Ian, Re. the PHD kit,
I only bought the Ultra sleeping bag mid-March so have only used it once to date, initial impressions are good though and as a modular sleeping system I’m happy with my choice. The combination of this, an Alpkit PD800 bag, a balloon bed and a neoair give me lightweight 4-season coverage depending on what combinations I take.
The Ultra sleeping bag feels incredibly thin but it is held in very high regard by those that have used it in temperatures below the ‘8C they recommend. PHD are one of the few companies I trust regarding the quality of their down.
When I used it, we were sleeping on bare rock with only a short balloon bed for ground protection (+Rab bivvy bag). I used a 100g silk liner, Lifa base layers and my 450g 800-fill Montane jacket and was perfectly warm and cosy. Temperatures were 3-4’C before windchill.
The vest is absolutely stunning, it has a huge loft for such a tiny pack size. PHD are very conservative with their stuff sacks. The Ultra sleeping bag fits in the vest stuffsack (0.8L ish) and the vest fits into a spare tent peg bag at around 0.4L. The sleeping bag, vest and silk liner fit in a 3L dry bag without any effort.
I’ll be using the Ultra bag and Minimus vest on the WRT.
Shoes – Summer race shoes with WoolieBoolie’s. Spare merino socks for evening wear and plastic bags to keep them dry inside the wet shoes. If it rains!!