Help me . . .

I have these from Marmot and like them:

sleeping bag
Scree softshell pants

I have an older Marmot zip turtleneck that is soft on the inside and tightly knit on the outside. For many years it has been my Go To base layer from late fall to early spring. Yesterday, I wore only a light traditional kangaroo pocket uncoated nylon anorak over it and was comfortable going 9 miles up and down Mount Chocorua, about 2400' vertical with some steep rocky sections and icy winds up top. Marmot currently has a similar base layer product named ThermalClime Pro LS 1/2 Zip, a few ounces lighter, made of Polartek Power Dry and around $60. It comes in several colors not shown on their website.

They also have a slightly heavier "training" zip top worth looking at, around $85.

I also have Marmot Rockstar softshell pants that I reviewed on this site and use only for backpacking. They are very breathable (cool), light, stretchy, resist water, dry very quickly and are decent looking enough to wear into civilization if desired.

So there are a couple suggestions to consider.

Yes. The Isotherm hoody or jacket is the Polartec Alpha insulation. Probably the best bet if you are looking for a synthetic puffy.

Other Marmot stuff that is awesome:

The Thermo Hoody and Thermo 1/2 zip are the PolarTec Power Dry High Efficiency fabric, same light grid fleece as the Patagonia Capilene 4. This stuff is amazing. Super warm in winter, but breathable enough to wear in cooler weather — for example as camping sleepwear in the 40s and 50s.

All of the Marmot Power Stretch fleece stuff is fantastic — gloves, beanie, hoodies, and tights. The same weight as the lightest weight fleece, but hard woven on the outside, and stretchy. Love the stuff.

Their down jackets are really nice. The Zeus jacket is a great midweight 800 fill fleece. It is my go-to jacket around town for dry winter days.

The Quasar Hoody and Jacket are awesome ultralight 900 fill down with 10 dernier Pertex shells. Perfect winter warm layer in the backpack The weight on the hoody is wrong. My men's medium is 10.9 ounces. Packs small.

The Scree pants are terrific stretchy softshell fabric. These are my winter hiking pants. The Cruz pants (and convertible pants) are terrific summer hiking/travel pants.

If you need a fancy shell, the Nabu NeoShell is super nice. Polartec NeoShell 3-layer softshell. The inner bonded layer is a very light PowerDry fabric.

And, of course, they make the usual GoreTex Pro jackets.

For rain gear, the Precip jackets and pants are one of the better standard 2.5 layer rain gear options. The Essence jacket (5.8 ounces) and pants are ultralight rain gear — perfect for the back pack.

The

Second all that; Marmot makes some wonderful gear. I'd get the Scree and Essence pants, but that's what I happen to need at the moment.

Yeah Marmot has some really nice stuff. I've been eyeing the Essence Jacket myself.

The 2014 essence is nice. I'd subjectively say that its as or more breathable than the event anorak I had before it, but 4 oz lighter. The fabric is fairly soft & stretchy for a shell, too.