It has been a long long time since I bought any new down clothing [ except for Uniqlo on sale] and I am both out of touched and a little confused by modern recommendations.
I have been rereading Monty Alfords book on winter and his chapter on day packing for survival particularly.
He recommended a Lightweight down jacket as a major survival tool [as do very many other experienced people in that part of the world] but what constitutes a LW down jacket?
Obviously my Uniqlo hoody with only an ounce and a half is UL, so where does the current spectrum lie?
I normally wear XL to XXL clothing, being 184cm tall and a 117cm chest with wide shoulders.
I am looking to buy a new winter down jacket or parka and want to lose some pack weight.
Expected temperatures around 0C to -10C I have been using a Patagonia DAS plus the UL Uniqlo because my old bones no longer produce as much heat as they used to.
So if the spectrum ranges UL/LW/Medium weight/Heavy weight/Expedition-8000M how much down would be a nominal fill weight in each category if it was 800FP or better?
I have a Heavy weight parka that is filled with 650 grams of 650FP down but I no longer want to carry a warm parka weighing 1350 grams
Topic
Down gear definitions needed please; IF possible
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I don’t think you can make hard-and-fast recommendations – a lot will depend on your layering system, the weather conditions, your personal metabolism, and the nature of your trip.
Personally I prefer multiple lightweight layers rather than focusing on a single heavier item. Multiple layers are more flexible if you are walking in changeable conditions.
The temperature range 0C to -10C is relatively modest – we’re not talking extreme cold here, so I would only be carrying a lightweight insulated jacket. I wouldn’t generally use it as active insulation, unless perhaps there was extreme wind-chill such as blizzard conditions. It would mainly be used as a belay jacket during rests and around camp.
But I tend to run hot – the need for active insulation seems to very considerably from person to person.
If you might be using the jacket as active insulation under a hard shell, consider synthetic insulation over down. The insulation in lightweight down jackets collapses into a useless mush if it gets at all damp.
It will be for a static only layer, I still run warm to hot when walking or skiing. It’s only when I stop that I cool off rapidly. It would also be used as part of my sleeping system if it got really cold.
My active layer is currently the Macpac Pisa softshell, along with base layers to suit. Goretex Pro jacket if needed. My real problem is finding a static layer sized like the DAS to go over the hard shell. The DAS fits but I want lighter so I can still ski tour with enough of the right gear
I didn’t think giving an answer to this query would be so hard for people.
I was guessing that it would be a simple answer such as UL would be an inch+ of loft on average, LW 2 inch etc.
Or the same answer but in Clo/TOG values
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