Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Layering,.... what works?

Here is what works:

HH (Helly Hansen) Polyprop. underlayer including socks.
Depending on temp./ anticipated movement any thin fleece middle layer.
"Happy hunting"-Shirt (Fleece) I got noname stuff.
Fleece jacket
G-1000 or similar pants
Rainjacket/ pants HH (if needed)

Really - the most important thing to remember is, its "Layering".
You layer on, you layer off. Do not overstress the material with asking it to channel away buckets of sweat because you are allready dressed up for ambush on the hike to the tree stand.

This is what I've been wearing on the flight line when it hits 10 ambient:

Cabela's medium weight ECWCS thermal underwear set
2 pairs of Paradox baselayer sets (picked up at Costco)
A fleece shirt and pants
Rockwater Designs All-Weather Suit

If it touches below 0, I snagged the inner jacket out of my Herter's hunting jacket. Don't ask me the model, it used to be my grandfather's that he bought a year or two before he died.

Look around the Patagonia web site and see if you can find the word *hunting*. You can find every other outdoor sport there but not hunting. I'm betting they're anti-hunting.

I think that people's preference for wool or synthetics as a base layer, has a lot to do with individual physiology - i.e. how much you tend to sweat, how easily you heat up and cool down, etc.

For pure comfort, I prefer the feel of wool as a base layer. It doesn't feel "clammy" like some synthetics can, and it does insulate a little better than a synthetic base layer. BUT that's as far as my preference goes - once I'm doing anything active I much prefer synthetics (capilene is the best IME).

I tend to heat up very easily, sweat a lot very quickly, and get cold again easily as well. When I'm hunting, the norm is periods of exertion are followed by long periods of not moving. Moisture management, venting, etc. only go so far, at some point I'm still going to sweat like a pig. I find that if I have wool as a base, it wicks up the sweat fine, but it dries a lot slower - even if it feels dry to the touch it can actually be carrying a lot of moisture. Over time, as my body heat works on the wool to dry it, this produces a lot of evaporation (evaporative heat loss can transfer a LOT of heat away from an object) just at the same time I am starting to get cold again. With the Capilene, it dries out quickly, and the moisture is already away from my skin before I get to the "cold" stage again, and I can stay warmer for longer.


I don't think I'm normal though.

Yeah, junior 1942, I hear you. But, if you were to avoid products from any company that is anti something that you believe in, or is tied to a company that does, etc., pretty soon you'd find that you couldn't buy much of anything, maybe even from some pro-hunting companies. I make a choice where I can - but when I don't have much of a choice, well, then I figure I can't lose too much sleep over it.

If someone else started making something that worked as well as Capilene, for me, I would of course consider taking my $$ elsewhere.

KevinB, dang good posts


mirrors my experiences as well

all facets of life seem to be compromises and trade offs.

I've not tossed my synthetics even though I'm using wool base layers more often these days.