Layering with hoods…

No, I don’t believe I am missing the point.

Speaking only for myself, I am well aware of the added benefit of layering in cold weather for camp and sleeping. I believe I made that pretty clear. If not, my apologies. Again speaking for myself my point was that if I am to choose all hooded garments in lieu of one garment/beanie combo I am eliminating one option for daytime use when I may not want to wear a more heat trapping hood. Also many times I find hiking with a hood a PITA. Sometimes its nice to vent the heat a little more and still keep my ears from chilling. Maybe in your case its different. Also I have not had much of a problem using a beanie for sleeping although I certainly would not disagree that an extra hood will boost heat efficiency and that is why I am considering it. Hence my post to begin with.

“I see it as a part of my base layer, and an essential part of my kit all year.” So a beanie is like underwear for your head! LOL

Having a hood on the outer layer (jacket) only has worked well for my needs. The combination of a Buff, insulated balaclava (either down of synthetic) and a hooded outer jacket (rain or wind jacket) work well together, each one complementing the others and serving multiple functions.

The Buff provides head warmth in mild conditions or while hiking, face sun protection if it’s cool out, and when in Balaclava mode the Buff keeps body oils from your face out of your down balaclava while sleeping. A light beanie would serve a similar function. If it’s cold and/or windy, the hood from the rain or wind jacket worn over the Buff adds additional warmth to the head.

The insulated balaclava is for sleeping, lounging around camp, and for hiking if it’s really cold (a great way to warm up when hiking before sunrise). A down balaclava works best in summer or dry conditions, and a synthetic balaclava (i.e. the EE Hoodlum) works well in winter or wet conditions. They are fairly wind proof, but the rain/wind jacket hood pulled over top adds even more warmth. I own both a Zpacks down hood and a 20F EE Hoodlum and have been happy with the versatility for summer, 3 season and shoulder season uses.

1. Lester, I too was using a down hood made by Zpacks and also the synthetics one by MLD. Even though they work great, I hated the hood being a separate piece for the jacket. When I had a jacket on and want the hood it wasnt there. I would have to dig the hood out of my pack. There where a few times it also almost blew away. I also didn’t like the front all closed up on the hoods. The hoods felt very confining being that front couldn’t open up to vent. The Hoodlum might have been a better option for me with the snaps on the front but I’ve move on to try a different  approach.  I still have my hoodless down jacket and MLD hood if I want to go back, but only time will tell.

Like a couple of others, I only want a hood on my outermost piece at rest. I have no base layers with hoods, I have only one mid layer with a hood (a Rab Boreas, which I haven’t used in quite awhile, anyone want to buy it? :-) My wind jacket does not have a hood by choice. My down jackets all have hoods – I would never hike in them.

Why no hoods? I run pretty warm, I like to keep my neck free even in cold weather. A very thin beanie works fine for me while on the move, even in cold weather. In fact, I often pull my beanie off my ears as I start to get too warm.

So, as with most things, TEHO. What works really well for one may not work well at all for another.

I have 18 jackets and only 2 do not have hoods and they are fleecy base layers.

Hoods are not really cumbersome with a well planned layering system.

If you are more than an out an back in 3 hours kinda person, hoods keep you outside and comfortable longer across a wider spectrum of weather conditions. A beanie with a non-insulated shell hood is not comparable.

And in mountain states at higher elevations weather changes from extreme to extreme VERY quickly. A hood meets the challenge of all conditions better than a non-hooded jacket.

Hoods…because you never know. On an especially brutal day where it was cold enough to kill and heavy snow dumped all morning, I was comfortable from sun up to sun down while adding and removing 3 hooded jackets as needed.

I love hooded jackets. Not only do you get the head coverage, but the hood covers your neck when down, front collar is usually higher, and you get a little more space around your throat than similar or non-hooded versions of the jacket (I hate zippers on my throat).

I have never found the extra hoods cumbersome, but I also rarely have outer hoods up while inner hoods are down. More importantly, all of my jackets spend some time as my outer layer, so I definitely want a hood. Only exception is one fleece (of the few I have) but it is exclusively for running >40.

Hood design is a big deal for me, because as others have noted, peripheral vision is important. Arcteryx has the best hood I have ever used (proton ar is the only piece I have), but most brands with both volume and opening adjustments work for me. If it’s just one or the other I usually pass.

I always bring a light merino beanie because I do not care for hooded base layers. Of course there are exceptions–one lightweight for keeping the sun/bugs off, and two midweight with balaclava hoods for higher intensity in very cold weather–but I still bring the beanie because of habit.

Re: brutal cold…

What was the temperature?

No offense — and realizing that definitions vary person to person and place to place — but if you’re able to use a hydration system with a hose that doesn’t freeze solid in 5 minutes, then it isn’t that cold. Hydration systems are all but useless (if not outright dangerous) in serious cold.

Re hoods: I like ’em on all layers that might be used as the outer layer when it’s windy/cold, such as wind shirts, shells, parkas. I have a couple of non-hooded down jackets, but those for me are very niche items for late spring, summer and early fall when they might be needed briefly as a non-active insulation layer. But with the humidity of the East, for me it’s normally better just to take a 100-wt fleece for that, which is usually the MB Chameece. I don’t like hoods on those insulation pieces because it starts getting crowded around the back of the neck when they’re not needed. Easier to supplement with a 100- or 150-wt beanie.

But people with enough experience to be debating the merits of either camp have likely already figured it out for themselves, so it’s all good. ;^)

Yes, continue to bring ’em.

While my Montbell UL down inner has a hood which I love, I wear the buff / the cap / or both when sleeping.  I frequently (thanks to my EE Enigma’s coziness) do not need an insulated jacket on while sleeping, so I would burn up if I relied on my down hoody to keep my head warm while I’m in my quilt.

The buff / cap combo has been with me a long time and will remain in my pack!

Kurt brings up a good point about the risk of a standalone hood blowing away in the wind while retrieving it from the pack – a definite risk in winter when wearing non-dexterous mittens. That has nearly happened to me a few times when pulling a balaclava out of the pack on ski and winter mountaineering trips in CO.

Even on really cold trips (below 10 F) the only hooded layer I usually carried was a hooded Gore-tex jacket, combined with a insulative balaclava and a beanie. Armond’s idea of having hoods immediately available on multiple layers definitely adds versatility to your layering system. But for some reason not having hoods on any base or insulating layers has always worked fine for me, even on winter trips and expeditions. Even my main down parka had no hood on it – although I wish that it had on a few occasions.

Probably no right or wrong way to go with hoods, unless you are counting grams and seeing which hood combination fits your needs at the lightest weight. The important thing is to dial in your clothing system for various conditions and know what keeps you comfortable and fits your preferences.

Keep the hose clear, and it won’t freeze. Though in that case, the bladder was empty because it was too cold. I’m just too lazy to pull them out sometimes…usually.

As for the hood vs no hood, experiment, your milage will vary, though the odds of regretting a hood is pretty low. The inverse is more likely.

+1 on keeping the hose clear.

you can also insulate the hose or route it close to your body…I keep the bladder and hose under a layer or two when it is cold enough to cause problems.

by all means hoods!  the more the merrier

you’ve heard of a three dog night, this a three hood morning glassing for elk :)

I’m also not a huge fan of hoods, unless it’s low single digits or below. I use to wear one, when I use to ice fish and the temps got that cold. Now, if I’m active, baseball cap down to 35 degrees, below that I switch to a beanie/watch cap.