As I get older I have come to LOVE my tent time in the evenings and mornings. Especially on those cold misty days after walking all day the thought of being in the tent is hard to postpone for the day to complete itself.
Here is my setup for matching conditions(I just mean this is not the setup I use during warm weather, but this is my favorite setup when weather allows).
We start with the tent and go from there:
Tent: Tarptent Dipole ii with Tyvek laid out on top of bath tub floor
Pad: Exped UL downmat7 inside a sea to summit expander liner. Now this is an extra lb to carry but the texture and sound decrease of this lovely material vs a "plastic" pad under a "plastic" sleeping bag is top notch
Now we already found the flattest tent spot that will drain if rain, but once we got that pad in the tent we have to test it for levelness, may have to level it out with items from the pack.
Bag: EE L/W 0* over stuffed convert quilt
Pillow: Ok I am a sleeping primadonna but I embrace it...I carry 2 pillows. A S2S Large inflatable pillow and a medium S2S inflatable pillow. Same pillow, 2 sizes. I carry a cotton pillowcase and put both in there for propping up. Once it is sleep time(side sleeper) I pull the smaller one out and use it as a hugging pillow, head goes on the large pillow.
Now that we have our sleep system setup, its all about the apparel.
Alpaca socks, icebreaker wool top and bottom base layer(I just starting carrying this and forcing myself to use them an it was a real game changer), a light non itchy beanie(minus33 brand for me, amazon). On stand by I have a wool gator and some running mittens(just switched to mittens, tired of numb finger tips in gloves).
Now when I am in this setup above, I do not wish to walk all day. I would prefer to lay there and soak it up, but that don't get trails finished!!!
What's your ideal setup?