Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Wool or synthetic base layer?

Ed, thanks for the info! I'll look around this summer and see if I can find some!

It was the heavy winter weight athletic fit. It fit quite snugly.
Outerwear was a wool Pendleton shirt, and double front Carhart trousers.

John,

I'll pick up a few pieces and give it a try.

I used constantly be shedding layers or adding them but now generally go with a light Merino base layer and a breathable softshell. Often I over heat and get sweated up but as long as I can block the wind I am OK. I always have my Mont-Bell Thermawrap parka in the pack if it get really cold or I am going to sit.

Where I usually hunt elk, its about 2500' of verticle to get into the elk. This takes me an hour to an hour and a half and unless I about double the time for the climb I am going to sweat a lot.

Things are going well with me. Sure miss you at SH though. Not very good communication there anymore.

I have heard the same thing from other writers. The one constant in this business is that things always change!

I get nearly all my Merino tops from Target for less than $5 as "fine Italian merino wool" sweaters. They hardly classify as sweaters!

The key is simply not to wash them! I wear mine for the whole season (it remains stinkless), then toss it to the dog for a winter blankie. At the closeout price, they are certainly cheap enough.

My understanding of UA is that it is a "bi-component fabric," having polyester of some type on the inside layer and nylon of some type on the external, but somehow laminated or knit together. Thus it is hydroscopic on the inside and hydrophobic on the outside.

You can find quite a few off brands in running stores/catalogs that seem to do the same thing. I use it running some in the summer, and have found it keeps me cool because it wicks so quickly. It gives that "cold" feeling when just standing around. I have worn it in the winter some, but not that often, as it seemed to me to have basically no insulating value.

I have worn it under other layers of insulation, and it seemed to work fine, but I keep coming back to merino as the easiest all-around layer to throw on and go hunting for days, stinkless and with no worries about hot/cold or whatever.

I start guiding right after Labor Day, and back country ski and predator hunt in December and January.

All I wear is these bottoms and these tops .

For the mid-winter excursions these bottoms and these tops .

DakotaDeer,

Then you haven't used the heavier cold-weather UA?

JB,

I've been using UA Cold Gear for the past 4 years now.
It has worked great for me.

What the other poster said pretty much mirrors my experience with
UA




Loose at first would get smelly then after some use it went away.

I have been wearing loose gear daily for the past 4 years and just can't wear the stuff out.

I'm hoping to try out some Smartwool this year, just because.

MD,

No, I've never used the cold weather UA. Only the "Heat Gear" really tight-fitting stuff.

SU35,

That's been my experience with the Cold Gear as well. I have been more comfortable in it than anything else I've tried.

I didn't have much problem with smell, but after the first washing it didn't seem to build up at all. I am pretty pleased, but am going to try the Smartwool as well, for the same "reason" you are....

Thanks,

JB,

If I may ask,

Which or what Smartwool gear do you plan on trying out?

I haven't used any Under Armour so I can't comment on it. But
I have noted the comments on it and will keep an eye out for it.
I might add that feeling less than warm while my base layer dries is not something that concerns me. As long as it does dry and I don't get chilled. When I start to actually feel cold, I add something in the way of an insulation layer.
I'm another one that over heats easily and sweats alot. Not at all unusual for me to be climbing in just a base layer top or, if windy, a very light shell. Even in the dead of winter at 7-9000 ft.
I'm still having a hard time believing you guys use a base layer when it's warm. If there is any 70 degree plus weather when I hunt, I'd peel everything off and go to a loose fitting nylon shirt. When the temperatures get to or above the 60's, I'm not wearing even light wool pants, let alone any base layer under it. E

For me, a base layer usually refers to top only. It has to be -10F or colder for me to wear anything other than Icebreaker merino boxers under my Rab, Ibex or Mont-Bell pants.

All my comments on wool vs synthetic have been on knits. I do believe synthetic wovens such as the Supplex and similar nylons work very well for moving moisture. They also offer excellent durability and pretty good protection from sun, wind and bugs. These, I consider more as outer layers, though in the case if a suplex shirt, it may be an only layer.

There is lots of good gear out there today and we are lucky to have so much choice even if it is often times confusing as to what to buy.

BTW E,

Its 69F and sunny as I head out for a run in a Smart Wool sleevless top and nylon shorts.

I didn't know anyone made sleevless wool tops.
BTW, Ed, it's just under 90 here. In a couple of hours, when it will be 4-6 degrees warmer, I'll grab my 35 lb. pack and lead for my 2.8 mile, 900 ft. canyon. I'll be in a white, cotton "T" shirt, and desert camo BDU's. Too much Poison Oak, tall grass and snakes for running shorts.
I've enjoyed this post. Thanks for your posts. E

E,

Likewise. I have enjoyed this discussion and your posts.

Ibex makes some sleeveless tops in their Woolies series, but they have too high of a neck and are cut too tight for my likes.

I found a Smart Wool sleeveless at a shop in Bozeman but have never found them anywhere else. Might have been a salesman's sample that never made it into production.

Ed,
How is it that you don't wear first-layer bottoms unless it's -10? Are you talking about when extremely active, or just in general? Are these pants that you wear quiet enough for close range hunting?

Yesterday I got back from a short backpack trip. When I hiked in the day before it was 80+F and I wore the supplex top. When I dropped the pack I noted the extreme amount of sweat on the pack and how little was on the supplex. The next day wasn't quite as hot and I hiked out in a cotton short sleeve. Not surprisingly, the cotton held more of the moisture and the pack was nearly dry....but I was more comfortable in the cotton.
I really like cotton when it is warm. If cotton kills when it is cold then it seems reasonable that it would cool you when it's warm.

I don't know why I am saying this because I really wanted to note that I wore 80% wool pants for the first time ever, on this trip, and was very comfortable the whole time. I got overheated in the Microtex that I carried in and switched back to the wool pants asap and was much better. But during the midday hiking with full packs the wool pants were great.

I slept in and used REI merino top/bottom under the Microtex and was very impressed how long I stayed comfy with the merino even as temps rose above 60 degrees. Had I been wearing my polypro or capilene I'm sure I would have been dying.

Razor,

The Rab Vapor Lite pants have a very good temp range (and yes they are synthetic.) I have worn them from 50F to well bellow zero and they are great. Very quiet too, although a bow hunter might have a different opinion as I only rifle hunt.

When I first got them I thought they would only be good for warmer temps but they excell in a wide range.

I also overheat very easily if my lower body is over insulated.

http://www.prolitegear.com/rab_vapour_rise_trail_pants.html

Supplex is very good in warm weather as an only layer and in not so warm weather as an outer layer.

Cotton is OK when its warm until it gets so saturated that its like a wet blanket. It also is worthless if it cools off.

Ed,
It's intriguing to me that you handle such cold temps without first layer bottoms. If I am in below 30F temps I have merino on top to bottom. Obviously a testimony to your toughness.

I'll have to try the high-tech pants if I ever have opportunity to spend much time above timberline. I get by fine at 5000' and my slow-moving hunting with the microtex, wool, or the cheap Columbia synthetics.

The supplex is great for very hot conditions and floating the rivers as it dries quickly. I've yet to try it as an outer layer during cool temps but looking forward to it.

I definately favor the cotton when temps rise, especially in the rocky mountain climates. I suppose in very humid conditions it would get soaked and be a problem. I've not experienced that. When it is hot the cotton gets damp but also dries to a favorable degree when the exertion stops. If temps begin to drop I swap it out for the merino which is always in my pack.

i picked up some of terramar(sp) zip merino tops yesterday for $18 from the sportsmans warehouse that is closing near me. I realize this is below the ibex/icebreaker/smartwool level, but still curious about anyone's thoughts on the quality???

thanks