View Full Version : finalizing my gear
stickat04
01-03-2005, 16:00
My last dilemma is to decide to take a heavier cold weather coat for a 3/1 start.
I have 2 thermal tops (1 for hiking 1 for sleeping), 1 short sleeve shirt, montbell thermawrap jacket, and precip rain jacket. Will this be good?
I have a waterproof /breatable jacket that I am thinking of taking instead of the precip for the 1st month it is a pound maybe 2 pounds heavier though.
http://www.pacifictrail.com/d_mnsperf.asp?id=054103
Footslogger
01-03-2005, 16:05
My last dilemma is to decide to take a heavier cold weather coat for a 3/1 start.
I have 2 thermal tops (1 for hiking 1 for sleeping), 1 short sleeve shirt, montbell thermawrap jacket, and precip rain jacket. Will this be good?
I have a waterproof /breatable jacket that I am thinking of taking instead of the precip for the 1st month it is a pound maybe 2 pounds heavier though.
http://www.pacifictrail.com/d_mnsperf.asp?id=054103=========================
Not sure what the rating is on that Montbell thermawrap jacket but you may want to consider a fleece top. You can still get some pretty darn cold days/nights in the early parts of March in the N. Georgia mountains. I started on 3/17 and had snow the first night and then again just before Tray Mountain. The weather is always iffy and if you're a gamblin person and tend to be a warmer hiker you might be able to get by but I'll be you'll be wearing everything in your pack at least a couple times before the weather starts to warm up.
'Slogger
AT 2003
Assuming you also have warm gloves and hat, and thermal tights, you should be ok, unless you hit a bad stretch of weather. Put the heavier coat in a bounce bucket if the weather looks reasonable at the start. Assuming the Mont-Bell is atleast as good as heavy fleece, you should be good for hiking down to freezing, if it is relatively dry. Combined with a 20 degree (honest rating) bag, you should be good for nights in the single digits. If your bag isn't an honest 20 (be suspicious unless you know for sure, or if made by FF or WM), then you might be a little chilly some nights at the start (month).
stickat04
01-03-2005, 16:33
Yes I have warm hat and gloves a WM 20 degree bag with a silk liner, 2 thermal bottoms one for sleeping and 1 for hiking. Keeping it the bounce box sounds like a good idea thanks.
gravityman
01-03-2005, 17:31
We used expedition weight thermals, a relatively light fleece (100 weight?) and were good for a march 1 start, 2001. We did have 0 degree bags. This time we have 10 degree bags (WM versalight super) and Patagonia Puffball. We went with that over the thermawrap because we figured it was worth the weight (12 oz verses 8 oz) after a stellar review on backpackinglight.com, but the thermawrap was our original first choice. You should be fine, but might has a tough cool night or two in the smokeys or on some other 6k mountain area if a bad cold front moves through. Try to keep an eye out for this. If you have a full tent, that helps. Tarps and tarptents don't help much at all.
We had a 4 degree night at Icewater Springs.
Gravity
My last dilemma is to decide to take a heavier cold weather coat for a 3/1 start. I have 2 thermal tops (1 for hiking 1 for sleeping), 1 short sleeve shirt, montbell thermawrap jacket, and precip rain jacket. Will this be good?
I would think what you are bringing should be plenty for a March AT start. The following was a thread were a few people shared their experiences with the Thermawrap:
http://forums.backpacker.com/thread.jspa?threadID=54493&tstart=0