Over the years, I've grown quite attached to mid-layers in my hunting. For the last couple years, have run a FL Aerowool next to skin, FL Sawtooth over that and something else when its cold. A Sitka Kelvin Lite hoody and Jetstream round out my standard above waist outfit.
I break down my needs as: hike in, still hunt, sits (glassing or meadow watching)
The FL Aerowool/Sawtooth combo works well 90% of the time for the hike in and still hunting. The Sitka Kelvin Lite/Jetstream works 90% of the time for sits. The past couple years have seen colder weather (0 to single digits) and wind. Wind and single digits don't work well for my mid-layer scheme on the hike in. I tried a Jetstream vest to cut wind and wasn't overly satisfied with that. I've worn the Jetstream jkt in the cold/wind situations and find I sweat too much. For this coming year, I'm leaning to a base layer/2 mid-layer scheme - FL Aerorwool next to skin, a 350-400 wt merino wool shirt, FL Sawtooth. This should still breathe, and hopefully with 3 smaller layers, mitigate heat loss from the wind.
I've used various weights of fleece but find they offer next to zero wind resistance - unless they have some type of wind blocking mechanism. I have every weight fleece from really thin to stupid thick and have moved away from them but might try midweights between the Aerowool and Sawtooth.
Which got me to thinking - how do you all do mid-layers when you hike 1-3 miles in, climb 1-2000 feet, then expect to sit or still hunt?
I also wish someone would make a jacket with wind block, DWR finish to shed light rain/snow, quiet material, with ~ 100 gr Primaloft built into the jkt. That way I wouldn't need to stuff the Kelvin Lite and Jetstream into my pack. If you know anything fitting that bill, I'm all ears, or eyeballs in this case.
