Insulated Pants - a place in my kit?

[tsmart]

I'm considering adding some insulated pants to my climbing kit for Cascades climbs this summer, including Rainier in August. It seems something like Patagonia Micro Puff pants would fit into my kit, but I wanted some input.

 

My sleeping bag is a down MH Comet, rated to 30 degrees F - perhaps a little cold. But I also have their bivy sack that zips onto the bag for a few more degrees of warmth, and to bring during peak attempts for unexpected bivies. Still, my bag may not be warm enough even with the bivy, and I may want some warm clothes to go with it.

 

The rest of the kit includes midweight synthetic base layer top and bottom, synthetic midweight top, Shoeller pants, Shoeller jacket, Patagonia Micro Puff pullover top, storm jacket and storm pants. I have no midlayer bottoms.

 

The attraction to the Micro Puff (or MH Chugach) pants is that they have full zippers, and I'm pretty sure they would satisfy my insulating needs during any situation. And the Micro Puff is only 15 ounces.

 

But they may be overkill. Would I be warm enough with a pair of non-zip fleece pants for a third the cost?

 

Also, would the Micro Puff top satisfy the "parka" requirement I see on most Rainier gear lists?

 

Thanks.

[DirtyHarry]

Worthless weight. If its cold and if you aren't hiking or moving around you can always get in your bag. Skip the storm pants shell too - you don't need a shell and schoeller - one or the other. For summer time you'd be better off going with the lightweight shell top since its lighter. Micro puff pullover top is good to have though.

 

In the summer, the only place you'll need to worry about subfreezing temps is on Ranier.

 

If you haven't already, get a copy of Twight's Extreme Alpinism. His theories on clothing are quite good.

[G-spotter]

Insulated Pants are only good for taking up space in the pack or for giving yourself salty chocolate balls.

[Dustin_B]

yeah, definitely skip on the insulated pants for summer in the cascades. just pack a pair of long underwear for the rainier trip.

[Bill_Simpkins]

Skip em.

[tsmart]

Okay, thanks all. I'll skip the insulated pants, although salty chocolate balls do hold some appeal....

 

I didn't realize Shoeller and hard shells were mutually excusive. I was figuring Shoeller for most stuff, but hard shell for really nasty weather.

[mattp]

Shoeller and hard shells are not mutually exclusive. For lots of winter climbs, I'll wear the Shoeller pants and pull on some "hard shell" over it when it really turns crappy, cold, or when I'm going to be sitting in the snow a lot. For a Rainer climb, you might want to have both if the weather was predicted unstable.

[DirtyHarry]

Some people I know bring them both for winter outings, though I think its somewhat redundant. In summer its pretty easy to pick one or the other depending on how the weather looks, but schoeller is almost always going to be a better bet.

 

On top: a midweight liner, a light R1-weight fleece, a lightweight shell, and a light puffy will get you through just about anything in the Cascades.