Originally Posted by
AsanaCycles
yes, wool is very bulky.
the key is to only carry what you wear.
I like the bulk when it comes to using it as a pillow.
this last little jaunt I wore:
1 hincapie merino wool baselayer
1 wool jersey
1
pr DeFeet wool armwarmers
1
pr DeFeet wool DuraGloves
castelli bibs
castelli knickers
rei wool socks
I packed and never used, 1 hincapie super thin rain shell.
patagonia capeline long john base layer. this is my primary in camp wear.
1 Kifaru Parka. compresses down to about 1/2 the size of a small water bottle. I wear this in camp and sleep in it. its designed to allow you to just lay directly on the ground.
I also roll up in a Kifaru Woobie. sometimes I curl up into a ball, other times, I just lay sprawled out. depending on how cold it gets. I've used this setup down to 27f at about 7,000ft elevation.
1pr of Prana knickers and a
pr of Crocs are the most frivolous clothing items I carry.
just about every night I rinse/wash my cycling clothing when i hit the showers. wring it all out, and let it drip thru the night. in the morning I peel that stuff on. no doubt its kind of whacky to don wet cycling clothing at 50F. But if you manage to not rinse out the wool jersey, having that over a wet wool base layer, it warms up pretty darn fast, which always amazes me.
My plan is to replace my 20º EMS bag with a 15º down bag. I may default to a 30º, but we'll see. My sleep kit includes Smartwool Midweight Crew and Tights, Darn Tough Merino Wool socks, a synthetic beanie, and a Columbia High-Luft Omnishield fleece. Wrapping all of that is a Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Extreme sleeping bag liner, with a Thermarest NeoAir mattress.
Is the combination of the fleece, wool tights, and wool shirt bulky? Sure, and I don't bring all of them everywhere, especially in summer. However, by leaving the street clothes at home, I can warrant space for all of this and then not only sleep, but sleep
soundly at the tops of mountains where it dips below freezing.
This past summer, I did not have the 20º bag, obviously. I had a $30 Fleece/polyester sleeping bag liner called the Razor from Alps Mountaineering. It wasn't UL, but it was UC, or Ultra Cheap, and it did the job all the way down to 40º on Mt. Hurricane.
My sleep system is one that I'm extremely comfortable in. My timeline for camping is now near-365 days a year without becoming uncomfortable or wishing I was home in a bed, which to me, is so, SO beyond important while touring.
Do I sacrifice comfort to tour UL? Not even a little bit.