[pct-l] can the jacket hack it?

[g l]

Paul-
Thanks for your informative response.  Yes, you're right of course.  Hiking in the WM Flight would be stifling!!!!  Still, up in the Great White North, (when the white is actually wetter than white), it seems like you'd need rain gear to cover the jacket in camp on frequent occasions.  Maybe someone that has hiked in all that cold and wet can give some insight.  I had a pretty good setup on the AT and I don't remember ever being cold.  But the dynamics have changed with all the new LW or ULW gear.  Back then it was: expedition weight long johns, The North Face Polartec (fleece?) jacket and Marmot rain gear.  A great combo all the way around, but too heavy by todays standards.  That whole layering idea is key.  I'm actually more concerned with being cold and/or soaked when trying to sleep.  I have never used down anything for hiking, but keep telling myself this ain't the AT!!!  (As so often repeated by PCTers).  I just want to keep whatever down I carry, dry!!!  Maybe my
 planned purchase of "Icebreakers" merino wool long johns will be the "security blanket" I'm looking for!

Thanks again.
Wheeew

paulcaccamo at sbcglobal.net wrote:       I had a very similar setup to yours for my 2007  attempted thru (call me a long section hiker).  A Marmot Hydrogen +30,  Driclime Windshirt, WM Flight Jacket, rain gear.
 I carried everything the whole way (1600 miles)  including SoCal desert.  I cannot speak for anyone other than myself, but I  *never* wore the Flight Jacket whilst hiking, it is simply too warm, even in  cold conditions.  The Driclime under your raingear will provide a good  measure of insulation on the move, I think even the coldest hiker would be  sweating up a storm after a half mile in a Flight Jacket (plus your Pillsbury  Dough Boy comment is a real danger!)
 In fact I rarely used the Flight Jacket except as a  top-notch pillow and as a boost to my sleeping bag on the sub 25 degree  nights.....but on the occasions when I did need insulation in camp, and the  Driclime was not enough, well, then it was worth its eleven ounces in  gold.  I kept both the jacket and my sleeping bag in a trash compacter bag  and they never got wet.  
 Further caveats.....I have yet to hike the two wet  states (that is next summer's section hike) so the conditions may warrant a  different strategy.  But I think even in a cold rainstorm in WA I would not  be wearing the down jacket while hiking.
 I have no experience with the other jacket you  mentioned, but you can't go wrong with a Flight jacket if you're set on  down.
  
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