40F quilt a little more kick. South Louisiana doesn’t get below freezing often so this might be an inexpensive way to align my system with the environment. Richard Nisley’s tests rate it at R2, comparable to eVent in breathability and as water proof as most WP items in the Ultralight industry. Cezar Valdez uses it as part of his sleep system with 40F synthetic to get down to 34-27F range. RevHiker on Youtube claims he’s used it with clothing “down to the mid 30’s” or so. Sorry about the mind dump. Obviously I’ve been looking into this thing.

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re: liner pants A tip, get the long ones. The regular length versions are sized for combat boots. The "long" ones work better with the footwear most people use outside of ski boots.

Thanks all, Will pass all this great info on to my friends.

If you shop at Uniqlo (online or in-store) with an eye towards suitable clothing there is actually a lot of great gear for hiking and backpacking at a reasonable price. Some noteworthy items are their UL Down line, fleece jackets and lightweight windbreakers. Last year they also had cheap but nice fleece-lined synthetic pants!

Stephen, Backcountry has a pretty good deal on the Kelty Cosmic 0 degree bag…I think it's around $217 or so.

I love those fleece-lined nylon stretchy pants from Uniqlo. They have men's and women's versions. Great for hiking, also for winter bike commutes. Surprisingly flattering for a garment so warm! What are your friends using for sleeping pads? That was the one thing I cheaped out on when I first started going out in winter temps, and immediately regretted it.

Cheers guys, will pass this on. They have R5 pads they got on the Big agnes sale (along with a tent)

You may find something that fits your puffy jacket needs here: http://www.montbell.us/products/list.php?p=all&cat_id=20&gen_cd=1&fo_flg=1

A pair of down booties will make a lesser sleeping bag sleep warmer. Take two sleeping pads, and two cheaper sleeping bags. If its really winter drag a sled with gear on it, so you can take the two sleeping bags. Wool Army pants are cheap and warm. A summer weight and relatively cheap dome tent can work in winter, because all the sides are sloped so they shed snow. Take a piece of thin plywood to serve as a stove deck, so your stove doesn't melt into the snow. Cook frozen food like potatoes o'brien, and add precooked bacon and fresh eggs to it. Rather than using a tent, build a snow trench, which will be a lot warmer than a tent.

A few decades ago I backpacked into the Allegheny National Forest in January with a student. He and I had my summer synthetic mummy bags and closed cell mattresses AND synthetic K-Mart long johns and booties. It was -5 F. both nights according to an official weather station 500 ft. above our camp altitude so it was at least that low at camp. We both were warm with our insulated suits as well as having our insulated coats zipped up and covering the bottom 1/3 of our sleeping bags. We both wore knit balaclavas and glove liners. Since that time I've often used insulated mid layer pants and jacket in 3 season and winter bags for staying warm in temps down to -22 F. So by now I think you get that I recommend using insulated pants and jackets to extend the range of your sleeping bags.