Are lightweight baselayer bottoms a waste?

[Erussell01]

As I continue to test tinker and wish I was hunting I have come to the realization that I had historically been using my baselayers incorrectly. I was reliant upon baselayers for warmth and I have learned that the primary function of a baselayer should be moisture management first and foremost.

This has lead me to shift my perspective on the weight of my baselayers with my favorite front runner now being the Sitka core 120 and classic core lightweight due to the ability to move moisture and dry ultra fast.

This got me to thinking. Ive been using midweight and or heavyweight bottoms a ton and I find them to be sufficient but ultimately they are only used during cold weather low activity hunts (like mid to late season whitetail, goose and duck hunting, etc).
I started looking into a lightweight merino baselayer bottom and have been looking at kuius 145, sitkas 120 and First lites wick.
This got me to thinking. If the primary focus of a light baselayer is not warmth but moisture management, does a person really benefit much by adding them to your system? I'm looking at the use case for light merino bottoms and I'm struggling to see them as a major need or value add. The only thing I could see them helping with is taking the chill out of a cold morning on stand, but I have thicker pants for that purpose already

Does anybody use a lightweight merino baselayer bottom and if so- do you feel they are a must have or for low activity later season hunts? If you use them, do you then use an insulating mid layer over them?

Who skips the lightweight baselayer bottoms and just goes midweight or heavyweight?

 

[BBob]

I wear light merino base bottoms. I wear them for warmth. Kuiu merino but do have a pair of light Peloton that I’ll wear now and then. The Peloton are slightly heavier than the merino and are a bit warmer. I run hot when active so I never wear anything heavier than the lightest options. This goes for snow sports as well as hunting no matter how cold it is. When stationary glassing I put the down pants on over the top of pants.

 

[Erussell01]

I wear light merino base bottoms. I wear them for warmth. Kuiu merino but do have a pair of light Peloton that I’ll wear now and then. The Peloton are slightly heavier than the merino and are a bit warmer. I run hot when active so I never wear anything heavier than the lightest options. This goes for snow sports as well as hunting no matter how cold it is. When stationary glassing I put the down pants on over the top of pants.

Do you find that they actually help with moisture management? My legs dont seem to sweat nearly as much as my upper body so I'm looking at it from the perspective of moving moisture away from my body

 

[BBob]

I never thought or cared about moisture management for my legs other than if I get too hot and my legs sweat I stop and zip off the base layer. Simple for me. Cold or anticipate cold? Add a layer. Hot? Take a layer off.

 

[Marshfly]

I use light bottoms so I can leave them on most of the day. As western hunters I find we are either moving or sitting and either will be for a while. So when moving, I need the sweat to wick, like you are saying. When still, like for glassing, I will just throw on my zip around puffy pants. Puffy pants with the full leg zip totally changed the game for me for warmth modulation between moving and sitting still.

Now if it's going to be a cold day and I forsee a lot more glassing than moving I will jump up to heavier merino base layer. But my default is lightweight plus the puffy pants in my pack.

 

[WyoKid]

I wear light weight base tops and bottoms all season for moisture management. They are thin and lightweight, like a second skin, and really help with wicking. I stay cooler when it is hot and warmer when it is cold. If it gets really cold, I put on some heavyweight base bottoms over them. I use puffy pants over my outer layer if sitting and glassing when temperatures dip.

 

[WyldGoose]

I tend to run warm, especially when moving/active. I’ve simplified my “bottoms system” to this…
Year round, only pants I wear are Kutana Stretch Woven. They’re lightweight, dry fast and extremely durable.
Late season, if it’s super cold and I’m not moving and need extra warmth, I wear zip off Peloton 97 bottoms under my pants. My size XL weigh 5 oz.
If I start hiking or it warms up, zip em off in a few seconds and go. I also sleep in them if it’s cold enough.
Those two pieces are all I’ve needed. I live at 5,000 ft and am mostly between there and 9,000 ft.

 

[Seeknelk]

Like the others have said. With western hunting I can pretty much ONLY use light baselayers. I used a heavier set of kuiu merino's 200 I think, when it's bitter cold only occasionally, and still put on puffy pants to sit and glass.
Peleton 97 zip offs are almost all I use now and I seldom use those till it's below 30 under attack pants. Legs are just something that seem pretty resilient to the cold and moisture management doesn't seem like an issue to me with breathable pants.
However, if it's a nasty wet day, I'll head out with peleton baselayers under chugach rain pants and wear that set up all day and leave the attacks in the truck or Basecamp. Then moisture management matters more. Lightweight Merino is nice but they fail after about a week of use so screw that $$$. And they don't stretch and move as nice for me. At least the ones I've tried

 

[ChrisAU]

I wear Kuiu Kutanas whether its 0* or 100* out. I layer under as needed and thin base layers are part of that. I don't understand how thick pants sell. Even if its super cold I may only be using the Kutana's with no base layers if I am doing something high exertion. Why would I ever want to lock myself into any kind of high warmth baseline with thicker pants? Maybe if I know temps are never going over freezing for the entirety of a hunt?

 

[H80Hunter]

The other thing I've landed on is the realization that when I'm sitting in a treestand, my socks cover my feet up to just below the knee, and my boxers come down to mid-thigh so when you're talking "next to skin" on the bottom half the merino isn't really contacting very much skin. Top half, that's not really true obviously but it kind of changed the way I layer on the bottom vs top.

 

[Ditt44]

I wear the classic Sitka lightweight until it hits the 40s then its heavy merino bottoms. I use the lightweight more for scent control and then comfort being a PA whitetail hunter who's in a ladder stand a couple hundred hours a year. I've come to prefer the layer under my Equinox pants when warmer temps. Socks go on over the base then my LaCrosse boots as I always have a muddy or wet possibly where I hunt.

 

[Sinistram]

I've been wondering this myself. It's tough to convince me it's cold enough to need a lightweight bottom but not cold enough to wear a heavier weight bottom. That seems like a very narrow and temporary window. Personally, I haven't found "leg sweat" to be a significant issue when hunting, other than when I have the heavy bottoms on and suddenly need to hustle up. I'm kind of the mindset if you need light long johns, you probably don't need long johns.

 

[hunter1181]

As someone who hates wearing rain pants I tend to wear a lightweight baselayer under my pants to keep a little extra warmth if or when my katanas get wet. I have also found that wearing a baselayer when it is really hot outside helps minimize the likelihood that my legs will chafe.

 

[Koda_]

Not a waste.

UL base layers are better for moisture management and aid in layering for warmth when its colder out.

 

[*zap*]

Short answer is no

 

[ThorM465]

I wear Kuiu Kutanas whether its 0* or 100* out. I layer under as needed and thin base layers are part of that. I don't understand how thick pants sell. Even if its super cold I may only be using the Kutana's with no base layers if I am doing something high exertion. Why would I ever want to lock myself into any kind of high warmth baseline with thicker pants? Maybe if I know temps are never going over freezing for the entirety of a hunt?

Agreed. Which is why the boot top, zip off base layers are money.

 

[TSAMP]

I haven't used light base layers in years. I'm in the kuiu kutana camp, but only 30f- 100f deg range. Once below freezing I usually wear a fleece lined version like the guide if I'm active. Or if stationary I do heavy base layer bottoms.

When I'm active and it's cold I prefer not to have base layers as my legs feel much less constrained with a fleece lined pant.

 

[Poser]

I never thought or cared about moisture management for my legs other than if I get too hot and my legs sweat I stop and zip off the base layer. Simple for me. Cold or anticipate cold? Add a layer. Hot? Take a layer off.

That's it. That's pretty much all there is to it.

 

[Erussell01]

I use light bottoms so I can leave them on most of the day. As western hunters I find we are either moving or sitting and either will be for a while. So when moving, I need the sweat to wick, like you are saying. When still, like for glassing, I will just throw on my zip around puffy pants. Puffy pants with the full leg zip totally changed the game for me for warmth modulation between moving and sitting still.

Now if it's going to be a cold day and I forsee a lot more glassing than moving I will jump up to heavier merino base layer. But my default is lightweight plus the puffy pants in my pack.

I use zip off 3/4s when I hunt out west for that exact reason and only recently added puffy pants to my arsenal. What weight are you using if its warm weather?

 

[Erussell01]

I wear light weight base tops and bottoms all season for moisture management. They are thin and lightweight, like a second skin, and really help with wicking. I stay cooler when it hot and warmer when it is cold. If it gets really cold, I put on some heavyweight base bottoms over them. I use puffy pants over my outer layer if sitting and glassing when temperatures dip.

Which ones do you use? I have never considered using a second baselayer over them but I suppose it would be no different than a mid layer on your top half over a baselayer so it makes sense.