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Posted by Tom D on February 11, 2008 at 9:27:09 pm EST
In reply to Layering 102 I thought I knew what was going on... posted by turneej on February 8, 2008 at 8:33:01 pm EST

Thanks Bill. Where my knowledge is lacking is all the new softshells of one kind or another and the new breatheable fabrics. I only have one Gore-tex parka and limited time in it in cold weather.

As I said earlier, there are so many different fabrics to choose from for each layer that there must be hundreds of combinations, if not thousands. I know of at least five or six popular brands of base layers (most of which are a polyester or wool of some kind), dozens of fleece jackets in various weights, plus softshells with or without wind or water resistant layers and dozens of hard shells made of Gore-tex and its competitors, plus various proprietary fabrics such as REI's Element or Marmot's Precip fabrics that are brand specific. Then there are dozens of insulated garments with down,or a variety of synthetic insulators and various outer fabrics.

One consideration, which has been discussed here before about bags, is that in cold wet weather, synthetic insulation has an edge over down, if there is a chance the down will get wet. Wet down will lose its insulating property while wet synthetic insulators will keep theirs because of the difference physical characteristics of down and synthetics.

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