>>217182My pant layering breaks down like this (backwards from warmest to coldest):
>80-60Very light synthetic pants (or shorts, if I feel like it)
>70-50Light synthetic pants as activewear, and MAYBE long underwear in my backpack for nighttime use
>60-40Any synthetic pants as activewear + long underwear in my backpack for nighttime use
>40-20Windproof synthetic pants as activewear + long underwear OR puffy pant liners in my backpack for nighttime use
>20-0Insulated softshell pants as an outer layer, thin synthetic long underwear worn all the time as activewear + puffy pant liners in my backpack for nighttime use
I was about to just say that there should be no need to use any layering for your activewear pant in 35 degree weather, and then I read this (emphasis added)
>****It's lightly raining outside.**** Maybe like 1cm/hour. Wore an Arcteryx atom Lt, which was fine for keeping my upper body warm but my legs were freezing ****in my jeans.****You made two mistakes here that caused your legs to get cold:
>1) No rain pants. >2) Cotton jeans. Seriously, it's not hard to see why you got cold. Cotton does not insulate when it gets wet, so with cotton, wet = cold. This is why we always say that cotton kills. Literally any synthetic pants are better than jeans for outdoor use.
Whether you wear cotton or not, though, you really need to start packing proper waterproof/breathable rain pants. It's not so much a matter of keeping your legs dry, but if you wear clothing on your legs (as opposed to wearing shorts, which you could wear and get away with not packing rain pants), then you need to keep your clothing dry or else you'll get cold.
If you want a decent pair of synthetic hiking pants, I recommend the Patagonia Guide Pants. But really, anything that's not cotton will do.
