- Banned
- #1
colin_outdoors
FNG
Hey y’all,
Just thought I’d do a little writeup of a new to me ultralight layering system I was playing with this year in hopes others might stay a little warmer and dryer out there. Before anybody rips me saying this should be in clothing, the focus is not on the clothing but how you can use layers of ultralight garments to make a more robust system then their counterparts (active insulation/"breathable"rain gear)
The basic gist is this. Ounce for ounce on a late season hunt I would take two thin base layers over pretty much any other gear; one merino, one synthetic. As I stomp up the hill on the backside of the drainage I want to hunt in the dark, I’m wearing synthetic. 50 yards before the top I stop, strip, wipe all my sweat off with my synthetic shirt, put on long underwear and my dry merino baselayer I turn my headlamp off and do this all in the dark to let my eyes adjust to the lack of light. Dry and cold, I stomp the last bit up the hill in the dark, regaining my body heat.
Result: I slip into a glassing spot, no headlamp, no noisy BS, warm and dry. I hang the synthetic shirt on a tree. In the rare event that it’s not bone dry by the time i’m done glassing, I’ll hang it from my pack as I hunt.
-Extra weight of synthetic layer: 5oz
For weird weather hunts I combine this tactic with a Patagonia Houdini in lieu of rain gear. I’m too sissy to stay warm in the rain in just a base layer, and I found myself rushing through benches or increasing my pace to heat up and losing opportunities as a result. For me, the houdini on top of a synthetic is the ticket to being warm while moving in the rain. When glassing, keep the houdini on the outside of your puffy and it’s extremely good at blocking the wind.
The reason I prefer this system to active insulation system is how you can leverage it’s modularity to take advantage of the thermodynamics involved in how heat moves water across membranes. The greater the difference in temps, the more energy there is in a system to push water through that membrane. With that houdini close to your skin, its incredibly breathable. With it on top of my puffy, its very wind resistant.
-Extra weight of Houdini: 3.7 oz
Pair all of this with a 5oz tarp shelter that doubles for glassing in the rain and you have a 8.7 oz clothing system that keeps you warm when you’re moving and dry when you’re glassing/sleeping. There are times I still wore rain gear, and there are times I brought only one base layer. But by keeping an eye on the weather, you can use different combinations of these layers and how they are oriented relative to each other, to create a system that outperforms either “breathable” rain gear or active insulation at a fraction of the weight. Hope this helps, stay warm!
Just thought I’d do a little writeup of a new to me ultralight layering system I was playing with this year in hopes others might stay a little warmer and dryer out there. Before anybody rips me saying this should be in clothing, the focus is not on the clothing but how you can use layers of ultralight garments to make a more robust system then their counterparts (active insulation/"breathable"rain gear)
The basic gist is this. Ounce for ounce on a late season hunt I would take two thin base layers over pretty much any other gear; one merino, one synthetic. As I stomp up the hill on the backside of the drainage I want to hunt in the dark, I’m wearing synthetic. 50 yards before the top I stop, strip, wipe all my sweat off with my synthetic shirt, put on long underwear and my dry merino baselayer I turn my headlamp off and do this all in the dark to let my eyes adjust to the lack of light. Dry and cold, I stomp the last bit up the hill in the dark, regaining my body heat.
Result: I slip into a glassing spot, no headlamp, no noisy BS, warm and dry. I hang the synthetic shirt on a tree. In the rare event that it’s not bone dry by the time i’m done glassing, I’ll hang it from my pack as I hunt.
-Extra weight of synthetic layer: 5oz
For weird weather hunts I combine this tactic with a Patagonia Houdini in lieu of rain gear. I’m too sissy to stay warm in the rain in just a base layer, and I found myself rushing through benches or increasing my pace to heat up and losing opportunities as a result. For me, the houdini on top of a synthetic is the ticket to being warm while moving in the rain. When glassing, keep the houdini on the outside of your puffy and it’s extremely good at blocking the wind.
The reason I prefer this system to active insulation system is how you can leverage it’s modularity to take advantage of the thermodynamics involved in how heat moves water across membranes. The greater the difference in temps, the more energy there is in a system to push water through that membrane. With that houdini close to your skin, its incredibly breathable. With it on top of my puffy, its very wind resistant.
-Extra weight of Houdini: 3.7 oz
Pair all of this with a 5oz tarp shelter that doubles for glassing in the rain and you have a 8.7 oz clothing system that keeps you warm when you’re moving and dry when you’re glassing/sleeping. There are times I still wore rain gear, and there are times I brought only one base layer. But by keeping an eye on the weather, you can use different combinations of these layers and how they are oriented relative to each other, to create a system that outperforms either “breathable” rain gear or active insulation at a fraction of the weight. Hope this helps, stay warm!
