Sweet indeed. I may be able to get Joan to make me some if I am nice. 😉

Just took delivery of some AD90 jogger bottoms from Critter Mountain Wear. 4.4 oz in size Large! Pretty sweet. They worked with me to put together a bit lighter version than their usual. I figured I didn’t need pockets in a base/mid layer, and I’ve read that Alpha is a poor fabric for pockets.

My grid fleece bottoms are 7.9 oz, and my expedition weight capilene bottoms are 8.4 oz, so this is a pretty good weight savings — and probably warmer. Can’t wait to try them out in the Sierra later this summer. The bummer is that it is so stinking warm in the high country right now that I may not need them. I’ll probably bring some silk bottoms (3.9 oz) to sleep in case it’s just too hot for AD90. We’ll be camping anywhere from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, so I’ll need to be able to handle temps at high and low elevations.

Hope all is well,

HJ

Thanks for the kind feedback!

I think the alpha bottoms would work extremely well for your use case. I’m thinking of getting a pair myself for deeper winter here in Utah (not as cold as my old stomping ground of Colorado, but cold enough…if we get winter again. Sigh..)

I like Octa so far as it fits my use case better than alpha. I wish I had it on my New England hiker this past fall.

I’m now suffering from one of those afflictions that besiege men as they age: I sleep increasingly cold. I used to be able to sleep in my “summer” gear down into the upper 20s F (if I wore my puffy) and be fine. Now I’m waking up with cold legs when it’s low 40s F. I can sleep in my 9 oz down pants, and the problem is solved, but down pants are usually overkill for summer hiking, even above treeline. I can wear silk long john bottoms (4 oz) + down pants (9 oz) to sleep warmly (13 oz total), but have been thinking about some 90 gsm AD pants. Sambob’s 90 gsm AD joggers are about 5 oz which would save about 8 oz — half a pound. I’m thinking that I could just sleep with the AD joggers directly against my skin (which I won’t do with my nice down pants even though, yes, you can wash down pants) thereby avoiding altogether the need for long john bottoms.

My other option is some Polartec grid fleece bottoms (7 oz) that I already have, but I don’t think they’d be as warm as some AD joggers, and obviously the grid fleece is heavier and bulkier.

The problem with AD is that it is so danged popular right now. I just can’t find it in stock anywhere! Thanks for mentioning Squak. I’ll have to check and see if they have anything in stock. They were not heretofore on my radar.

Thanks also for mentioning Octa. I only very recently started hearing about Octa. I may have to consider that as well although my use case is a) for around camp in the evenings and b) for sleeping, a use case for which AD should be fine.

HJ

Nope! They are FROG MT Mittens. USed for industrial purposes and very warm/waterproof.
https://pmags.com/rain-mitt-2-frogwear-8490mt

The grid fleece has been very comfortable during our recent arctic weather.