Post Your Layering System

below 40: mammut dri-release long sleeve shirt, if there's a bit of a breeze a patagonia vest that has windbloc only on the front, which is great because i have my pack on my back and the vest breathes better. if it's windy a wild things hooded wind shirt. bottoms would be a pair of under armor heat gear compression shorts and old patagonia running tights with a pair of gym shorts. most likely no gloves and a boonie hat. if i anticipate that it's going to get much colder before i reach base camp i might slip on my soft shell pants in the parking lot.

below 20 add cloudveil walk don't run power stretch hoodie and cloudveil rayzar soft shell pants. depending on the temp i could still be wearing the boonie hat or will either have the hood up or down and the wind shirt on or off. gloves could be as light as a pair of liners up thru a heavy soft shell glove that can end up in a goretex overglove. i also carry a neoprene face mask and polartec fleece hat. this pretty much gets me down into single digits.

when stopped i will either throw on a patagonia micro-puff pullover say down to the low teens or a wild things belay jacket if it's truly arctic. i would not be carrying both the micro-puff and the belay jacket at the same time. for my bottom half when it's gonna be real cold i have a pair of or neoplume pants that can go over or under my soft shells, but are pretty much worn only when i'm stopped.

for add ons if the forecast indicates i can also bring along OR mutant mittens or hestra heli's and i might sub-out the wind shirt for a wild things flume eVent hard shell and might throw in the wild things wind pants. if i'm reaching for my north face baltoro we are beyond the scope of this conversation (insert wink here).

i sleep in whatever combination of the above that's needed based on the sleeping bag i've taken along.

i think it's a pretty straight forward simple approach.

Are the "Lows of" numbers lows overnight, or lows during the day? I'm assuming overnight, adjust my answers accordingly if they seem off. What is appropriate for sleeping in depends on your sleep system. In my case, assume a pad with R-values of 2 to 4 and a temperature appropriate sleeping bag or quilt.

Active 60: MH Canyon pants, boxer briefs, light merino SS top, light merino socks
Sleep 60: Light merino SS top, boxer briefs

Active 40: MH Canyon pants, boxer briefs, light merino LS top, light merino socks
Sleep 40: Same as Active 40

Active 30: MH Canyon pants, boxer briefs, light merino LS top, mid merino socks, FA Cloud Layer fleece top
Sleep 30: Light merino LS top, light merino long underwear, mid merino socks

Active 10: MH Canyon pants, light or mid merino long underwear, mid merino LS top, mid merino socks, FA Cloud Layer fleece top, shell jacket, MH Power Stretch balaclava and/or MH Micro Dome beanie; add/remove FA Downlight sweater or similar as needed
Sleep 10: Same as Active 10 including down sweater, MH Power Stretch balaclava, and MH Micro Dome beanie; plus "clean" merino socks on the outside

Difference between my list and your list really illustrates how different we are when it comes to comfort in different temperatures. Personally, I can't imagine wearing fleece or down pants at 30 deg unless I were intentionally using a quilt rated for 40 degrees. Can't imagine how hot I'd get wearing fleece or down pants at 30 deg when active! :)

"Difference between my list and your list really illustrates how different we are when it comes to comfort in different temperatures. Personally, I can't imagine wearing fleece or down pants at 30 deg unless I were intentionally using a quilt rated for 40 degrees. Can't imagine how hot I'd get wearing fleece or down pants at 30 deg when active! :)"

I edited mine to clear up a few things. I do not wear that stuff while active just for sleep. I was reading your responses though and realizing I must not be as warm of a sleeper as I thought. I could never get away with sleeping in light merino top and light merino long underwear at 30 degrees. This weekend it was raining and about 36. I had on lightweight synthetic top and bottom, some heavy socks, my windshirt, and my MH Micro Dome and I froze. I have a WM Alder MF 25 degree bag. What bag do you use at 30?

"This weekend it was raining and about 36. I had on lightweight synthetic top and bottom, some heavy socks, my windshirt, and my MH Micro Dome and I froze."

What kind of pad did you have underneath the sleeping bag?

Bag I use for 30 up is a Montbell UL Super Stretch #3. At 30 degrees, the hood is up, I am completely inside the bag and the draw cord is used such that face hole has a diameter of 6″ or so, just big enough for my nose and mouth to be poking out, like this image from Moontrail.

I’m also in a full enclosed tent, not an open tarp. Most recently that tent has been the Tarptent Double Rainbow. Temp inside my tent may be in the low 30s, but protected from the direct heat leaching by the wind.

Also worth noting that that’s not all of the clothes I bring- on a trip with a low of 30 I’ll have a second pair of socks, light down sweater, fleece beanie, and rain jacket to be used as needed.

"What kind of pad did you have underneath the sleeping bag?"

It was a BA IAC. But, the high that day was 65, so the ground was not all that cold.

"Bag I use for 30 up is a Montbell UL Super Stretch #3. At 30 degrees, the hood is up, I am completely inside the bag and the draw cord is used such that face hole has a diameter of 6" or so, just big enough for my nose and mouth to be poking out, like this image from Moontrail.

"I'm also in a full enclosed tent, not an open tarp. Most recently that tent has been the Tarptent Double Rainbow. Temp inside my tent may be in the low 30s, but protected from the direct heat leaching by the wind.

Also worth noting that that's not all of the clothes I bring- on a trip with a low of 30 I'll have a second pair of socks, light down sweater, fleece beanie, and rain jacket to be used as needed."

I have the same tent as you. As for the bag, mine is hoodless, so that would explain some of the difference I assume.

A hood makes a big difference for me- it keeps my head warm and forces me to keep my arms inside the bag. For a hoodless bag without snaps like you find on many quilts, I tend to keep my arms out, like I do with blankets at home.