Ridgerest samurai vest

Montbell Ex Light and stretch fleece balaclava

It does fit under this jacket too.

lol

cool idea!

I would advice you to not wear Montbell Ex Light UNDER the vest. Down will get soaked. I think ridgrest will be pretty warm by it self. Try wearing a windshirt over it and report back.

___

I was thinking more about this idea while composing this reply. I think you may have opened up a new chapter in SUL insulation. I am sure we will see thinlight vest soon. Advantage of such insulation is that it can be used under you as sleeping pad at night without compressing. That also means pack weight and pack volume goes down.

This will keep me occupied in thoughts.

Merry Christmas!

Mr. H, thanks for the kind words. So tempting to call it zero grams, since it is reuse. I like the idea of more costume-y backcountry getups.

It does fit under but robs me of that clingy down loveliness.

Over, I might still do it for non-aerobic. There is amazing ventilation, having no side-zips yet, and being fairly stiff and deeply corrugated.

I ordered some different type of foam from Oware, not so much a fan of Ridgerest since I cut an insole out of it and it crushed too flat inside a day. The idea came originally when inserting it in a backpack, but didn’t have the guts to slice it up, so originally, the plan was to wrap it around the torso and have shoulder straps or short suspenders hold it up, similar to how cartoon characters wear a barrel when they are naked-broke.

This was kind of re-prompted by the 40-Below vest that someone posted in reply to you. So thanks! I had seen it a few days ago, looking at their overboots.. That, and a MYOG dog jacket made from the sleeve of an old raincoat. He is so low to the snow, it needs insulation, but no room for thicker stuff, plus foam is waterproof. And dogs don’t sweat. Also, Mike Clelland!s 3-season gear list, how All the clothes say ‘Part of Sleep System’ kind of rattled around in my head and came out backwards..

No problem. This free exchange of ingenious ideas is one of the reason I love BPL so much!

>It does fit under but robs me of that clingy down loveliness.

Over, I might still do it for non-aerobic. There is amazing ventilation, having no side-zips yet, and being fairly stiff and deeply corrugated.<

I dont see much point of wearing ridgrest over down jacket but if you wish to, pls wear a VB jacket underneath. Aerobic or non-aerobic, at any point the vest is touching down jacket condensation will occur and sweat will accumulate in your jacket. Strongly NOT RECOMMENDED.

>I ordered some different type of foam from Oware, not so much a fan of Ridgerest since I cut an insole out of it and it crushed too flat inside a day.<

I suspect the reason is that ridgerest is not meant for that kind of abuse. I have not used ridgerest but I have heard only good things about its durability from people who use it as a sleeping pad. I think it would be durable enough for a vest. But it will be too warm backpacking.

This thread will give you a good idea how much insulation you need for various activities down to 0F.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/9378/index.html

Also check out GG thinlight:
http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/thinlight.html

I am particularly interested how 1/8inch pad will work.

Keep me posted.

Outside is great if you are a messy eater!

Now that you dare me, I'll Have to do it. It may accumulate just a smidge of ahem "localized humidity" as long as I don't overheat, but my body can dry it out no problem, it's so thin and has very little mass. The only place it really compresses the down in on the top of my shoulders, because the cord is loose.

Edit: 40-below uses alot of neoprene. Hmm. And they have foam.
Their foam is cheaper, different size and color. Cool!

Edit again: Don't get me wrong, it's Ridgerest all summer, but it will be good to re-examine it more closely.

Hi Paul,

This is a great idea. I made something like this to use in my hammock.

Sleeping Pads as Clothes.

“Back to the Future – SUL – SUL Bottom Insulation for a Hammock “

This part of the thread is almost at the bottom of the page.

Sleeping Pads as Clothes.

I really like sleeping in my hammock. My SUL – Cuben Hammock “hanging” weighs in at about 7 ounces. That in itself is very light, however, it is almost always necessary to add some type of bottom insulation to the hammock to keep my backside warm.

Etc – Etc…………..

Trivia for the day: foam insulated garments were all the rage 'round about the mid 70s… I've got an old jacket, boardy, stiff, but neat…

How about using some thin evazote foam like the GG thinlight? The stuff is really flexible compared to a ridgerest and might work better in a garment.

I thought about this before but have never tried it. Glad to see someone pushing new ideas. Keep up the good work!

Is that cotton fabric, Bill ?!?!?!?

Hi Evan,

Yes, but.

That is my mockup pattern version made out of some throw away material.

All the final set will use 3/8" GG ThinLight™ pad. You can see some of it now. It is the gray looking stuff. The blue is some cheap Wal Mart or K-Mart sleeping pad foam. I used the cheaper stuff till I had it the right size.

I haven't decide what material I will use on the finial version. I might use Cuben to keep the weight as low as possible. If I don't use Cuben I will use either Light Silk or Pertex Quantum.

Oh, I see.

It’s really a poncho. How about a pair of waterpoof sleeves, and side zips, to complete some type of rainwear?
There’s the hood that remains on my dryducks bivy, hum.

I chickened out on wearing it to go snowboarding today. 24-30″ of fresh pow and bluebird sky is a priority. You’d be proud, I left my pack and water at home to lighten up.

Bill thanks for bringing that up, I have definitely seen it before and it did make an impression as a real weight saver. That is probably taking it to the logical conclusion. It would be great if they could be easily removed and added on to other pants as needed, or slipped in to help pad backpack straps. Couldn’t really tell what you had planned there. Partial sleeve? 3/8″ sounds like a burly thickness. That’s great you put the link in to the other thread, there is so much stuff here to search for things is daunting, but even more distracting!

Huzefa, and Roy, thanks for the heads up, GG Thinlights are all in stock: LINK 1/8, 1/4, 3/8″, closed cell crosslinked copolymer polyolefin foam. Tyvek foam? The warpely cross section of this very beat RR makes it somewhat flexible accoutrement. Kind of dreading the sheet stock, honestly.

Huzefa, thanks that chart was influential to gravitate towards spending too much time here. Nisely done.

Brad, I don’t remember any foam clothes! Funny though. Can you post a pic, purty please? I can’t imagine the styling.

While I don't think I would go for this on a regular basis, it sure makes a good survival technique if you needed some extra insulation when yours is lost/damaged/soaked or you are caught in unexpected circumstances.

I'm glad to hear about the vapor barrier issues which would apply to using other improvised and impermeable materials (like a space blanket or garbage sack) in the same way.

Very Cool, Paul!

You get max style points and max multi-use points for this one. :-)

I love it!

I hope Ryan J. takes a look at this thread. This vaguely reminds me of him using a Torsolite as a…umm, "non Coast Guard approved"…PFD while packrafting. ;)

Happy New Year,

-Mike M

Love it. Paul, have you worked as an extra in star trek? :-)

Awesome…Thanks!

cool design and fun apparel

There less sophisticated method of wearing foam pad – just wrapping it around a torso and securing it with a piece of string.

We used this to get some extra insulation for back when sitting around a fire on a cold night. It won't be very useful when one needs to move more, but in camp, it works.