He's thinking hard about it. Mostly because I was available for the post mortem to say, no, that gear did not work for you for these reasons. You are not used to backpacking. You are not used to having weight on your hips and ongoing friction on your feet. You have no experience in getting your body to cooperate with a 20" mattress to provide you a good night's sleep - I do, and I also have experience with the quilt.

I don't think he'll do it again, tho. He was initially gung ho and wanting to do trips with the group at large... this was my way of helping avoid his embarrassment on one of those trips. He was blaming the gear, of course, without having any real concept of what was going on, and despite the fact that I was eight feet from him having none of the same issues.

I don't think a sleeping bag would have made any difference for him, either. He gets uncomfortable and instead of purposeful movements to adjust he thrashes, sits up, and any warmth dissipates - you'd have to put him in one of those Selk bags to combat that behavior.

This was one of those trips where I recognize just how much experience matters... I know not everyone can deal with the quilts or the lightweight tents, but frankly, I see the same thing no matter what gear the noobs use - they're not sure how to use double wall tents or to adjust the backpacks they have no matter what brand. And frequently have no patience to learn, as if this should all just be automatic and effortless. Sort of like people who fish vs. fisherman/women: people who fish buy salmon eggs and a hook and use it in every waterway. Fishermen will know what kind of fish, how deep, and which lures have the best chance of working for that waterway.