Thanks, sounds good.

And agree with all of you that having the right clothes is important.

Have a part leather/textile gortex pro Shell Stadler suit which should work well for the cooler/wetter days (with rain suit on top for continous heavy rain). Got large vent ZIPs under arms and in chest so OK up to 30degC.

Not sure if will use mesh jacket or pressure suit for the warm days, got both. May buy pressure suit With same armour as Stadler jacket to save space, jackets with amour is terribly bulky.

And already got the Baja pants, brilliant stuff!

When it comes to under wear, I'm a big fan of merino wool even when warm, there are some very thin ones avaiable.

Will be back for more advices as soon as we have decided when to og, thanks so far

Reread the posts again (thanks again) as finally got some time (stuck in Nigeria for 4 weeks) and given some more thought to the clothing side as, as you all say, even though you can try to plan for best weather you can/will still face anything from snow to very hot.

The cold weather part is the easiest for me, I ride all winter in temps down below -10C/14F and the 2 main things are wool and wind stoppers, both in several layers, and textile jacket with thermal liner. Anything below this and you need heated gear unless slow speed and high activity like enduro.

So same gear will work well up to 25C/77F just removing layers/liner and opening vents (if any) and zips.

But above this, like you say, I need more vented stuff. As I see it, I've got 3 options:

1. Jacket with plenty ventilation like HELD Carese, that is still good for cold with all vents closed and liners in.
Good: Don't need a second jacket
Bad: Hassel with layers, still not as cool as a mesh jacket or pressure suit

2. Mesh jacket
Good: Cool
Bad: More street oriented cut (standing a problem?), less protective than a normal jacket

3. Pressure suit
Good: Cool, very protective off tarmac
Bad: No abrasion resistance on tarmac

Within each of these categories there are of course many alternatives and variations, enough to drive you crazy really...

A mesh jacket that is very nice is the Dainese Air Frazer Jacket with large leather sections in exposed areas and pocket for chest protector. If buy a Dainese textile jacket for colder weather, I can use the same armour in both jackets saving weight and space (jackets pack a LOT smaller without armour).



SPIDI's got an interesting jacket, MULTITECH ARMOR TEX JACKET that's something in between a mesh jacket and pressure suit. Again, buying a SPIDI textile jacket, I could use same armour for both. But not sure convinced I am about the abrasion resistance on tarmac.

Should add here that I used to ride tarmac only and fast. Too fast really as had a few crashes but leather have saved me every time so my confidence in leather on tarmac is high while I've seen others with textile that didn't look to good after a slide. So it's a thing I have and, though plan is to do as much off tarmac as possible, I know I'll be riding on tramac quite a bit too.

Oh well, just thinking out loud here but any comments appricaited. As mentioned above got both mesh jacket and several pressure suits already so maybe already got what I need...

EDIT: Then there's the Klim Adventure Rally Air Jacket, not leather but super fabric that's supposed to be even more abrasion resistant than leather. Not very subtle though...

I love the design of the Dainese jacket shown above ... but for traveling I would miss my Pockets! My jacket has lots of pockets ... 7 in all if you count 2 inner security pockets a lower back pouch. All my pockets have waterproof zippers that actually work.

Also, the Dainese could benefit from a rain jacket worn over to cut wind/cold/rain. Not much better than leather for real protection!

Yes, agree, the Dainese is not the ideal touring jacket and more for on road.

Looked some more on the Klim Adventure Rally Air. It's very expensive but do tick a lot of boxes:

- Flows a lot of air
- Very protecive on and off road with superfabric and giant d3o protectors
- Many pockets (though not waterproof without bags)
- Hydration pocket



Not sure about the looks though, actually the jacket is OK-ish so maybe combine it with another pair of pants (like Baja).

Then use more shell type jacket/pants when cold. So similar setup as TT Companero. (Another option...).

The KLIM Adventure Air is very nice ... but for $1300 usd, I'll pass, thanks.
Honestly, who do KLIM think they are fooling? I've seen that jacket ... it's good but not 3 times the price good. Seriously, a rip off. And Rukka? At $1800 I'd say they're smoking Crack. Good Crack!

I'm very happy with my First Gear Rainier jacket. I've owned two. Made in China, same as the KLIM!
First generation (2008) Rainier not so good, but my 2nd gen one shown below is quite good ... $250. (on sale) I don't use their D30 armor, I use Aerostich, much better.

The latest generation is even better ... but ignore the hype about the armor.
List price is $499 but they go on sale, usually sell for $250 or so at season's end.

Super good value IMO. Fantastic venting, and the fabric flows lots of air. Quite water proof with waterproof zip pockets that work. Good basic functionality.

Not a great Cold weather jacket ... but closing vents and layering up helps a lot. Best hot weather enduro jacket I've found. (I've tested at least 10 of them back when I worked for the magazine)

read this Web Bike World review on the First Gear Rainier Jacket:
Firstgear Rainier Jacket Review - webBikeWorld

Yes, the adventure rally air is over the top both regarding price and design and probably better having a jacket with vents

First Gear jacket is nice but looks like not in range any more?

Looked some more on Klim stuff, got some of their gear (pants traverse, dakar an chinook) and very happy. The Badlands jacket and pants is expensive but get extremely good reviews. Like the design, many pockets without looking to overloaded and a bit more enduro than touring look.



Even some pressure suit options using same d3o protectors like italian SIXS for those very hot days and low speed. Should take zero space without armour.

More than a dusting and we had several days of (for mid-summer) bitterly-cold weather. Started on Christmas day



and got colder the next day

__________________
Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

Well, at least you got white Christmas

THIS GUY is doing tours in the Andes and his review of the Badlands are great. His preferred setup is with pressure suit under though, but point is works for all temperatures and weather.

Maybe Santa will give me a suit for Xmas

How many days did you spend in Ushuaia? Doesn't look like good camping weather. Were the hotels full?

Being in extreme South, Ushuaia can have weather extremes any time of year. In one day it can go from muy Sunny to bastante misery. Over 3 yrs/ 6 trips in-out of Ushuaia (mostly Summer months) saw decent weather.
(lucky?) One November saw sunny & warm nearly every day.

Legendary wind of the area seems to partly miss Ushuaia. Much stronger bit further North, North/West. I flew alot around there (passenger) ... that wind is a real challenge to pilots.

One Drake crossing (by boat) in late March saw a sea state of 9 with 60 ft. waves for 4 days. Never so glad to see (and smell) Ushuaia.

December? want warmer weather? go to Buenos Aires. Or, for more moderate temps, try Valparaiso.

Looks like we might start in january (2016 unfortunately, have to save money and time off )

Then we'll probably start south an work our way up to Bolivia and south Peru maybe going by Buenos Aires on the way up (yes, realize not a small detour).

If we have 3 months and ride 2 days and rest 1, how far south can I realistically start? It's maybe 6.000km/4.000mi taking shortest route from all the way south in Chile, doing 200km/day it takes 30 days or 45 days including rest days. So we got twice that but is it still unrealstic (got a feeling it is)?

We will try to ride gravel when we can.

The new Dainese D-Explorer jackets and pants may be what I want. Giant mesh vents on chest and entire back is mesh plus good vents all along inside of arms. All can be closed by zips/panels.

Bit same concept as Held Carese but addresses a few of the things I don't like with Carese:

-Better abrasion resistance (believe Carese only 500 denier while Dainese use D-stone that is tougher than leather(?) in exposed areas)
-Possible to include chest protectors (not possible on Carese)
-Think even better ventilation

So MAYBE a real alternative to mesh jacket or pressure suit when hot but better abrasion resistance. Still, shell supposed to be water resistant in case of a shower.

And always liked Dainese, had several suits which have (literally) saved my ass a couple of times. Good quality and fit and those italians know a thing or two about design.

Dainese D-Explorer Gore-Tex: For Unpathed Waters

That looks like an incredible jacket! A bit too much $$$$ for my budget but really great features. At $900 usd, it should be good! But probably worth it if on the road for a year or more ... as we riders LIVE in our riding jackets ... so they must be GOOD!