Warmer and lighter than an Atom LT

[Andrew Martin]

I'm looking to upgrade my warmth for in-camp/sleeping and I've found that an Atom LT is just not cutting it below 40F with a long sleeve baselayer and windshirt. I'm looking to pick up something warmer and hopefully lighter than it and have been considering the featherd friends Daybreak or dead bird Cerium LT. Some searching around suggests that the MH Ghost Whisperer is probably not an upgrade in warmth.

Any Atom LT owners out there who can comment on this?

[Mike M]

I find the Whisperer to be warm below 40 degrees w/ a windshirt and base layer-has two zippered slash pockets and a drawstring waist which is pretty considering the weight, also a decent hood. It replaced my MB Exlight and it's warmer than it (the Exlight lacked a hood too).

I find it all I need for a insulation layer through summer (Montana), temps occasionally down to freezing or a little below

[Stephen M]

The Arcteryx Nuclei is worth a a look, I have tried it and the LT, and the Nuclei is much warmer and a fair bit lighter by 3oz.
I keep the LT for work/around town and its great at that.

On another note, I prefer Syntehic for lightweight pieces as I did not notice a big difference against uber light down pieces.
I now use a Montbell Mirage which is 4-5oz heavier than stitch through pieces, the Mirage and Nuclei together are solid to 10f.

[Jennifer Mitol]

Stephen, can I ask why you prefer synthetic??

I recently purchased my first nice synthetic pieces and I really like them. I also really like that my montbell ex light weighs 5 oz. But I have been wondering if, other than time spent in the sierra, i should actually be using a synthetic piece more often.

[Stephen M]

Hi Jen,

Over the years I have used lots of different stitch through pieces with 2-2.5oz of down and only found them marginally warmer than
Synthetic at not much weight saving, when you get in to to 3.5oz plus down range it does make difference in warmth.

Does that make sense?

Edit, forgot to say it was the MB Down inner, ex light, Crux Halo and Stoic Hadron I tried, all great items :-)

[Serge Giachetti]

If its primarily for in camp and sleeping, down would be a little more efficient. The ghost whisperer is around half the weight of the atom LT, and I imagine about as warm.

If you think its something you might move in, or you're in primarily wetter climates, then like stephen said, a non stitch through synthetic, like the nuclei is a good bet.

If you're mainly hoping to lighten up, I'd just go with the lightest possible down piece that will do the job for you.

[Andrew Martin]

The Nuclei might fit the bill, no powerstrech side panels to let out heat and in wind plus it uses a denser fiber.

I think the Whisperer is just not going to be warmer than an Atom LT since it's sewn through and has so little down. I'd say warmer was more important than lighter but I'm sure there is a sub 13oz jacket in down that works. *sigh* it's just impossible to figure out how to equate X oz of Y grade down to Z ounces of W synthetic.

[Stephen M]

You could get a MB Mirage :-)

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