xjenx: Here is my take:Just reading your gear and gear rant to try and help Seb (he is carrying over 23kg which worries me because he is still a growing boy and he is going to be walking for a year).
I have:
a) noticed you don't wear underpants.
b) Wondered why didn't you get cold at night? You hardly had any clothes and no proper tent and your conditions were not Mediterranean.
c) I want to buy a lightweight sleeping bag - I don't like to be cold and I am claustrophobic in funny ways (e.g. in my armpits and on my
feet) and have got used to the luxury of being able to sit crossed legged in my sleeping bag, nice and wide! I'm thinking about my pack for the US and my 4 season is massive and my 1-2 season is just going to be way too cold so I need to go shoppingany recommendations?
xjenx
a) My shorts are my "underpants." When I go in town, I will wash them in a sink, wring them out, and then put them back on. They dry in minutes. In I'm feeling hygenic, I'll do the same in the wilderness (just away from the water source). I sometimes where my pants without any shorts (au naturel).
b) I rarely get cold, but it does happen. A big myth is that tents are much warmer than tarps. They're not. If you really think those thin nylon walls keep in any heat, you're nuts. There's no insulation, so the temperature difference between being in a tarp vs. a tent is minor, if any. However, if it's very windy, then you will feel colder in a tarp, so it's imperative in such conditions to pitch it low (perhaps flush to the ground) to cut down the wind. You may have to crawl to get under the tarp, but it will be fine. The key to staying warm at night is to have a warm sleeping bag.
c) My favorite sleeping bag is the Jacks R Better's Rocky Mountain Sniveller Quilt. That's what I used on the CDT. However, it may not be roomy enough for you. Therefore, consider a quilt that is roomy (that I have never tried) from Big Agnes. They make open sleeping bags that don't make you feel like a mummy. They are cut wide and big so you can swim around in them.
Good luck,