I am looking to retire my 20+ year old cold weather bibs and jacket. Has anyone had experience with the Cabelas MT050 whitetail extreme or the Sitka fanatic? Thoughts?

I too, would like to hear opinions on the two. Would love to try the Sitka gear, but, boy, is it pricey. I currently have the Cabelas Elite Fleece bibs and their pretty warm.

I've had the Cabelas MT050 jacket for a bunch of years now. While I'm not enamored with a lot of Cabela's offerings, this one is really tough to beat � quiet, great warmth, great hood and you'll be hard pressed to find a jacket with more pockets.

I've checked out the Sitka Fanatic in passing. I'm a fan of PrimaLoft - generally less bulk. The diagonal zipper seemed awkward to me. The muff isn't a bad idea but IIRC it was shy on pockets.

I have been wearing the Cabelas MT050 Gore tex parka and bibs for a couple of years now and absolutely love them. Great fit and well engineered. Taken them on couple of Saskatchewan deer hunts and have been plenty warm in 5 degree weather. I do not have any experience with the Sitka outerwear, but I wouldn't think twice about buying the Cabelas MT050 again.

The only things bothering me with the MT050 is the Velcro suspender straps and only one zipper. So, you would have to unzip your jacket and completely unzip the bibs to take a leak.

Herschel, I must have an older version because mine has no Velcro except on the sleeve. My suspender straps have plastic buckles. The parka zips up from the bottom so you do not have to open up your parka all the way to use the zipper on the bibs.

If your prime consideration is staying warm under say 20 degrees while gun hunting then get the Sitka Incinerator parka and bibs. I used the Fanatic jacket last bow season and did not even take it out this year when it was cold. Not that it is a bad jacket just not warm enough for me under 20 degrees. The Incinerator parka and bibs are a touch loud. But after hunting with them most of gun season in NYS which was quite cold this year I really ended up liking them a lot. They are quality garments - lightweight given the warmth, very easy to get in and out of, have a gazillion pockets and seemed durable. I did have to layer well to get down to around zero degrees but still the weight is way lower than trying to layer with wool. That said I would not get the muff and the the hat is not a cold weather hat to me. The downside to the Incinerator garments are obviously cost and
the sizing is screwy as usual. I usually go a size up to layer with all my hunting clothes. But with Sitka I almost always have to go up to two sizes in the jackets/parkas. I am 5'11', 175 lbs. and ended up with a XXL parka. The XL was too tight in the shoulders. I have had to do the same with the Fanatic and Celsius jackets.

I have no personal experience with the Cabelas MT050 but my brother has hunted in it for many years and really likes it.

I have the MT050 Goretex jacket and bibs that are a few years old. They would be perfect to sit in a 35 to 40 degree drizzle, or bitter cold, but I've only worn it twice. Whenever it has been cold, wet,and miserable, I've either been more active or at home. This stuff is way too hot to do much walking in!

BTW my bibs zip up from the bottom as well, so you don't have to really strip down to take a leak.

If you are going to use it for another 20 years, expense doesn't matter as much. I'd look at all the "better" products, like Sitka, Kuiu, Kryptek, etc.

I just bought the MT050 coveralls earlier this year, and have used them once this season.

It looks like temps are going down to the low 20s for a low and daily highs in the lower 40s after Monday, so I will be able to tell you more about them after that. I don't know what next week looks like weather-wise, but I'll be out in that, too.

I also just bought some Cabela's wool bibs with wind-shear lining. The list price was $229, online sale price was $129, they had free shipping, and my daughter had given me a $50 gift card.