Certainly makes sense from a weight-saving perspective, but if you're using all your layers on a typical cold night, you don't have much left for the occasional extra-cold night.

Which is why what W_D said about the sleeping bag is so important! My layers (plus sleeping bag) are for the extra-cold night! I've run into plenty of those at higher altitude, even in midsummer. When planning, I strongly recommend that you ignore average low temps and look at the record low temps for that time of year. I wouldn't want to plan for more than 5*F above those record lows.

I thought folks here might like to know that Mass Drop has the Sierra Designs DriDown jacket on sale right now for about $55. Sadly, I just bought an UL down jacket, so I can't really justify getting another one just yet.

Talthing….
thanks for the tip on the Smartwool 250 bottoms. Looks like maybe the warmest for its weight. I'm be looking for a sale on those.

I believe Ben Smith from Goosefeet posted here...he can make custom down gear that is super light and durable.

20D nylon taffeta with 3.5 oz downtek (8 oz trail weight) $415

yeah $400+ might seem a lot ...but consider Patagonia, North Face, and Arc'Teryx sell jackets that weigh more than that...and have less insulation and less durability.

I prefer Merino wool shirts to the synthetic tech stuff.. After 2 hours of climbing indoors, none of my tech tees (all around 50 bucks a piece) still smells like I would want to wear it again.
I cannot imagine them lasting more than one day hiking.. sure, you can wash them every day and they'll be dry in the morning..
What about those days, where you cannot do laundry?

The Merino shirt I can wear for 4 days at work before I decide to throw it in the washing machine, just because I don't want to stretch my luck


Lastly, I weigh about 30 pounds less than the average male hiker, so I don't feel very bad about logging about two extra pairs of spare boxers and socks.