Taking BOTH synthetic & down puffy winter camping

Yes! This is a very underrated system.

I think it’s underrated because not very many people do “winter” trekking, perhaps they think that “wintry” conditions = “winter” conditions. 😂

My preference for gear:

The NAL Hoody is the system’s anchor piece. Underneath it is a merino wool short sleeve fishnet base layer. For the shell – a breathable (but windproof) hooded jacket to seal everything in during blizzard conditions. The base + NAL are fine for most winter conditions. The base + houdini is great when it’s warm out and there’s no wind. The base alone would give poor Mike Pence a heart attack if you met him in a bar after your trek. If you’re on the fringe and expect wet precip, consider replacing the hoody with a WPB jacket.

Then, for rest stops and in camp, add the down parka. The Helios Hoody is my choice for most conditions, but this system is not awesome for subzero (F) weather, when I start adding VB layers for in-camp use and switch to a real down parka.

But yes, a highly breathable synthetic hi-loft midlayer + down parka is a GREAT winter setup!

A flexible system for varied conditions

It’s my standard kit in winter here.

Rab xenon X Primaloft jacket

plus some flavour of down jacket for camp use.  Weight/thickness of down jacket depends on temperatures expected.

The synthetic is roomy enough to overlayer my waterproof shell or even a thinner down jacket if nececessary.

So you hike in the synthetic jacket?  I would think this would get really warm quick; although I have not tried it.  What are the temperatures you are in while hiking with the synthetic?

I recently picked up an Arc Teryx Atom LT for use around town.  It seems pretty breathable albeit a little heavy.  Maybe I will try this.

I usually just use a wind shirt with a base layer…sometimes adding something for a mid layer like a Patagonia R.5, but find this can get warm when hiking hard. I generally try to stay just a bit cool so that I don’t sweat too much.

Matt

That’s what I’ve been doing for a while when it’s cold

MYOG synthetic vest – Apex 2.5 oz/yd2 – 5 ounces

MYOG down vest – 5 ounces

If it’s really cold I’ll wear the synthetic vest hiking, but if it’s just cold I’ll sweat

the synthetic vest will retain it’s warmth if wet, so there’s a survival aspect to this

Great system. I’ve been using the patagonja nano air with a MB mirage layered over that for the last few winter’s.

The synthetic is great for using on the go when it’s cold and it helps to dry out my baselayers before I get to camp and throw on the puffy.

Well it’s settled then, I’m taking both. And of course if I’m too sweaty skinning up to my 9,500 ft.base camp I’ll shed the synthetic jacket.

If the weather looks a bit warmer than say, 10 F. day temps I’ll take my EB 1st Ascent down vest instead of sdthe down sweater.

Ryan, I’m looking seriously at the LL Bean “Men’s 850 Baffled Down Parka” for your “real down parka”. At $309. for a Large, Tall it’s a pretty good buy for Bean quality. I’m 5′ 10″ but buying a Tall B/C I want the extra butt coverage and my wrists will still be covered when reaching.

See? I did learn something from the BPL Down Parka article.

As my Deep winter trip has been cancelled I’ll probably be looking to do this myself here in Oz. My problem is that I have a lot of trouble finding UL down gear cut large enough to fit over what I would consider my LW action layer. It seems very few people make LW and UL gear for we bigger people.

I’ve sort of got my system worked out and my LY synthetic top is the Patagonia NanoBivvy in XXL. I’ve never seen a factory LW down big enough to layer over that garment. I have an UL Uniqlo downie that layers underneath tho in fact it layers underneath my winter working layer, but you don’t want to strip down to base layers to dress a little warmer.

Synthetics? No problem. Expedition weight down? No problem but I’ve not seen anything in LW or UL down