Mountain SuperUltraLight Backpacking – Going SUL in the Mountains with Adequate Shelter, Insulation, and Rain Protection. Part 2B: Selecting the Lightest, Most Functional Gear – Rainwear, Insulation, Headwear, Handwear, and Footwear

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Daniel,

In winter I carry Synthetic trousers (Patagonia Micro puffs or Arcteryx Atom Lts) and a Synthetic Hoody (Arcteryx Atom Sv or Kappa) and a down hoody (Stoic Hadron or Gooses Feet Parka) depending on the expected lowest temperatures (last winter camp was -13f)

The system adds a bit of weight over carrying one upper body items but if I end up wearing the synthetic kit while moving it will dry out faster down than and I still have he down piece as a booster.

I am thinking of adding a pair of Gooses Feet down shorts for under the Micro puffs for crazy cold camping.

Great article. I personally think this is a great article for anyone who is interested in ultralight hiking, not just super-ultralight. There are tips here that apply to anyone who is a trying to keep their backpack weight low, regardless of what their base weight it.

There are two surprising pieces of information here for me. The first is the emphasis on down insulation for an insulating jacket. Obviously the gear should vary for the expected conditions. But I find that a synthetic puffy jacket is just right for most of my hiking. It rarely gets below freezing in the day for me (in the summer), whether is it precipitating or not. Once I get moving, then a puffy jacket is just fine. My puffy is a BPL Cocoon Pullover, which is about 8 ounces. It has no baffles, so there is less stitching than a down jacket. It won't last as long, but so far has held up just fine. The nice thing is that will be just as warm at the beginning of a trip as will on the last day, even if I have been walking uphill through fog the entire time.

I think a warmer jacket would be overkill, and drive me to use something in between (like a windshirt) which would add a couple ounces to my system. The advantage, of course, is that I could get by with less insulation in my sleeping bag, but I think that is probably a wash (if my jacket is a bit warmer but my sleeping bag has less insulation than I'm not sure I would come out ahead).

The most interesting part of this article, though are the ideas about rain gear. I use my raingear as bug protection, so breathability is very important to me. Conventional wisdom was that Propose (O2, etc.) was very breathable, very waterproof, very light but extremely fragile. Event was more breathable, but a lot heavier. Some laminate jackets (including some failed products) were lighter than Propore, a lot more durable (which really isn't saying much) but really poor when it came to breathability. Then there are windshirts, which breath well, are reasonably durable, very lightweight, but not very waterproof (to the point where using them as your only rain gear might be dangerous).

Some of these jackets sound really promising (and might replace my Propore) but I would love to see the numbers on them. Are they better than Propore when it comes to breathability or being waterproof? If they are even close than it might be worth it just to save a little weight and get the added durability.