woman’s list?

I can pm you my list later on. More insulation then most male lists.

Thanks Katharina, I'd appreciate it.

I've seen the 'women need more insulation' thing before and I'm curious about it. As a kid I remember wrapping in a blanket on family car trips b/c my mom ran the AC at full blast. Years later, she keeps her bedroom window open in the wintertime and only uses a moderate blanket. Is this an anomaly or could 'women need more insulation' be a too-broad generalization?

Don't want to sound sexist at all, but I think it's one of those stereotypes that's mostly true, but not always. I can't off the top of my head think of a woman I know that doesn't run cold.

but really, this thread was me just looking for gear that women like, I know what I like, but I want to get my GF things that other women like… figure it's more likely that she'll like them than if I just pick them at random.

I didn't say all women. I said " more insulation than most male lists", referring to mine. Absolutely true that individual variations apply. Size ( and fat), metabolism, age are all factors.

Women, on the average, have a metabolic rate that is slightly slower than the average man. But it should take only an extra bit of insulation to ward off cold.

A woman friend of mine had the perfect method for staying warm when sleeping on a snow camping trip. She picked the tent with two men in it, so she nestled between them. That's using your head.

Also, she would arrange a group commissary and made sure that we had an evening meal that was both thermally hot and also spicy hot. That'll keep you warm.

–B.G.–

NM .
open to misunderstandings.

I have previously declined to be the male in the middle of two females. It just gets too complicated.

–B.G.–

nm

Katharina, I wasn't denying your experience, just mentioning that I'd seen it said before. As it runs opposite my experience, I just wondered about others'. I'm sorry for the sort-of threadjack, Russ.

Bob, I'm not sure that was the other preferred method Katharina was talking about.

nm
open to misunderstandings

I think I need to start adding < sarcasm > tags. :)

My wife and I wear almost exactly the same clothing when walking. She may put on a warmth layer a bit sooner than me in the evenings. But she weighs a less than me.

And we snuggle together at night when we need more warmth. The only way!

Cheers

My girlfriend and I hike/cycle/paddle together, and we find that perception of cold (or heat for that matter) is an individual thing and not gender specific. Jen feels the cold, and will wear and carry about one layer more than me. I wilt in the heat!

We use merino base layers, synthetic or down insulation, but sun shirts that suit our individual metabolism. I find I need a loose woven shirt where breeze can penetrate the fabric to cool me down in the heat – Railriders just did not work for me as the fabric seems to block the wind and I overheat.

Colour and style are important too, but you're spoilt for choice in the US!

PM me if you have more specific questions.

Cheers.

AT/Bartram Loop in August

This is from a loop around the AT and Bartram trails in Western NC. There are separate sheets for myself, my gf, Robin, and our food.

This was a Summer trip in the SE, so we didn’t carry much in the way of insulation. I can’t find any Winter lists for us, but we don’t have to add/change much down here anyway.

I too could use some help with outfitting my gf. I'm slowly convincing her to bring less items but she is not as experienced or confident as I am. In fact, some general advice for getting her to drop some pounds from her pack would be nice.

Phase 1, fast cheap method- Make a list of everything your taking before you go. After you go check off the items that got used. Next trip leave behind anything that wasn't checked. Exceptions being first aid and weather related items like rain gear but look at this stuff closely.

If it's tough convincing her to let go, go on a day hike. Have her pack like normal, halfway through the hike take out the stuff you'd like her to leave behind (put it in your pack) and hike back. Then try a short overnight without the surplus gear. Ask her to try it and tell her next trip she can add it back if she didn't like it. See if her enjoyment goes up then be prepared for phase 2.

Phase 2, replace heavy gear. She will enjoy her lighter load so much she will want to replace her gear with lighter gear. This will be expensive. Encourage it and replace your gear at the same time. You will cover more miles and go farther, faster, higher than you previously thought possible. You will be able to get away from the crowded overnight loops and the enjoyment of the whole experience will go up exponentially.

I have converted lots of people to hiking lighter. Not this crazy ultralight obsession some have around here but lightweight hiking and not one person so far has told me they wished there pack was as heavy as it used to be.

Here is the set up my wife and I share. We use this May-October in Wyoming with some slight modifications depending on conditions (warmer gloves, down sweater vest, short gaiters, etc.)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqQdiTZWplGYdFZ0RUQzS3RpZy0zVjdlMks2c3lqWXc&authkey=CPr1pPQO&hl=en&pli=1#gid=0

My wife is a foot shorter and eighty pounds lighter than me, and we find the cold affects her a lot more. She carries a 20 degree bag year round along with down booties, down vest, synthetic hooded jacket, and warm gloves. One thing to consider is if your significant other is less experienced than you, you may be paying better attention to nutrition and exertion levels than them, and are likely more conditioned. The exhaustion, along with doing the bulk of the camp chores while they assist or simply watch, can lead to wildly different perspectives on the weather. It my be different mentally, as well; I am okay with discomfort but the wife is not.

I guess what I'm saying is women's insulation needs are likely associated more with experience than anything else.

Hi, Kyle,

you said, "I guess what I'm saying is women's insulation needs are likely associated more with experience than anything else."

I think that may be true for some women, and not true for others.

A woman's perspective.

I second Diana's post.

+3 for Diana's post.

Yep.

This is silly. The insulation needs among women are just as varied and subject to individuals as they are for men. You just can't tell individual by individual before each individual tries out what works for themselves. There may be some general trends in both sexes (men tend to get hotter than women so they might have more trouble in very hot summers), but in the same way that no one here would recommend one gear list for men, there shouldn't be any one gear list recommended for women. That's especially true for newcomers, who might take the advice of the more experienced and come away with a bad experience. I think all people who participate here should be given that advice, and it shouldn't be turned into a male/female head-butting contest.

My former wife slept with the windows open in winter (which I preferred) and used a sleeping bag of the same weight as mine. She always ran hot. My present partner needs to use a heater even in the summer. A former girlfriend didn't mind getting sopping wet in the rain. One before that hated getting even her arms wet. Everyone is different. Got nothing to do with being female or male.

The only things that are an important difference are those items that only women use. Men just don't know a lot, of anything, about how these items work, because they don't use them. Plus there are things like women's periods that men don't have to deal with and those things make a big difference in how comfortable a woman is outdoors. My former wife couldn't care less and wasn't embarrassed or inconvenienced by her period. She dealt with it very easily. My present partner won't go hiking during those times. So again, even among women-specific issues, each individual is different.