All,

There is a continuum from sleeping on the ground under the stars in warm dry summer nights with fresh water nearby - can you say ultralight? to high altitude extreme weather, glaciers and cold - can you say "bombproof gear" and weight doesn't matter? And everything in between.

In my own humble opinion, unless you have the experience of phat or Food, ultralight is only applicable in weather where failure IS an option. I think too many people shun camping in rain and storms just because their gear isn't up to it and they know it - can you say "fear"?

Windshirts are just not adequate as "storm jackets", likewise tarps are just not adequate protection in bad windy weather. Many people have to be rescued after storms because they are smart enough to know that they can't move with their inadequate gear, or because of hypothermia again from inadequate gear.

My plan has always been to "Be Prepared" yep boyscout - FOR THE WORST not the best.

1) carry shelter that can keep you dry and protect your gear, even if that means an 8 pound tent - shared its only 4 pounds each and a bomber dome that doesn't flap can actually be quiet and let you sleep well which will make you perform better and make sounder decisions.

2) have a sleeping system that can keep you warm if you do have to dig in. How many epic rescue stories start with - "we had no gloves and all but one sleeping bag was soaked and we had no rain gear and couldn't light a fire"? too many?

3) wear quality medium or heavy weight wicking long underwear next to your body - no silk. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT

4) have a layer of 200 or 300 weight fleece or equivalent over the long underwear, but it too must not absorb water. The idea being that your body heat can keep you warm if the layers next to your skin are dry.

5) Have real rain gear. Pants with side zips can be unzipped a ways to let out the steam, same with your jackets AND pitzips actually do vent without letting more water in. Unzip your jacket a bit when you can to let the steam out, that said, you may need to keep some of the steam in to stay warm. I won't go into breathable fabrics but I love packlite, however my packlite breathes so well that a layer of it does not make me any warmer, my goretex does.

6) footgear - if your gonna hike out in wet snow or - you must have real high topped insulated footgear AND warm socks AND gaiters.

7) bibs - I love bibs, they're comfortable warm and they ad an extra layer over your back.

8) gloves. Its hard to explain how awful wet hands are when you are trying to bail out in bad weather. There's really only one combination that works well - warm thick gloves or mitts worn under full on rain mitts, not overgloves. I got rid of my $125 BD ice climbing gloves because my thumbs got cold in them.

9) a method of finding your way. I prefer a GPS with two spare sets of batteries. Ever try to orient a map in a wind and rain and then triangulate on a landmark? If you are not sure where you need to go, all the warm dry gear in the world won't help.

10) attitude, training, preparation, extra noncook food so if your stove won't light - far more common than people may think - you can still be fed, and water.

11) finally - there very sad stories of people who did have the right gear but didn't deploy it in time. DONOT wait until its too late, you're too cold, its too dark. BE AHEAD OF THE CURVE. DIG IN WHEN YOU HAVE TO, THEN MOVE WHEN YOU CAN.

12) SECOND FINALLY - YOU MAY IN FACT BE PINNED DOWN BY REAL OBJECTIVE DANGER, IF SO DO NOT TRY TO TRAVEL - SIT IT OUT.