Clothing advice

[Jimss]

In regard to rain jackets. Make sure you buy one with pitzips or you will likely get wet from the inside out! It's tough to beat Sitka and Kuiu. If you are pinched for $ I'd get Marmot precip. I've used and abused MP in Alaska for quite a few years and they work fantastic. They are super compact and light. They don't come in camo colors but brown or green works ok for hunting. At Sierra Trading I pick up both pants and jackets for around $50 each with coupon codes. You will never find a better breathable jacket/pants at that price! Also, the MP jackets have pitzips...must have!!!!

As far as other clothes. I really like a thinsulate polarfleece vest. I don't like down jackets because once they are wet you are screwed. For super cold days I like a fleece neck gator. My favorite shirts that are super cheap $ are Cabelas microtex. They wear like iron and dry quick. They come in 2 different thickness. My favorite pants are Sitka 90's or Ascents. They are super comfortable, dry fast, and are relatively light. They are stretchy and feel more like pj's that stiff pants. I really like 90's jackets because they have pitzips and are about the right weight for Colorado, Wyoming, and early fall in Alaska....where I tend to spend the majority of my time hunting.

For base layer bottoms I use Patagonia capalene. They come in different thickness's which are great. They also are relatively cheap.

 

[rbljack]

Seth, for about the first mile in them, I did baby them, and then decided WHY?? So after that, no I didn't baby them at all. In fact, we ended up sidehilling through a bunch of briars one day, and they didn't get tore up or anything. I don't have a lot of pants to compare them too, so my experience is limited, but I found that they just plain worked for me. Another note; I didn't think Id like the suspenders, and when I first got the pants, I contemplated just removing them. I am glad I didn't, they worked well for me.

Im still fairly new to the FL clothing line, but so far Im enjoying the ride! I don't have the bottom layer in the raingear, only the jacket. Id recommend you reconsider adding a second mid layer on your first few trips if the temps are below freezing. A sometimes wore the llano, qz chama OR labrador, and puffy, and glad I had the extra layer. I say this because we were in NM, and it was cold early, but during the day it can get warm, so I wanted to be able to get down to ONLY the LLano and Pants if needed.

I may substitute their fleece layer for the Labrador to save some weight, because if my memory is correct, that's their heavyweight mid layer item, and that means a few more ounces. If I did that, it might work out to go with the Chama as the base layer, but not sure yet. LOL... The great news is that once you get an assortment of the clothing line, you can fine tune things that will work for you, over a wide range of temperature, and weather conditions.

Hope this helps.

 

[Seth1913]

Thanks for all the help guys! It's really helping me dial my setup. With the temps they've been, I'm going to try some systems out on a little shed hunting day trip.

 

[Seth1913]

I bought the marmot precip for my girlfriend and it seems like a nice jacket! And agreed pit zips are a must! As of right now though I'm pretty set on the Luke's ultralight for rain gear but I'm still looking and debating. I appreciate your input. The cabalas stuff sounds nice plus the outfitter camo is a plus. I have some heavier wool stuff from cabelas in outfitter and it blends well with lots of terrain. And although money isn't to much of a worry Id rather not spend 300 on a jacket for the little afternoon rains we get. But alaskas a different story! That takes some serious gear!

 

[COlineman78]

How does the Kratos fit you? I've tried a lot of there stuff and the seams that transfer from the torso to sleeves are way to small and dig into my arm pits.

I don't have the problem with the vest because there are no sleeves and the side panels are stretch. The large fits me nice and tight unlike the FL puffy vest which I think the cut is terrible (too loose in the torso IMO).

I just noticed that Marmot started making the Precip in tall sizes. I will have a tough decision to make on which I want to switch to. The only thing I worry about in going with a non-hunting brand is that it may be too loud and/or shiny. IMO earth tones will work if the surface isn't too shiny.

 

[Seth1913]

I don't have the problem with the vest because there are no sleeves and the side panels are stretch. The large fits me nice and tight unlike the FL puffy vest which I think the cut is terrible (too loose in the torso IMO).

I just noticed that Marmot started making the Precip in tall sizes. I will have a tough decision to make on which I want to switch to. The only thing I worry about in going with a non-hunting brand is that it may be too loud and/or shiny. IMO earth tones will work if the surface isn't too shiny.

I'll have to find a kratos vest somewhere to try on. Thanks for the info. I can say that the marmot precip doesn't have much of a shine to it but it is a little loud IMO but it's still fresh and not "broke in" which I bet it would quiet up after some use. Even though my girlfriends jacket is blue it's a dull matte finish. From what I've gathered from Luke's ultralight Facebook and website the fabric will blend well as its a matte finish but I can't comment on noise factor. I'm still pretry set on it though as I can get custom options and will only be using it in the rain where noise won't matter too much. From all of the outdoor and hunting stores I've visited it seems rare to find a "quiet" rain jacket.

 

[rbljack]

Here is an update for you based on my shed hunting adventure this past weekend. Temps were in the 50's, overcast and windy...and I had the FL Chama Qz and the FL springer vest went with me in the daypack. chama was warm on the steep uphill climb, and I probably should have worn the Llano instead. By the time we hit 9k feet, I was pretty sweaty and ended up on a slope where the wind was hitting us directly. I quickly put on the vest because it felt more like 45 at that point, and I was chilly. For pants, it was just jeans, so not much to mention on that. I also packed the FL puffy jacket in case of light rain, but never pulled it out of the pack.

If I was going to do that day hike again, I would have started with the llano and added the vest when I hit the top. Either way sweat was going to be an issue because we gained 1200 feet in less .6 miles, and that's a fairly good work out for me anyways...uggg...I was sucking for air...LOL Good news is that we spotted two bulls, one was a decent 5x5. The bad news is that we spotted 2 bulls, and that means they haven't dropped their horns yet....LOL.

 

[Seth1913]

I'm hopping some have dropped gonna head out tomorrow or Sunday and test out my new c4e merino shirt I got off of camofire.

 

[Seth1913]

Well my hopping didn't find me any sheds but nor did my hoping. but my c4e merino performed awesome! Started the day nice and warm and ended in a snow storm and didn't have to worry too much about temp change! Kept me cool when I needed and warm when I needed! It's my first piece of merino and I was impressed! Far out performed synthetics!