19 Responses to “PHD LAUNCH ULTRALIGHT DOWN TROUSERS AND SOCKS”

1. Peewiglet
   October 5th, 2009 @ 9:10 am

   I think it’s brilliant! I bought some PHD down booties in a sale a few years ago and they’re currently my favourite bit of kit, since I used to suffer from cold feet. I was about to start saving for some of Colin’s down trousers from the USA, but it sounds as though it’ll be much simpler (and prolly cheaper) to get them from PHD. This news has made my morning, thank you ♥

2. GeoffC
   October 5th, 2009 @ 9:18 am

   I don’t think they will find many takers, in the UK at least. The sleeping bag should provide all the necessary insulation in the tent, and most people wouldn’t fancy the idea of down legwear while walking, especially if there was any chance of rain or snow. They might be appealing for walking on days that are windy and bitingly cold but dry, but it’s a hefty price for such limited usage.

3. Peewiglet
   October 5th, 2009 @ 9:32 am

   Ha! I’ve ordered the trousers!

   *does the happy dance*

4. baz carter
   October 5th, 2009 @ 3:18 pm

   There’s always one

   Needle Sport sells a range of insulation boots at a range of prices. I would want to know how heavy the PHD booties are and wether they have some sort of sole to walk around on. Otherwise they are comparable in price to similar models. I’d be tempted to via the pile an pertex option.

   The weather would have to be pretty inhospitable for me to wear down trousers. and it would be a lighter although not necessarily cheaper option to get a better sleeping bag.

5. Peewiglet
   October 5th, 2009 @ 3:40 pm

   …it would be a lighter although not necessarily cheaper option to get a better sleeping bag.

   Well not really–not for me, anyway, as I don’t want to carry a bulky sleeping bag.

   I’ve got a Marmot Hydrogen (700g) that I take when it’s particularly cold, and I currently wear some ancient Sprayway 20/20 line fleecy trousers in bed. They keep me warm for a combined weight of about 900g.

   I’ve also got a PHD Miminus sleeping bag (520g) that I don’t currently use in the coldest weather. I’ll be able to take it with the PHD down trousers, though, for a combined weight of 750g. That’ll be a saving of 150g over the other combination, and I bet I’ll be warmer!

   Cold feet in bed have always been a problem for me. If they get cold then I can’t warm them up. I’ve tried a variety of things over the years, but the only things that really work for me are the PHD down booties I got in the sale a couple of years ago. People who don’t have cold feet in bed wouldn’t need them, of course.

6. Rob
   October 5th, 2009 @ 7:51 pm

   I’m with Peewiglet!
   £59 for the booties is a tad expensive but uncomfortably cold feet = no sleep and a warmer bag can mean upper body overheating and also no sleep…
   But a spare pair of ‘bed socks’ is a much cheaper option.
   Could be time to start working on hints in time for the festive season! (oops – appologies, but the TV ads have already started!)

7. baz carter
   October 5th, 2009 @ 8:47 pm

   Shirl, I’d have thought that a sleeping bag plus the down trousers would be bulkier than a bag filled with the same weight of down, and heavier due to the weight of the material that the trousers are made out of… but I could of course be wrong.

   I do like the idea of down booties but a pair of clean dry smartwool socks works just as well.

   As for getting no sleep due to overheating – is that ever going to happen?

8. Peewiglet
   October 5th, 2009 @ 9:02 pm

   Howdy, Baz.

   Shirl, I’d have thought that a sleeping bag plus the down trousers would be bulkier than a bag filled with the same weight of down, and heavier due to the weight of the material that the trousers are made out of

   I think it prolly depends on the bag. I know my Mimimus is significantly smaller, when squished up, than my Marmot (even though the Marmot is itself a small bag), and although I’ve not seen the trousers yet I suspect they’re very small. Colin had some in Scotland and I took a close look at them. They were very light and compressible.

   Having the trousers offers more versatility too, of course. I can’t see myself walking in them, but I can definitely see myself wearing them around camp in dry conditions, and wearing them here at the computer when it’s cold in my little room at the top of the house *g*

   As for the booties v. socks, socks simply don’t warm my feet up once they’ve got cold. I have poor circulation in my feeties (probably caused by years of smoking… oops…). It’s so bad that when they’re really cold even a hot water bottle in my nice warm bed at home won’t warm them up! So, they’re not the average cold feet.

   If they get cold when I’m camping I just can’t sleep–on the first night of the Chally in 2006 I spent a miserable night desperately trying to warm them up by a combination of rubbing and hot water in a Platty secured inside an Ortlieb bag, but all to no avail. I got virtually no sleep. Ugh. So for me the £60 would be worthwhile, but happily I got mine for less in a sale.

9. baz carter
   October 5th, 2009 @ 9:32 pm

   Poor circulation well yes then indeed a pair of down booties are essential!

   I

10. Darren
    October 6th, 2009 @ 9:02 am

    Great discussion, which only goes to show everyone is different.
    It’s why I don’t get all these arguments between folks on the forums about Paramo vs Goretex/Event etc or Boots vs Trail shoes etc etc
    What works for one person doesn’t work for another. So as long as something works for you why should it bother others? Sometimes I think people forget that life is too short to worry about this sort of thing.
    As Shirl is going to to be doing, we should all be getting out there and enjoying our passion.
    While I remember Shirl how are you enjoying this wet weather walking the dog? I found since having dogs I don’t care about weather when out walking as I have to go out in it any way with the dogs. Great excuse to test kit as well
    Back on subject. I do like discussions like this as it gives me ideas on stuff to try. I like to try new ideas to see if they work for me. Enables me to grow as a person.
    So thanks again for the great comments.

11. Peewiglet
    October 6th, 2009 @ 9:16 am

    Hiya Darren,

    Well, Piglet’s small, and still young, and she does notice the cold and wet if we stop moving. I bought her a ‘waterproof’ coat the first time I took her up to the Lakes, but now I’ve got her a little Equafleece polartec thingy (rather like a tube) and that seems to help. Even so, though, she’ll shiver in it if we stop in the wind, so I tend to pick her up at that stage and cuddle her warm. This is one of the advantages to having a small dog

12. Peewiglet
    October 6th, 2009 @ 9:19 am

    Doh… just realised you were asking about how it affects me rather than the piglet *g*

    I don’t mind the rain too much, as I simply shove on the Paramo (NO NASTY GORETEX HERE! Heh… just joking… I love Goretex too) and put my head down. It helps, I find, that I’m generally listening to an audiobook.

13. Darren
    October 6th, 2009 @ 10:49 am

    I think my mutts would love you as an owner, I don’t spoil them like that. Strider hates gettting wet, and he does let you know he is not happy being wet when we are back home.

14. TTG
    October 6th, 2009 @ 12:25 pm

    Down booties can also be bought elsewhere for less, I just can’t remember. Although As someone posted, Needlesports do down and pertex pile booties. The pertex/pile ones are more for walking around camps or huts. The down ones are also soled for that. HAving said that I think they also do the sock type booties. Thought about getting a pair once.

    IME / IMO if you keep your upperbody warm to slightly hot then you keep the extremities warm too. Poor circulation is an issue for some but for most people another layer would probably be better than a down bootie. Think of it this way, down only works when fully lofted, depending on how you sleep you could end up with compressed down booties which don’t work as well as lofted ones. I wonder if it would be better to get down bags with slightly more fill in the foot area if you feel cold there through poor circulation. There are companies that refurbish down bags and you could get them to up the fill power in the baffles around the feet. Also make sure you have a good piece of mat under the feet. I am too tall for most mats which means in winter I carry two staggered so I have two layers under the body (one a thermarest full length or 3/4er length for me) and one layer at each end.

    Ruffwear is probably the answer Darren. Get the booties too so Strider’s paws stay dry too. Of course you are lucky to be able to have dogs for company. I want a dog but m,y life means it is not fair on any dog.

15. baz carter
    October 6th, 2009 @ 1:24 pm

    I took a peak at the PHD website earlier and the booties are described as socks, so no soles on these hence the reason why they only weigh 90g.

    I also to a look at the troos too. I’m still of the opinion that wearing a primaloft or down top in a sleeping bag is he best way of bumping the bags rating, for the reason TTG stated above. Like Geoff I’d use my sleeping bag to keep my legs warm on camp. This is fine if you were solo or on a neat wild camp but on a commercial site I can see the advantages of being able to walk around with half your sleeping bag on; being social and visiting the toilet block spring to mind

16. TTG
    October 6th, 2009 @ 5:22 pm

    You can get sleeping bags with no fill in the top half, perhaps someone like Peewiglet could conjure up the opposite with no fill in the lower half then wear these trousers to save weight. If someone has poor circulation perhaps the trousers might be good with such a bag then you just have the upper body covered by the fill in the upper baffles of the sleeping bag. Peewiglet complained that layering up the upper body did not work for her but booties and trews would. Just a daft idea I guess but shows I’m thinking. There are sleeping bags with slits in the sides so you can get your arms out without undoing the zips in order to put the stove on in the morning. I like that idea, but it also needs slits for the feet and lower legs to come out so you can head to the loo. Of course leads to where to place another slit. Sorry for being crude guess I should head back to OM.

17. Dave Hollin
    October 9th, 2009 @ 8:13 am

    damn those fiendish chaps at PHD. Just another item to add to the ever growing “want” list. I suspect that Santa is going to have a hard time delivering all my prezzies this Christmas….

18. Rob
    October 9th, 2009 @ 12:30 pm

    @Dave: That’ll be due to the looming postal strike – you may wish to give Santa some early hints to avoid disappointment. But of the alternatives, what with one being called ‘Oops’ and another being named after a type of explosive you might want to stick with the man himself!

19. TTG
    October 13th, 2009 @ 2:14 pm

    Dave: Santa obviously has a big budget in your household! Unfortunately he mustn’t think I am as good a boy as you are as there will be no PHD stuff dropping through my fireplace this year. I did go online and play around with the options for sleeping bags on the design your own. Because I have to add a bit on the length I always seemed to come out with something about 1kg and many hundreds of pounds! Must be doing something wrong. I mean a zip opening is not important but a baffle is, right?

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