Your sleep system and it's layers

My old system.

1. Could vent or layer to sleep out on warm summer nights and the shiver factor would come into play just a hair below freezing so say 32 degree livable low.

2. Homemade Clima shield quilt 24.8oz. I also use a homemade bivy that is 10oz for layering to prevent drafts. Bug and weather protection as well.

3. I have an rei hoodless down Jacket 12.2oz (xxl). 1.5oz balaclava.

4. Under armor active thermals 7.1oz, sleep socks 2.0oz and a thermal top at 8oz

5. It worked great with layering the bivy for drafts and just using it as a grounds heat when warm and few bugs. When wearing everything I would not shiver around freezing and would sleep but ware up a little cold, certainly not toasty and the one night of sleep I lost when it dropped to below 30 was not a life threatening night but certainly wouldn’t want to do that night after night on a trip.

I am upgrading to a down quilt now to push my low limit to 20 and save some weight while trying to stay just as versatile for most of my 3 season trips. I may have to get a 50 degree quilt for summer but I won’t consider that until I log some hot nights with the new setup.

Glenn Van Peski says “If you are aren’t wearing all of your clothes to bed, you packed to many clothes”.

I’m not inclined to go to that extreme, however I am quite comfortable in my ability to combine a modular layering system with either a 30* or 10* quilt and xlite pad to accommodate any temperatures I am likely to encounter.  I’ve been to low single digits and been toasty and am certain I could push it lower.

My head gear sleeping options include Cap4 beanie, Cap4 Balaclava and 100wt Windstopper fleece beanie and any/all combinations…and of course the hood of my down parka

The real trick of course is to accurately predict the temperatures I will encounter :)

1. Your max temp ratings high and low – Comfortable low 30’s to 55F.

2. Quilt info and rating – EE Enigma Reg Wide 20F 850 drydown, TAR X-light reg, 1/8″ foam under pad. Slept under a SMD Deschute CF shaped tarp.

3. Additional insulation gear including head wear – EE Hoodlum OR Goosefeet down balaclava (not both). 4 oz down vest wrapped around feet on colder nights.

4. Base layer and any other clothes worn – Hiking pants, light socks, long sleeve hiking shirt, 8 oz fleece pullover, 3 oz wind shirt on top.

5. Real life experiences with this system – Worked well for late spring and summer trips in the Cascades and Olympics and a two week JMT trip late Aug to early Sept. One night in the mid-high 20’s was a cool night’s sleep, but slept fine. In temps 45F or higher the quilt was used like a blanket with quilt straps only clipped on one side – the side opposite the tarp opening for easy entry/exit.

1. Max high of 50f max low of 19f in shelter.
2. Katabatic Chisos 6′ wide with 2oz overfill.  Rated to 40f without overfill sleeping atop an Xtherm year round under a shaped tarp in a net inner.
3. Luke’s down hood, FF Hyperion vest draped over me and not worn.
4. Thin liner socks, Cap 2 base layer top and bottom, Luke’s wind pants, Houdini wind shirt.
5. This is my go to system for late spring through early fall in the Rocky Mountains at elevations up to 12k plus.  Very comfy down to mid 20’s and OK at 19f but I had to lay on my back with everything just so and it was a very still night wind wise.   More than survivable but not quite warm.

1. usually above freezing, nothing too hot

2. EE Rev 20

3. ground: wide NeoAir XLite; hammock: still in progress

4. body: capeline base layer, grid fleece, puffy (current: hadron anorak); head: 2 hoods and/or separate cheap knit beanie. feet: slightly thicker Darn Tough. Don’t always wear all.

5. So far so good on the ground. (need to get a proper underquilt for the hammock)

With such limited gear when traveling light, every piece gets multiple uses so I’ll tell you what I bring for 90% of my trips. Note I tend to be what most would consider a moderately warm sleeper but not extreme as I’ve certainly been cold before!

I have two quilts, both rated 30 but they are not equal warmth nor weight. I use a thermarest NeoAir Xlite and if it’s on snow, I’ll bring a cheap pad to go under that I got on amazon.
The Katabatic Flex 30 is very versatile and I’ve used it down to mid 20’s.  Katabatic is very conservatively rated IMO, I’d expect to be fine down to 20 even with the door open for moisture.

I also have an EE Revelation 30. It is significantly lighter than the flex (16.7 oz in Reg/Reg vs 24.7 L/Wide) but it’s also lacking all the extras so is about 10 degrees cooler and is a bit tighter for my 6’1″, 180lbs. This is my summer quilt, I’d expect it to be good to the mid/high 30’s but more like survivable at 30, even layered up. I have limited experience with it so far but it doesn’t have all the extras the katabatic has plus has less loft so it’s a logic based assumption.

For clothing I bring the following on virtually any non-winter trip:
2 pairs of socks, 1 wool, 1 possumdown if I expect to be wet
1 ultra light silk long johns bottoms
2 pairs Under Armor briefs
1 wool short sleeve hiking shirt I hike in
1 Wool Long sleeve that’s a camp and sleep shirt
1 Montbell down puffy jacket with hood
1 fleece hat
1 pair UL fleece gloves
1 UL Rain Jacket
1 running shorts
1 UL rain pants

On a typical night in the cascades we get to the high 30’s in spring and fall so I’ll wear socks, long johns and the wool shirt and hat with the puffy jacket to start but I almost always take it off at some point in the night. When it’s going to be colder I don’t change much but don’t take off the jacket. If it’s unexpectedly much colder I add the rain gear over everything and a second pair of socks but that’s a very rare occasion and I’d generally end up taking off the rain gear once I got up warm.  If I know it’s going to be colder I might bring a sleeping bag liner.

Colin,

You list the weight of your Flex almost 2oz more than the published weight.  Did you have more down added or did it just weigh more?

John, I should have mentioned both weights are with stuff sacks and ties plus that it’s an 850fp.

Published on a long/wide flex 30 is 23.8 with the sack at .6-.8 so mine is pretty close to published I think.

I forgot to add my pad is a first gen. Neo air full size. I am going to experiment a little with pads as well this year in my new system. I’ll report back here in a month or 2. My new quilt is on order so once it comes in I’ll atleast try it out in the back yard right away and see how it does.

Interesting question. Seldom do we think of a sleep system in terms of layering but we should.

3 SEASON: 80+ F. to 15 F.

BAG->  WM Megalite 30F. overstuffed to 20 F. (unzipped fully and used as a quilt in temps above 65 F.)

PAD-> Thermarest Prolite reg. (pants and other clothes beneath pad on cold nights)

ADDED CLOTHING->  EB light down jacket or EB down vest, poly balaclava, mid weight poly base layer, heavy sleeping sox in cold weather. This system does well to 15 F. and a bit below. The poly balaclava is crucial in colder weather.

WINTER:

BAG-> -20 F. LL Bean down bag W/Down Tek DWR treatment

PAD-> Thermarest TrailPro (& Ridgerest beneath it in -10 F. or lower temps)

CLOTHING-> Same as above + fleece full face mask (If your nose is frigid you will unconsciously bury your face in your bag and wet it with your breath.)