Lightweight packing rucksack, and salopettes

Rob G said:

Similarly I wondering about the salopettes that Keela sell - any
opinions on them ? Even salopettes in general ?

Salopettes in general come *hugely* recommended for winter use. I find
they make a very big difference to warmth, partly never having a cold
bit just over your breeks as your rucksack separates your clothing for
you at the waist, but also just the difference an extra layer around the
base of the trunk makes.
Back when I did winter climbing I'd always use them, and now they're
Weapon Of Choice for skiing (both downhill and serious touring, though
they're a bit OTT for light XC track).

Don't know about the Keela ones specifically. Ours are Powershield
(picked up some MEC ones on a visit to Canada), which is very warm,
practically windproof, pretty tough and stretchy. Never really seen
much need for waterproof ones myself, always having preferred the
soft-shell approach which will do the warmth thing better. If it's
bucketing I just pull on "normal" waterproofs over the top.

Primary gotcha is it makes a hunker-down type of toilet stop
/considerably/ more involved. It's all very well having a [censored]-flap,
but think it through and that's not the end of the story if you've got
undies on! Aside from that there's extra weight and expense, but the
comfort gains over a cold day are considerable IME. Wouldn't dream of
wearing them outside of winter though, unless I was doing something like
yachting in a gale (for which I can see lots of reasons for waterproof
ones!).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Rob G said:

Similarly I wondering about the salopettes that Keela sell - any
opinions on them ? Even salopettes in general ?

Salopettes in general come *hugely* recommended for winter use. I find
they make a very big difference to warmth, partly never having a cold
bit just over your breeks as your rucksack separates your clothing for
you at the waist, but also just the difference an extra layer around the
base of the trunk makes.
Back when I did winter climbing I'd always use them, and now they're
Weapon Of Choice for skiing (both downhill and serious touring, though
they're a bit OTT for light XC track).

Don't know about the Keela ones specifically. Ours are Powershield
(picked up some MEC ones on a visit to Canada), which is very warm,
practically windproof, pretty tough and stretchy. Never really seen
much need for waterproof ones myself, always having preferred the
soft-shell approach which will do the warmth thing better. If it's
bucketing I just pull on "normal" waterproofs over the top.

Primary gotcha is it makes a hunker-down type of toilet stop
/considerably/ more involved. It's all very well having a [censored]-flap,
but think it through and that's not the end of the story if you've got
undies on! Aside from that there's extra weight and expense, but the
comfort gains over a cold day are considerable IME. Wouldn't dream of
wearing them outside of winter though, unless I was doing something like
yachting in a gale (for which I can see lots of reasons for waterproof
ones!).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter
It turned out a friend of ours had a pair of the Keela ones, but has
rather put me off in that he finds them too warm for walking and uses
them only for skiing. The only time he's used them walking is when
taking a party of children out as progres is so slow.

I'll put up a new thread enquiring about recommendations for winter
trousers.

Rob

Rob G said:

It turned out a friend of ours had a pair of the Keela ones, but has
rather put me off in that he finds them too warm for walking and uses
them only for skiing. The only time he's used them walking is when
taking a party of children out as progres is so slow.

I'll put up a new thread enquiring about recommendations for winter
trousers.

Kinda depends what they're made from, of course. A pair of ME's
Powerfleece ones is a rather different proposition to a pair of
Buffalo pertex/pile ones, for example. Select the correct material
and you have the right degree of insulation with no unintentional
venting as your pack rucks up your shirt

Our Powershield ones are very much for proper winter conditions,
but we use them for ski touring with full packs which certainly
isn't something you'd wwant to do in gear strictly for standing
about in the cold.

If you want a winter walking trouser rather than sloppets I'd say
you can do a great deal worse then one of the various pairs of
Schoeller Dryskin (or similar) ones. I use ME Liskamms, IIRC
others here have Mammut Base Jump pants and like them. The
material is warm, tough, relatively windproof, very breathable and
stretchy for freedom of movement, and they deal with driech pretty
well (especially the ones with a nanosphere treatment). Roos has
some Patagonia Guide trousers which seem a little thicker, but are
otherwise a similar concept. There are various other
Schoeller-a-like fabrics about but I don't know how they stack up
as regards their exact various performance characteristics. Most
of them are cheaper though! Powershield is a similar but quite a
bit more serious as regards warmth and weight. I'd prefer it, and
in sloppet form, for sub zero with high wind, but for a typical
coldish/dampish/breezyish day the Dryskin would be more my weapon
of choice.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Rob G said:

It turned out a friend of ours had a pair of the Keela ones, but has
rather put me off in that he finds them too warm for walking and uses
them only for skiing. The only time he's used them walking is when
taking a party of children out as progres is so slow.

Quoted message said:

I'll put up a new thread enquiring about recommendations for winter
trousers.

Kinda depends what they're made from, of course. A pair of ME's
Powerfleece ones is a rather different proposition to a pair of
Buffalo pertex/pile ones, for example. Select the correct material
and you have the right degree of insulation with no unintentional
venting as your pack rucks up your shirt

Our Powershield ones are very much for proper winter conditions,
but we use them for ski touring with full packs which certainly
isn't something you'd wwant to do in gear strictly for standing
about in the cold.

If you want a winter walking trouser rather than sloppets I'd say
you can do a great deal worse then one of the various pairs of
Schoeller Dryskin (or similar) ones. I use ME Liskamms, IIRC
others here have Mammut Base Jump pants and like them. The
material is warm, tough, relatively windproof, very breathable and
stretchy for freedom of movement, and they deal with driech pretty
well (especially the ones with a nanosphere treatment). Roos has
some Patagonia Guide trousers which seem a little thicker, but are
otherwise a similar concept. There are various other
Schoeller-a-like fabrics about but I don't know how they stack up
as regards their exact various performance characteristics. Most
of them are cheaper though! Powershield is a similar but quite a
bit more serious as regards warmth and weight. I'd prefer it, and
in sloppet form, for sub zero with high wind, but for a typical
coldish/dampish/breezyish day the Dryskin would be more my weapon
of choice.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Thanks Pete.

Rob