Cotton kills. OK if dry, but not wet.
If I am at all in doubt about getting wet/ sweaty, I wear nothing of cotton. I've been hunting 45 years in Alaska- on the Alaska Peninsula, mostly on the Kenai, some in Interior, a fair bit in the Arctic. More backpacking than from the ATV or snow machine.
OK- unless it's around the yard- then I can go in, change clothes, and have a hot buttered rum. Gotta plan ahead, ya know!
Here is what is currently in my hunting clothing arsenal:
A couple pairs of light weight/fast drying nylon pants originally designed for rafting I believe. My SIL sent them to me- she and her hubby run a rafting service out of Billings in season... Real nice for warm weather/ exertion hiking, or even as an under -layer.
One pair of LL Bean fleece pants- about 30 years old.
One pair of Cabela's Gore-tex rain pants- ditto - windstopper, not so much for rain anymore, or ever... I sent the first pair back after 3 days use in heavy rain/vegetation - no diff in second pair - but I kept it.
A couple pairs of 60/40 (synthetic/cotton) pants for cooler, but dry weather use. Or under my bibs when snow-machining. Don't work too bad in wetter weather, either.
One set of Under-Armour synthetic long underwear - I wear the bottoms in cold weather sometimes- the tops only twice - relegated to "not-wear". Too clammy and tight.
Several pairs of synthetic Cabela's briefs (MTA MTM ???)
About 18 pairs of synthetic T's - various earth colors - worn also on an almost daily basis. ( White cotton T-s are for dress-up, travel, or lay-about at home.)
I get these synthetic T's whenever they are on sale on Sportsman's Guide.
A couple pairs of synthetic, camo, long-sleave T's - pretty much worn out after 15-20 years hunting use...
A couple pairs of Cabela's synthetic long-underwear bottoms - loose fitting. Medium and heavy weights.
Synthetic insulation/ nylon covered bibs - cold weather ATV or Sno-go use. Sometimes I use the Carharts instead. Dry pretty fast if wet.
Top side wear, besides the previously mentioned T's - I have several synthetic hoodies. One, purchased last year, is even in camo! The other two are dark/light multi-colored- good enough for color-blind critters- and both about 30 years old...
A pale grey/green Cabela's down jacket.
A long-length semi-"urban camo" fleece jacket. Blends well in alpine rocky, or even the woods..
A Mad Dog? Mossy-oak (good tundra design too!) medium wt. "breathable" parka in large ( bought 6 years ago so I could put a belt around it and carry the late Dachshund inside - he loved to hunt, but not the wet so much....
) But it works well alone, even better with the down or fleece jackets inside.
One Browning 50/50 camo shirt. Sometimes worn - mostly around home or as a camp shirt.
Cold weather/snow-machining/Arctic hunting pull-over Eskimo Parka, hand-sewn out of 6 Mouton sheep skins, skin out, wolverine trim, with snow and dress covers. I think it cost me $160 for materials back in '74. Emma Nashookpuk sewed it for me there in Pt. Hope - a perfect fit after she eyed me over for about 30 seconds.. She liked me, and was concerned for my dumwhiteass safety and that white-man's parka I had. Which was admittedly inadequate for going out of the village.
That mouton parka saved my butt in the Arctic at least twice in the last 40 years... including the time I put the snowmachine thru an overflow up to my nipples 12 miles from home in 10 degree weather, with light wind, and had to walk home. I did have a complete change of dry clothes (bibs and parka excepted) on the over-flow thing. Lots of fun stripping naked and changing!!! Those bib legs got a little stiff on the 5 hour walk home, but I never got cold ....
Parka is too hot to wear on the Kenai, mostly, or anything above a -30 chill factor.
I have couple other heavy parkas with synthetic fill/coverings. None camo, tho I do have snow-covers for them.
Rain gear - gave up on all the fancy expensive stuff. Fairly inexpensive light or heavy weight (depending on if I am hunting and/or river-running) Helly Hanson is all I use anymore, with the exception of the two "breathable" items mentioned above, and a 20 year old shell "breathable" rain gear parka from Cabelas, which again is (and was from the start - plus 3 days of weather - mostly useful as a wind-breaker - and those I mostly use in very light drizzle or snow... they'll work for that. The HH non-breathable stuff works well enough with all-synthetic understuff if you leave it open enough to ventilate or draft while moving (much like that heavy mouton parka!!)
I have virtually no use for "breathable" stuff based on past experience - with the exception of headgear and boots, and that Mad Dog parka, which, because it is so large, "breathes" as much or more by convection draft out the neck as it does thru the membrane, I think.
If you aren't moving - like in a drizzly duck/deer blind or snow machining in snowfall - I have found that "breathable" simply does not live up to the hype in heavy weather, dense wet vegetation, or exertion.
I seldom use wool, as it is too heavy when wet (or dry!) and too slow drying. Synthetic fleece works better, if you can keep the wind off it. Be aware not all things advertised as "fleece" is synthetic - some is cotton.
I generally use either wool glove liners or synthetic fleece gloves for hunting - Gore-Tex ones make my hands sweat and get cold. For cold weather use on the snow-machine, I wear heavy synthetic finger gloves inside military wool-lined mitts- the ones with the fuzz on the back for wiping one's nose....
I also have handlebar mitts, since neither the ATV nor the Bravo has heated handlebars.
Things get serious, I carry chemical hand warmers packets for gloves, boots, or to slip inside front pants pockets to heat the femoral artery as it goes by.... And sometimes in the sleeping bag.
I have yet to find it necessary to spend several hundreds of dollars on a single item of hyped clothing, but if you have the bucks and feel the need, have at it.
