Layering Systems: Hiking, Skiing

Woops.. here is my first post without formatting!!!!

I am looking at a couple of items from Patagonia to round-out my layering systems.

Layers I currently own:
=======================
Cheap Walmart Athletic Shirts
* Base Layer

Men’s Burton Lightweight Base Layer Crew (Polyester)
* Base Layer
Men’s Burton Midweight Base Layer Crew (Polyester)
* Base Layer
* Mid Layer

Arcteryx Atom LT Hoody (Synthetic Hoody)
* Insulating Layer for Skiing or Winter Hiking
* Warm for 3-season hiking and packpacking

Marmot Pre-cip (Hard shell)
* 3-season Rain Jacket
* Summer Wind Jacket

Outdoor Research Furio (Hard shell)
* Winter Hard Shell for Skiing or Hiking

Items I’m Looking at buying:
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Patagonia Fleece
* Should it be hooded or not?
* Should it be the R2 or R3?

Patagonia Down Sweater
* Should it be hooded or not?

Patagonia Capilene Lightweight Zip-Neck
Patagonia Capilene Lightweight T-Shirt

Things I do:
============
3-season Hiking and Backpacking (Northeast)
Winter Hiking / Backpacking / Snowshoeing (Northeast)
Winter Skiing (Northeast, intermediate skiier, no backcountry)
Walking around town (Northeast)

Line of thinking:
=================

Patagonia Fleece:
—————–
I am currently leaning towards getting an R2 Fleece non-hooded as a mid-layer for skiing instead of the R3. I read somewhere the R2 is the best middle-of-the-road choice for a midlayer for skiing. This would make my winter skiing system:

Base: Capiline Lightweight Zip or Burton Lightweight Crew or whatever
Mid: Patagonia R2
Insulating: Arcteryx Atom LT Hoody
Outer: Outdoor Research Furio

I think a combination of the layers above should be good enough for days where the top of the mountain is as low as 0 degrees… right?

Patagonia Down Sweater:
———————–
Initially I was playing around with using this as a layer in my Winter Skiing system, but it seems like Down might not be the best choice for me, on the Northeast, and as someone who tends to get hot when skiing.

So I think this will be mostly an around-town layer, and a very-warm insulating layer for backpacking or my warmest layer to break out at camp. In this case I could get the hooded version. If I had to use it once or twice for skiing on a REALLY cold day I suppose it wouldnt be the end of the world that it has a hood on it.

Questions:
=========
* Does anyone here use a hooded insulating jacket for skiing? Do you find it to really be that big of a deal if you’re not using the hood? Does it bunch up around your neck enough that you wish it wasn’t there? My synthetic already has a hood, so I wonder if i’m doing myself a disservice by also buying a down jacket with a hood.

* Patagonia R2 vs R3: I’m leaning towards the R2 as a mid-layer for skiing, to use with my Atom LT. Is the R2 warm enough?

* Any other thoughts on the layers I have, and which purchases would make most sense would be greatly appreciated!

I prefer to only have one hood when skiing and find it more comfortable, although a down hood probably compresses down well. And on the single digit days I like to swap out my synthetic mid-layer jacket for a down one. I also usually wear a thicker base layer on those days, like the thermal weight Capilene or thick Icebreaker.

Thanks, that’s good feedback. I keep going back and forth on hood vs no-hood for the down jacket.

No Hood: more modular, better for skiing.

Hood: better for around town and for hiking/backpacking.

Tough choice!!!

My ski parka has an attached fold-away hood, uninsulated; perhaps you could find a spare insulated hood somewhere, and cobbler up a method of using it when conditions require?

I know that somewhere in my stash  I have a couple of warm hoods I have found by the side of the runs over the years than nobody ever claimed

I would sell that Marmot Precip shell as fast as I could B/C they are notorious for the laminate paling off. Get an eVent parka.