Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Favorite interchangable midlayer/outside layer

Gents:

What is you favored mid-layer for cold under a puffy that will double as an outer layer for cool to cold moving? Most use will go to working as an outer-layer.

For the Rockies, mostly timber. I seldom sit for long except to glass and carry a puffy for that--mostly moving but moving very slowly...:)

Looking for a solid non-camo color that has wind resistance as an attribute.

Appreciate it.

I have a Kuiu Pelaton hoodie. Probably the best layer I’ve ever owned. Extremely wind resistant. Completely shocked by it actually. Mine is also solid colour.

Thanks--the 240 version?

Marmot Reactor Jacket - fleece.

Marmot Prodigy or Gravity Jacket - softshell.

Mountain Hardwear Huego Jacket hooded and non-hooded versions - softshell.

Peloton 240 fills the role very well for this,

Your thoughts on the sizing please? Order normal size or size up?

I have 2 - a Sitka Core Heavyweight hoody and a Patagonia R2 goody. I wear them as my outer layer when I'm hiking in/out. I dig midlaters. A breathable puffy also works but I find most of them way too hot to hike in.

Appreciate the suggestions.

Stilllearning: have you used the Peloton 240 hunting?

The same general fit question for users: Looking at the pics am curious about the suck factor. A lot of the hoodies & mid-layers on the male models appears skin tight. Does your "normal" size allow for adding a layer or two underneath? For my upper if say I am using a light base layer & a light fleece before the outer hunter piece (assuming something like the 240), I would like to have the option of adding another light fleece and/or base layer rather than switch to the puffy in the pack.

Is there room for that under the more technical stuff like the 240 in your normal size?

I did get to use it some late March ,Early April Turkey hunting.
Looking forward to putting it to work this fall and winter.
It is one of the warmest pieces for its weight that I have used.
It is wind proof , but doesn’t repel water.
It is not a brush busting piece as it will pick.

It is what I would call an athletic fit. However I am not. That being said I thought I would need a Lg and it fits fine. It does fit snug , and not baggy over a base layer. The material has an extreme amount of stretch to it.
I use it as a extremely warm for its weight mid layer that can also be used as an outer layer when not raining or busting brush.

ok, thanks for that

The Peloton is awesome. Very warm for the weight.

I have a First Lite Sawtooth which has both merino & synthetic wind-resistant materials but is quite breathable as well. Love it; most versatile piece I own.

bwinters:

If you had to pick the most wind resistant, yet breathing hoody you have used, what would it be?

Climbing AM to get somewhere, I usually just wear a hoody over base and pack the jacket--then switch when downshifting into hunt mode (that may be limp mode for most guys). Been using a plain old REI fleece hoody, which is about shot and some wind resistance would be a welcome attribute.

Sitka Kelvin Active. I cna hike uphill in the dark in the 20's and sit at and glass at 60. I can add a puffy vest or jacket for wind , or real cold

Appreciated Kevin

There is a lot of product out there and I am not a frequent shopper...

I find wind resisent yet breathable has some tradeoffs. Most garments I've tried lean closer to one end of the spectrum or the other. Any of the 'active' garments with light amounts of insulation usually breathe fairly well - but I find them too hot for the hike in. I've used the Sitka Active series and the Kuiu Kenai. They work as advertised but I still found them too hot for climbing.

For me, I tend to use a Fisrt Lite Areowool next to skin, Sitka Core Heavyweight next. If it's more than 25 degrees or so, I find that plenty for the hike in. If its steep, I've worn that combo down into the teens. If it's in the teens and kind of flat, a relative term in elk country, i tend to wear my softshell (Sitka Jetstream) over the Core Heavyweight. 99% of the time I dont put on any real insulation until I get where I'm going and cool down a bit. I have 3-4 insulation layers I wear depending on what I'm doing and temps. I wear the regular Kelvin jacket most of the time in Oct elk season. It spends alot of time in my pack and is worn over my Core HW but under my Jetstream. The Kelvin tends not to come out till I decide to sit somewhere.

I do alot of still hunting which is why I tend to run a bit minimalist. I really want to be stealth when I'm sneaking around. I've shot several elk wearing just a Core HW or Patagonia R2 while still hunting. I find them about perfect for my style of hunting - quiet and enough warmth not to sweat.

A long winded way of saying, i really like the Sitka products. I'd probably lean Kelvin Active hoody for what you describe. I really like hoods as well. I've worn up to 3 at the same time (Core HW, Kelvin, Jetstream).........

I have a Black Diamond Access Hybrid and an Arcteryx Atom LT. Neither have hoods but am thinking about buying the Arcteryx Atom LT hoody in blaze orange (Trail Blaze, it’s discontinued but I can still find it). They both have synthetic insulation, are trim fit and layer well. They both have DWR coating and I usually wear the ablack diamond as a primary layer and it works well underneath other jackets too. Haven’t had the Arcteryx out in any inclement weather yet but the Black Diamond did very well in a huge downpour on a September bear hunt last year and kept me warm and dry ( on the torso at least)

exbiologist: Appreciate the suggestions. A few years ago was elk hunting w/my CO son-in-law and daughter. When Jane and I caught up with him I was surprised by how little he was wearing compared to us. Jane runs cold, but I sure don't. "I go light" he grinned and looking at the stuff he was using, then decided I could lose at least half of the weight I was carrying around in clothing. In my head was the belief I needed more layers and then my stuff was wool except the for the base--and I had too much of that on as well. I weighed the older wind laminate jacket from Cabelas the other day and it goes 54 ounces. At the time it was rocket science easily replacing the revered heavy wool outer, but it still weighs nearly as much.

bwinters: Thanks--I read all of the "warmest puffy" thread the other day and that produced a couple more rabbit trails to run down. Dry skin and cutting wind seems like the most important balance to me or at least for me, and the modern stuff is incredibly light. Interesting to see how others hunters solve the equation with the upteen choices available in the marketplace. There is a lot of fluffy sales talk in the product descriptions but generally they are a little light on the wind information to make comparisons with. Agree on a hood. I gotta have a hood on the outer. If I grow more hair, maybe it wouldn't be so important...:) Hunkered down glassing in the cold or waiting out a buck late here in the Great Lakes, I like to have two close fitting hoods and a beanie. One on the packed puffy and one on the outer. When still-hunting, which I prefer, the hood is down mostly, but it is nice to have the option particularly when stationary for a bit.