Recently took delivery on my much anticipated Skaha Plus down sweater. Two long, anxious months from concept to delivery but boy, was it worth it.
I had Tom build a sweater in Quantum shell/ 0.85 liner combo and the whole thing weighs in at 9.2 oz on my postal scale. I did a test run with this sweater + my Arc Ghost in sub 32 F weather as a sleep system. The night-time low was 30 F but I stayed really warm with this combo. I can see where all the money went. The fitted hood on the Skaha Plus is “anatomically fitted”. If you are thinking about putting a climbing hood over it you can nix that thought but the Nunatak crew really got the proportions right as a close-fitting insulated hood without resorting to stretch fabric or cord that might create cold-spots. The sweater itself is warmer than my Primaloft 1 belay parka (when used stationary) although this will probably not be the case if it gets wet. Also, the ultra-light fabrics used for the shell and liner are probably not meant for bush-whacking. I get the idea that this minimal piece of kit was designed on one principle only: maximum warmth for minimum weight. That it achieves in spades.
I no longer have separate bags for the seasons. My sleeping kit has evolved as a modular system (down sweater + pants, arc quilt, down mukluks) to tailor to the seasons. Eventually, I’ll add an Arc Alpinist as an overbag to the Ghost for dual functionality: deep cold system for 1 OR 3 seasons hiking kit for 2.
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