Clothing under Simms G3 Guide wading pants for AK Moose hunt

[Theringworm]

My outfitter and the folks at Barneys Sports Chalet both recommended wearing the Simms G3 Guide waist high wading pants with the G3 boots for my Alaskan moose hunt late Sept-early October. Temps typically average round 30-50 so I was told, granted AK has been unseasonably warm this year. This will be my first moose hunt, first time to AK and my first time wearing waders.

They recommended some very lightweight pant (i.e. the Prana Stretch Zion pant, Kuiu Tiburon or a very lightweight pair of silk or wool thermals or an equivalent) underneath the waders as they will get extremely hot hunting in them. They said to not use more than one layer underneath to avoid overheating. As for the socks, since the waders have the built in neoprene booty they said you feet will typically be fairly warm so to run a lighter weight wool sock than you typically wood say if you were elk hunting running a mid-heavy weight wool sock.

All that being said, anyone here have some personal feedback on this or recommend something similar or different fo both a layer or two under the Waders and what types of socks to go with? I was told we will basically wear waders all day every day do to the terrain and amount of water we will encounter. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[deerkiller]

let's see …. how about some LONG UNDERWEAR ?

 

[Theringworm]

Great a wise guy. So helpful.

As I mentioned above, one of the suggestions was thermals/long under wear. However thermals can come in so many variations as far warmth ratings, thickness, fabric content, etc, I was more looking for a certain model of a brand some have used and would recommend. In 30-50 temps is a pair of light weight thermals enough or do I need to go with a heavy thermal? Or do you prefer a very lightweight quick drying pant instead of the thermal option? Anyone with personal experience.

 

[duchntr]

I like lightweight thermals under my waders, especially when doing any long walks. As for the wading pants, personally Id get the full size waders as its a more versatile option for use on other activities, but the pants are still a solid option. BTW you dont need top of the line waders for a one time hunt one week hunt, that being said if you dont mind dropping the coin those G3's are great. Their rec's seam to mimic what I use, mid weight merino socks, lightweight hiking pant or mid weight merino bottoms.

 

[AKDoc]

I go with chest waders...G-4’s. I wear merino or synthetic (not cotton) long johns underneath. When it gets cooler I have KUIU Kenai bottoms that I can zip-on without taking off my boots.

 

[Theringworm]

Thank you for the replies. I might experiment at home with a light weight pant and a thermal just to see how each differ. I have 3 different weights of SmartWool thermals, and 3 different weights of the Kuiu Pelotons. Might pick a light weight and a midweight layer and call it good.

 

[deerkiller]

I like lightweight thermals under my waders, especially when doing any long walks. As for the wading pants, personally Id get the full size waders as its a more versatile option for use on other activities, but the pants are still a solid option. BTW you dont need top of the line waders for a one time hunt one week hunt, that being said if you dont mind dropping the coin those G3's are great. Their rec's seam to mimic what I use, mid weight merino socks, lightweight hiking pant or mid weight merino bottoms.

thermals = long underwear

 

[deerkiller]

Thank you for the replies. I might experiment at home with a light weight pant and a thermal just to see how each differ. I have 3 different weights of SmartWool thermals, and 3 different weights of the Kuiu Pelotons. Might pick a light weight and a midweight layer and call it good.

UH … long underwear ?

 

[deerkiller]

I go with chest waders...G-4’s. I wear merino or synthetic (not cotton) long johns underneath. When it gets cooler I have KUIU Kenai bottoms that I can zip-on without taking off my boots.

"long johns" ??

 

[deerkiller]

Great a wise guy. So helpful.

As I mentioned above, one of the suggestions was thermals/long under wear. However thermals can come in so many variations as far warmth ratings, thickness, fabric content, etc, I was more looking for a certain model of a brand some have used and would recommend. In 30-50 temps is a pair of light weight thermals enough or do I need to go with a heavy thermal? Or do you prefer a very lightweight quick drying pant instead of the thermal option? Anyone with personal experience.

"wise guy" ?? How about "COMMON SENSE" ….

 

[bmrfish]

Used the Simms waders and boots setup on a couple south brooks float hunts and it worked really well. Cold and wet enough that we just wore the waders most of the time. Layers underneath. Lightweight Sitka ascent pants on warm days (nice to have some pockets). Long johns only or with pants when it got colder. Also had the luxury of fleece pants plus long johns on the really cold days. Especially when siting in the front of the raft and not being the rower on long float days. Also took along a pair of aqua socks for some terrestrial days where I didn’t need waders. Just wore them over inner socks with my pants and wading boots. Pretty happy with this system.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[awilder]

My outfitter and the folks at Barneys Sports Chalet both recommended wearing the Simms G3 Guide waist high wading pants with the G3 boots for my Alaskan moose hunt late Sept-early October. Temps typically average round 30-50 so I was told, granted AK has been unseasonably warm this year. This will be my first moose hunt, first time to AK and my first time wearing waders.

They recommended some very lightweight pant (i.e. the Prana Stretch Zion pant, Kuiu Tiburon or a very lightweight pair of silk or wool thermals or an equivalent) underneath the waders as they will get extremely hot hunting in them. They said to not use more than one layer underneath to avoid overheating. As for the socks, since the waders have the built in neoprene booty they said you feet will typically be fairly warm so to run a lighter weight wool sock than you typically wood say if you were elk hunting running a mid-heavy weight wool sock.

All that being said, anyone here have some personal feedback on this or recommend something similar or different fo both a layer or two under the Waders and what types of socks to go with? I was told we will basically wear waders all day every day do to the terrain and amount of water we will encounter. Thanks in advance for the input.

Exact same recommendations from my outfitter for my first ever trip to Alaska for moose this Sept. Maybe we are going to the same place?

 

[Jimss]

I would likely go with the thinnest thermals available that will dry super fast.. The shoreline of rivers is likely super rocky so it would be nice to have padding on the bottom of the socks to absorb shock. You may also want to replace or add padded insoles if hiking along rocky shorelines. I like Therlo and Smartwool socks.

I have Teburons and used them on a recent August sheep hunt. They are super light and breathable and dry fast. If you are going to do much hiking where it's not too terribly wet you may want to wear the teburons under the waders so you can take off the waders and hike....may be a bit wild hiking around in thermals!

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Simms makes some nice lightweight fleece designed to go under their waders, I’d look at that and other stuff without zippers, you don’t want zippers rubbing on your nice Simms waders.

 

[kphunter]

I wear Patagonia’s Quandary under my G3’s and darn tough socks. It works great down to 35 degrees .

 

[mcseal2]

I had first lite aerowool 200 wt bottoms under my simms g3 waders. I wanted a little more at times. Buddy had simms mid weight fleece pants that he really liked. I had my kenai pants along but didnt use them much. Didnt want to put them on in the rain mostly. I bought terramar predator wader base layers since that i like.

 

[bullmoose]

I like some mid-weight merino bottoms under my waders when hunting. I will usually also bring a light pair of fleece pants to wear over my merino bottoms if the temps drop too much or if I don't plan on moving much throughout the day. On normal days, with a lot of ground covered, I only put on the merino bottoms under my waders.

Simms and Redington make some decent lightweight fleece pants that have foot stirrups built onto them so they wont bunch up too bad under your waders, I would recommend that style. I'm sure other brands make similar pants that would be just as good too but I haven't researched any others. The fishing industry companies are the ones I've found that seem to have them figured out well.

As for socks, I usually wear the whatever thickness of sock that I'd wear in my hunting boots that time of year. My feet will usually get hot during the day and sweat quite a bit in the waders but I haven't had a problem with them getting cold after sweating, even when in the water for most of the day. I always make sure to have plenty of socks to rotate out during the trip, dry socks get put on when back at camp and I start out with dry socks every morning, so sweaty socks/feet during the day haven't been too big of an issue. If the weather allows, I will try to turn the waders inside-out and hang them to dry at night to get the booties dried out well.

The G3 pant and boot combo is a great recommendation (there are a lot of sizing options for the pants and different size ranges on the booties) just be sure to get the right sized wader booties and boots when your trying them on and don't get anything that is too small/restrictive for your foot. Too small of a bootie or wading boot will definitely cause you to have cold and uncomfortable feet during the day.

 

[Tradchef]

I’ve got some of the old school Cabela’s cold weather leggings that were still USA made. I wear those, some thin darn tough socks and my first lite chama with a Patagonia fleece for December and January trout fishing and stay super toasty in my G3’s.

 

[Panhandler80]

I go with chest waders...G-4’s. I wear merino or synthetic (not cotton) long johns underneath. When it gets cooler I have KUIU Kenai bottoms that I can zip-on without taking off my boots.

How you zip on bottoms while wearing waders? I’m confused. TIA.

edit: you wearing these on TOP of the waders? Sounds as bit odd, but I’m all ears.

 

[Theringworm]

You wear the Kuiu zip on bottoms over the base layer but under the wader. The Kuiu zippered bad layer has a zipper that runs from the waist to the bottom on the pant on both legs. Drop you waders down to your boots. Place the unzipped legs of the Kuiu base layer around your legs, zip them up and then pull back up your waders. Just like you would do when dropping a deuce but you are putting on the zippered leg bottoms and not wiping your back side .