28oz down or 15 oz down + Cocoon parka and pants

I'd go with the 15 ounce bag plus clothes, otherwise you could be pretty miserable while waiting for your food to cook.

Those Cocoon beg to be used at camp and in bed, so it would make sense to me to use them. My view is that if you get into bed cold, it's very hard to warm up. However I would also look at the Summerlite , for the extra 3 oz (yes, I know….) you get a full zip and continuous baffles, adding tremendously to the versatility of the system.
This is particularly so if you sleep on your back; shift the down to the top and you gain a several more degrees .
Of course you need to work out if you can stand wearing the Cocoon at night.

Franco

> Those Cocoon beg to be used at camp and in bed,
Like this:?

Both a Cocoon jacket (blue) and a Cocoon hood.
Well, it got down to about freezing that night, and we were using UL summer quilts.

Yes, you can feel the bulk of the Cocoon in bed, but when it is cold enough you just don't care!

Yes, we were warm enough. :-)

Cheers

.

Dave T. Interesting. The more I read about hikers experiences on the PCT the more I notice that most of them carried a 20F down bag. And most of them carried just one bag all the way. Also, those who didn't carry one, wished they had and recommend others to do so.

Also, just received YOGI's PCT hand bood and that confirmed the same.

I guess for small hikes of just 2 weeks or so the fuss of changing into and out of sleeping clothes is not that big a deal. But, in a hike of about 6 months this process could be real pain every day.

But, in I am worried about the Sierra's will a 40 F bag with the Cocoon pants and jacket even cut it. Also, can I use cocoon pro jacket as normal wear during the day. I was worried about its durabality for these tasks. I reckon gear for PCT requires durability more than anything else.

I am just under 6 pound base pack weight with my current gearlist.

This sounds encouraging. Now there is the question of durability. Yes, 3oz extra for Summerlite is definitely worth considering.

I know this is subjective, but what was the lowest temp you went and still found this system effective.

.

I carried the mtn hardwear phantom 15 plus a montbell thermawrap inner jacket. I found that usually I just wanted to crawl in my bag at the end of the day, so camp clothes weren't really necessary. However, my friend and I were pretty typical 19 year olds so we started hiking late every day and slacked, so we were almost always hiking a little into the dark. I slept in the montbell every night it was cold, and it is unbelievably flat at this point which leads me to doubt the longevity of the cocoons, particularly for a trip that long. As was noted, the coldest parts are the start, the sierra, and then northern washington. I wouldn't want to be facing weather in the northern cascades with a compromised sleeping system. If I did it again I'd carry less weight and use a quilt, bivy and tarp combo. One big advantage of the quilt that I was envious of was the vastly increased drying time over a down bag.

Oh, and I think you said you were going to take an atlantis wool hoody, which I would get rid of. A powerstretch shirt would be far lighter for the warmth, and a warm layer for hiking beyond a rain shell was totally unnecessary in my experience.

Hi Dev

> I guess for small hikes of just 2 weeks or so the fuss of changing into and out of sleeping
> clothes is not that big a deal. But, in a hike of about 6 months this process could be real
> pain every day.

On the contrary. Getting out of wet trail clothes and into dry warm sleeping clothes in the evening can be a real boost, and the longer the trip the more you appreciate it. We did it for 3 months in France on the GR5 (and other tracks).

Cheers

? "One big advantage of the quilt that I was envious of was the vastly increased drying time over a down bag." ?

Is this a typo?
What do/did you mean?

No, that's what I meant.

My bag was a half zip, so I couldn't expose as much of it to the sun or fire as one could for a full zip or a quilt. Also, I think because you aren't sleeping on top of a significant chunk of down, a quilt traps less moisture in the night.

Ha, Simon. I think you meant vastly *decreased* drying time!

Ahhh, right you are, I guess I was thinking increased drying speed. Now I understand the confusion.