coats? what do i need to know?

[SkeeterPee]

Last fall, my coldest hike was in PA the week before thanksgiving. Nights dropping to 24 days, about 50 or so in daytime. So far no cold weather hiking when days are in the teens or colder. Last year I wore long sleeve tech shirt and short sleeve tech shirt with gloves and fleece hat and that was good for hiking. I had a heavy fleece for camp. But that fleece took up a lot of space in my pack. it was my general use winter coat..

So I am trying to figure out what types of coats to get for backpacking

seems like main choices are fleece and down or synthetic insulated coats.

I was thinking perhaps a light weight fleece and a down jacket? Ist that a good way to go? I would think you can use both together in colder weather?

What should I be looking at? Not brands, but features?

How much fill for down?

Hooded vs non-hooded for either?

I think I would prefer full zips so not looking at halfs.

For the down jackets does the quilting matter? Some have many small bands of quilting. some have 3 inch bands. some have squares.

Other suggestions to consider?

Thanks for your advice.

[TJ aka Teej]

Fleece + rain jacket.

[SkeeterPee]

Fleece + rain jacket.

Currently use a light/cheap frog togs rain gear. I would think that might cause me to sweat a lot. Would that keep me warm in camp?

[AfterParty]

I play disc golf in frogt and did not get overly sweaty

[virginia jen]

Good midweight baselayer, raincoat. If it's really cold a super thin, warm, down puffy (love my ghost whisperer) (note-not for hiking in though unless it's crazy cold (-0°f)).

[-Rush-]

Last fall, my coldest hike was in PA the week before thanksgiving. Nights dropping to 24 days, about 50 or so in daytime. So far no cold weather hiking when days are in the teens or colder. Last year I wore long sleeve tech shirt and short sleeve tech shirt with gloves and fleece hat and that was good for hiking. I had a heavy fleece for camp. But that fleece took up a lot of space in my pack. it was my general use winter coat..

So I am trying to figure out what types of coats to get for backpacking

I was thinking perhaps a light weight fleece and a down jacket? Ist that a good way to go? I would think you can use both together in colder weather?

What should I be looking at? Not brands, but features?

How much fill for down?

Hooded vs non-hooded for either?

I think I would prefer full zips so not looking at halfs.

For the down jackets does the quilting matter? Some have many small bands of quilting. some have 3 inch bands. some have squares.

Other suggestions to consider?

Thanks for your advice.

I think the most important thing is to get the layering right. I use the following and it took care of me in rainy weather in the low 20s.

Fleece (Breathable base layer)
- I use a Mountain Hardwear Monkey Man Grid II pullover - They make it in a pullover or a jacket.
- Has vented sides which keep you warm but breath very well.
- Could be worn hiking in the morning. Often pulled it off after an hour or so on the move.
- My goto piece when hanging around camp as the sun went down.

Down Puffy jacket (Insulation)
- I have an Arc'Teryx Thorium AR Hoody. Good quality down and it is WARM.
- I wore this around town and in the morning.
- Often it was just sitting in my backpack, so get something lightweight.
- I kept mine in a dry sack and used it for a pillow.

Rain Jacket (Rain/Wind Shell)
- I have an Arc'Teryx Beta LT Hybrid Hoody.
- I hiked in this and used as wind + rain shell.
- Get one large enough that it's comfortable over your fleece + puffy for really cold and wet conditions.
- Has a drawstring on the bottom. Useful.
- Has Pit zips which help with cooling you off.

Using these three layers plus whatever shirt I was wearing kept me safe and ready for whatever.

p.s.
- 650-800 fill is fine.
- The baffles on a down jacket don't really matter, just make sure you get something made with good quality down.
- I like having a hood on my puffy and rain jacket.

[garlic08]

My pack for 20F will be way different than someone else's, but I generally carry a Marmot Driclime jacket, a down vest, and a silnylon rain shell. They're all light weight and pack small.

My mantra is that the clothing (or any gear) you carry is worth nothing without suitable experience. A experienced hand with a old wool sweater and poncho can often be more comfortable than a newbie with the latest and most expensive in down and tech fabric and features. If you wear your down garment on a climb in the rain, it will quickly become worse than useless, pit zips or not.

And much depends on your trip needs. Do you need to sit still outside for long periods of time, or are you good with getting in your sleeping bag when you stop to camp? And are you packing for utmost comfort, minimal comfort, or survival? It's a highly personal, and variable, thing.

[daddytwosticks]

I carry an older Montbell Therawrap. It's a synthetic jacket with no hood. I use it in camp, never hike wearing it.

[daddytwosticks]

...forgot to mention it stuffs down way tiny and weights about 10 ounces. Significantly smaller volume and weight compared to a 200 wt fleece jacket.

[gbolt]

Mont Bell Down Jacket 8.55 oz in Sac. And like daddytwosticks I also never wear hiking.

[SkeeterPee]

Thanks for feedback. I was not thinking I would wear the raingear so much in the winter, but have brought it to use in cold rain or as wind break. I know it makes me sweaty to hike in it at warmer temps, but maybe if it is 30's/40's or colder in will not induce as much sweating.

so I am looking at some of the jackets recommended just to get more ideas. I know I would prefer getting something I can try on and I will take my froggtoggs to EMS/REI to try on over the top of the coats.

Do most of these have an inside pocket where I can keep my sawyer filter from freezing? It needs to be on the inside with the heat vs outside with cold.

So is a light 100wt fleece with a light down jacket good to 0F in camp? At least in the near future I doubt I try backpacking when I would be hiking below 10F, but I should figure down to zero at night.

[SkeeterPee]

Any other features I should be looking at for fleece/down jackets?

No one mentioned it but are they all equal in warmth? I am guessing not.

[swisscross]

Everyone's internal thermastat is different.
Hanging around camp with a 100wt fleece and light puffy I would freeze.

Most manufactures have different versions of ther jackets at different warmths.

I prefer to hike, not camp so I consider my sleeping bag as part of my insulation.

i have never liked hoodies but was recently given a down hoodie. Not sure if it warmer than my old set up (wool buff, down beanie and non hooded puffy) but it is easier.

[swisscross]

My most worn item I own is my wind breaker.
I use it in place of a long sleeve shirt, over my light weight fleece when cooler, under my puffy during cold breaks and over everything when cold and breezy.

[peakbagger]

Downtek water repellent down http://www.down-tek.com/. Wet down is worse than useless, once wet it takes days to dry. Downtek is still going to get damp in nasty conditions but its going to dry quicker and will retain some heat. The reality with down is that the only time a hiker should use it is when they are not hiking, its primary use is at night and on occasion during long breaks.

At some point I saw where someone was selling a hybrid sleeping bag, it was the bottom half of a sleeping bag that zipped onto the bottom of a down coat so the down coat became the top of the sleeping bag.

[Another Kevin]

High temps in the teens are unlikely in any sort of thru-hike pattern. That's getting into real winter. If the highs are in the teens, the lows are likely to be negative single digits. A lot of folks simply wait out that kind of weather in town, because in March in Georgia it won't last. Those of us who live Up North mostly don't do long distance hiking in winter. We switch to peak-bagging, where you can try to get in and get out again quickly before the weather changes, and for multiday trips can operate out of a base camp down in a sheltered valley.

What I'll usually wear to hike in 15 degree highs is baselayer (no heavier than midweight), fleece, sock liners, doubled bread bags, socks, nylon shell pants, glove liners, and balaclava or tuque. If I'm not wearing the hardshell jacket, it's at least at the ready. A lightweight down puffy and a pair of mittens for stops. For a more extended stop, plan to wear the sleeping bag as a cloak. If I'm going to be above treeline or even exposed on a grassy bald, it'll be very windy, so I'll have my goggles ready as well. A dry baselayer, dry socks and a pair of fleece pants for sleeping, because wet gear is banned from the sleeping bag. Gaiters if I expect to need traction gear, because otherwise I'm absolutely certain to catch a crampon point in a trouser leg.

The fastest way to adjust temperature is to take my tuque or balaclava off. When I'm working hard, that leaves me looking like the old greybeard in the pictures below (on a day about those temps, a couple of winters ago). My buddy in the striped jacket had heavier gear on primarily because it was his first winter peak and he overdressed a bit. (He wound up struggling with condensation as a result.) The ledge he's on in the first picture is where we were switching out from snowshoes and poles to crampons and ice axes. The guy in blue in the second picture runs warmer than I do, and for the climb he decided to put his fleece in his pack and hike in just baselayer and hardshell. I wasn't nearly as warm on the way down the mountain as I was going up, so I wound up putting my balaclava and mitts (not just glove liners) back on.

The main reason that I used a hardshell on that trip rather than just a lightweight rain jacket (either a Dri-Ducks or my Marmot Precip) is that the tree branches are all bending under the weight of the ice, and the branches that would have met overhead in summer were meeting waist-high because of a four- or five-foot snowpack. The balsams and spruces would have just shredded the lighter jacket. If you can spot the signpost in the last picture (it's in there, I promise!) you'll see what I'm talking about.





If you expect to be in the mountains with subzero nighttime temperatures, then you really need some winter mountaineering training, too, to be safe. The peak we were on in those pictures isn't as deadly as, say, Mount Washington, but it has killed hikers. Winter in the mountains is unforgiving of mistakes.

[rocketsocks]

Last fall, my coldest hike was in PA the week before thanksgiving. Nights dropping to 24 days, about 50 or so in daytime. So far no cold weather hiking when days are in the teens or colder. Last year I wore long sleeve tech shirt and short sleeve tech shirt with gloves and fleece hat and that was good for hiking. I had a heavy fleece for camp. But that fleece took up a lot of space in my pack. it was my general use winter coat..

So I am trying to figure out what types of coats to get for backpacking

seems like main choices are fleece and down or synthetic insulated coats.

I was thinking perhaps a light weight fleece and a down jacket? Ist that a good way to go? I would think you can use both together in colder weather?

What should I be looking at? Not brands, but features?

How much fill for down?

Hooded vs non-hooded for either?

I think I would prefer full zips so not looking at halfs.

For the down jackets does the quilting matter? Some have many small bands of quilting. some have 3 inch bands. some have squares.

Other suggestions to consider?

Thanks for your advice.

I like "pit zips" kinda become a prequisite for me.