I started using the higher-tech (non-scratchy) wool base layers as soon as they came out. Icebreaker, smart wool, REI house brand merinos, and first lite.
The first lite merino hoody has probably become my favorite item, but I doubt you will find it on sale. It seems to pill up and look bad quicker though, if you care about that.
But otherwise, all of the above brands seemed to last a long time and basically worked the same. Buy the stuff on sale. REI is nice because you could actually try it on first.
Mostly I've settled on the 250 weight for tops and bottoms, but if you're a big dude those might get hot.
