Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Jacket and Pants layering questions.

For winter trans sierra skiing/snowshoeing im looking at getting these pants: Patagonia Men's Mix Master Pants.

For a jacket system for winter im totally lost.
I cant decide between a Patagonia down sweater,Micro Puff,or R4 or whether i should get an r3 with some type of soft shell.I like the down sweater cuz it packs really small and is warm when you need warmth but apparently its not good for sweaty exercise and is delicate.The R4 is bulky and maybe too sweaty for exercise?The micro puff doesnt seem warm enough when you really need warmth.The option of getting a fleece and softshell system is a lot of bulk.
I already have a PAtagonia synchilla and use baselayers like cap 2+3...But dont know if that would be warm enough for a really cold stuff.

This all causes me too think that i should just get 1 bulky heavy duty down jacket that will just keep me warm for emergencies.

Any opinions appreciated.Thanks.

You need a good quality down jacket for summit/rest stops in winter -- the down sweaters, nano-puffs et al are not summit/camp jackets. While on the move, I have found that personal preference is for shells/lt fleece, because I keep moving at a pace that will keep me warm.

The Mountain Hardware Sub Zero is a big favorite.

This is just one opinion out of many variations.

Thx,thats what i suspected...Hood or no hood?I personally prefer a hat vs hood.So i think i will go for R2 or R3 and a shell-any shell suggestions?What about b/c winter pants?

Hoods are a pain, but they are better than a hat, because you don't have that draft between the head & collar. All of the big mountain summiters use coats with hoods, but depending on where you are would make the decision.

My shell is the Marmot Precip in a size big enough to wear over my down jacket, or more or less layers of fleece.

Pants. My background is in X-country skiing, so my active temps tend to be higher than a hiker's. For me, "guide pants" are nice, but can be too warm, so I prefer a bit lighter wt pant with the option of wearing a shell over them if the wind comes up. Starting in late autumn, I carry down pants for camp, too (they stuff down smaller than fleece).

I thought you had to have a fancy shell for winter activity.I already have a patagonia rain shadow shell.I was looking at Patagonia stretch ascent.I saw it today at the store it is slighty beefier than my rain shadow so is it redundant to get a soft shell?
I ended up buying an R2fleece and Simple guide jacket just cuz they were half off and i can return em no prob.

Layering up is a very personal choice. The people that I hike with go straight through winter with the fleece-shell-down jacket mix and match scenario -- using either the Precip or Torrentshell as the final layer. The idea being to keep the wind out & keep whatever layers under, dry. I suppose once again, that it depends on how much you plan of roughing up the outer layer. For me, it worked down to 19 degrees, allowing for subtraction of layers as it became warmer.

There are many many more experienced people on this board who can offer up variations, but this seems to work for me.

PS, I own a simple guide jacket; it is neither windproff nor waterproof and is not designed to be worn over anything bulky, so it would not double as moisture protection for your down jacket.

Yeah,I bought the simple guide purely off the salesmans pitch and 2mins after i bot it i thought what the hell did i just do and why?!!!IT will be going back for sure.Impulse shopping!The R2 i may keep as it is real nice but i already have a synchilla which is way bulky though.I have a bunch of thinner fleece tops but i dont think they transfer sweat like the r2.
My rain shadow seems like it will delaminate maybe if i have a backpack on whereas the Stretch ascent seems built for that activity?If i was in possession of a money printing machine all these queries would be moot of course!

Someday I will post a picture of all the outer/innerwear that I own -- suffice to say, it occupies its own closet!

I am a big fan of the Patagonia R series (wearing R3 right now) Currently, I am testing the First Ascent Expedition thermals, because I have discovered that a good base layer sets the tone for the whole layering system. (last year, I combined featherweight silk with fleece thermals and was shocked at how much warmer I was)

Anyhow, I think that the key to the whole layering picture is that each piece has to work either alone or together (meaning that a shell just cant look good, rather, it has to double as a rain windbreaker & an outer layer to a five piece ensemble)

Use Trailspace.com as a research & price guide; it helps cut back on the impulse spending.

Thanks Bee for your help.