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Gore-Tex, Polar Fleece and poly pro expedition weight shells are primo stuff as I experienced it. That and Danner Arcadias with the heavy insulation, laces replaced with 550 paracord, good thorlo poly wool socks and a wicker Poly pro sock kept me warm an dry in both cold wet and cold dry environments. Best all round gear one can carry in their existance load IMO. I did add a hooded down stuff parka and set of bibs to line my GTX shell in real extream conditions like high mountain crash sites ect ect.....

My sleeping bag was a personal custom down bag made by feathered friends inc in washington state with a GTX bivy bag cover until I was "issued" a "wiggy" bag that is a system of an outter and inner bag that properly configured is good to -60F. I have used it at -34F and was quite toasty.

Mr Wigatho (sp?) aka Wiggy has the best sleeping bag ever made and if you spend your own hard earned cash on anything by that bag from Wiggy !! They have an NSN assigned to the item also so brotherinlaw your quartermaster ta get ya one yesterday.

One must use caution with the fleece materials in Desert environments as it speed dehydration IMO and experience.....it will suck the water right off your skin. You'll be dry and comfy but will drink three times the water to stay hydrated.

As to the 300 pound loads........run don't walk away from anyone trying to make you hump that load over uneven ground. Titanium ankles won't even hold up under that abuse over time. remember it's not the mileage that gets ya it's the sudden stops :o)

Our version of high altitude training was to run our 6 mile morning shuffle in a MCU2P or M17 mask..........in Albuquerque :o).......honest !! Albeit not an everyday thing we did such about two outta our five PT days......... that'll put hair on yer ass fer sure FSE !!

Stay Safe and consider every ounce of gear you pack.

You would cringe at some of the stuff we see coming out of such places as Nattick Labs in MA. some is pretty good, but some such as the ground warrior packages really stink. The number of batteries used to power the equipment is phenominal (spelling?). They need the exo-skeleton just to carry the batteries. We go hanging a couple of hundred pounds of un-needed gear on Joe and then wonder why he can't perform at high altitude.

I was raised in Wyoming and so understand high altitude problems. When we went elk hunting around Jackson Hole the altitude did a number on us and we lived at over 5,000 feet and hunted deer and antelope at around 7500 feet on the Laramie Plains. I worked for a seismograph company right out of High School, with some work in the Red Desert. The altitude there averages about 6000 feet. Try working on a drill rig for 10 to 12 hours a day at that altitude. I am sure my lung capacity increased two fold in just a coupel of months.

The Wyoming Cowboy football team just loves playing someone on the West Coast. They might not have the playing skills, but altitude sometimes makes up for that.