Puffy-over or under shell?

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I used to do some alpine climbing BITD and the standard practice was you'd throw your puffy/insulation layer on over your shell once you got to the belay. This system would use your body heat to dry out your shell and additional layers while you were stationary. When it was time to climb again, you'd simply remove the insulation layer and get moving.

Dry the shell? Are we all talking about a hard shell layer or are some of you talking about soft shells (something I rarely use hunting)?

 

[Poser]

Dry the shell? Are we all talking about a hard shell layer or are some of you talking about soft shells (something I rarely use hunting)?

Whatever type of shell you were wearing depending on conditions. A lot of times it was a hard shell of some type if we were climbing ice. Its the same idea as a guys getting into their sleeping bags with wet gear on to dry it out.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Whatever type of shell you were wearing depending on conditions. A lot of times it was a hard shell of some type if we were climbing ice. Its the same idea as a guys getting into their sleeping bags with wet gear on to dry it out.

Except the hard shell doesn't adsorb moisture other than fabric wet out, I'd rather keep my insulation layer dry than trying to drive surface moisture off a hard shell.

If a soft shell sure, makes more sense.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Wouldn’t it block the wind just as well under the puffy?

In theory wind blocker layer breathes better closer to skin.

Lately my puffy and wind blocker fabric are so ultra thin it’s a toss up… x1 and ghost whisper

 

[tim tarras]

Insulating layer on the inside.

 

[Macintosh]

Both, depending. I always buy puffies sized to go over all other layers—imo its simply wrong approach to get a puffy sized so small that you cant pull it on over all other layers—thats the entire point of a puffy to me. But I also frequently will wear one under a shell. Depends on situation.
If Im adding a puffy to stay warm while stopped during stop-and-go activities, then it almost always goes outside.
If Im using a lighter puffy as a packable midlayer for cold conditions and I’ll be wearing it for longer periods of time, then often under.

Yes, it insulates better when under, but it still insulates well when over. My decision is a balance of performance and convenience depending on conditions and situation.

 

[doc holiday13]

this has been covered a few times, but it would depend on what I'm doing. If I'm in a tree stand, i'll have shell over puffy. If I'm hiking and its just too cold to hike in a thin shirt, I'd probably put the puffy over the shell(unless its raining). Idea behind that would be that your rain jacket is designed to breath so it would allow the sweat to pull through and out of the jacket and the puffy thickness is blocking the majority of cold without needing to have your sweat transport through the loft of the puffy

 

[199p]

puffy needs to be close to the body to hold the heat in. base layer then puffer

 

[ThorM465]

I'm a big believer in layering and adjusting it regularly. When I was younger I was very heat tolerant and cold intolerant. My system is this:
Base Layer (short or long sleeve merino shirt base layer)
Qtr Zip Fleece (FL Klamath)
Vest
Puffy
Shell (FL Uncompahgre Foundry heavy / I don't have a got to light shell at the moment)

I'll adjust for the conditions accordingly, but that's the base package.