Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Wool hunting pants

Woolrich Malones ebay is your friend when looking for them. I also like Woolrich Alaskan wool shirts, they are pretty heavy and I wear them a couple of months a year over fleece, here in Minneapolis

i hunted in fleece pants one time and it was one of the more miserable trips i ever took. i would hang them by the stove and still put on wet fleece every morning.

give me wool!!

Even though they stopped making them years ago you can always find brand new with tags in any size on ebay if you keep looking. I bought two pairs a few years ago and I think I paid $20 each.

Plenty of good advice. I would get a lighter pair of whip cord or twill around a 12 -16 oz. weight. I would also bring a light synthetic as a back up. Except for really cold use I like the insulation to be in the base and mid layers, the outer layer is to turn wind and light rain.

I wash my woolens in a soap with lanolin in it, there are several unscented ones made for wool diapers. I also spray the pants with Scotch Guard or Nik Wax wool proof. I think the Nik Wax works better and longer. After these two treatments wool will turn a fair amount of moisture before it gets soaked through. The treatments seem to make the wool absorb less water and dry faster than untreated. Do this in advance and air them for a week or so afterward, I take this opportunity to also spray my clothes with Sawyer permethrin for bug proofing.

The most critical item for most of the moose hunting I have done is a good pair of hip boots or waist high waders. I like the breathable type and wear with hiking boots that can stand to be wet. There are also several wading boots built like hikers, just make sure they fit with a neoprene booty and mid weight socks with a liner. Used to live in the ankle fit hippers but always had swamp foot, the breathable are much better and usually lighter too.

Wool pants work well inside of waders as they don't feel clammy when they get damp with sweat. If you are lucky enough to avoid the hip boots then good gaiters work well with wool pants. In heavy dew or light stream crossings it is the below the knee part that can get soaked through, gaiters will reduce or omit this problem. Get good suspenders too as mentioned before, I like the "X" ones better than the "Y" ones, more support and distribution.

Wow. 180* from my experience. Almost sounds like cotton fleece.

it was thick and heavy synthetic and held water like a sponge. the only difference between it and cotton was you were not trying to put on stove pipes every morning. surely a few of us have had that experience.

i have a pair of micro lites -very light wt. synthetics but i would not call it fleece. they are pretty good for medium temps and dry fairly easy.

the best advise is to seriously test what ever you choose so you know it works for you.

FirstLite makes good stuff if you’re looking for a more ‘athletic’ fit. I’ve got them & Johnson Mills (I live 20 mins from the factory) and yes they are very quiet, traditional and long lived but boxy & a bit heavier. As a Vermonter I’m not allowed to go into the woods without my JWM green/black plaid coat. Those Benoit boys created quite the legacy.

Check out Big Bill wool pants. They even offer brass buttons for suspenders. Good quality stuff.

Regarding the whipcord wool Filson pants mentioned several times...do they have cargo pockets and suspended buttons or is that only on the heavier wool pants?