First lite cirrus puffy

[buckwalleye]

A little help please. I'm thinking about getting the cirrus puffy. I already have the following for top layering pieces; kiln 250 hoodie, klamath 1/4 zip fleece, and the corrugate guide jacket. I hunt in temps below freezing a lot. I think adding the puffy under the guide jacket would keep me covered in cold weather. I like its packability too. Anyone have any suggestions and/or experience with the cirrus puffy? I also have north branch pants and merino bottoms for cold temps. I'm pretty warm blooded.

I sold all my old miscellaneous hunting clothes (under armor, cabelas, etc.) so I'm trying to get my new FL gear all set up. Thanks!

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[optimusprime]

I bought the cirrus for early season elk in Eastern WA in 2017 because it was light and cheap. I found that it didn’t provide enough warmth for me when temps got below 60 and I was sitting for extended periods and I run pretty hot. It just doesn’t insulate that well because it’s so thin and light. I ended up getting the unpronounceable and it is in a whole different league warmth wise. It’s slightly heavier on paper but in real life I don’t notice a difference in my pack. It is a little less packable but you can just smash the crap out of it with other stuff in your pack and the hood provides a MASSIVE benefit in keeping the heat in. I would recommend going that route without a second thought. You will never regret the vast amount of extra warmth you get with it at a negligible weight penalty. I picked up the guide jacket for this years hunt and fell in love with it. Blocks wind very well and keeps the moisture out. I’m the mornings with no wind but a good chill I would put the guide over my sawtooth for a little extra heat retention and put the unpronounceable over that to maintain the loft and insulation it provides without compressing it. When I needed to move it was easy to strip it and pack it. When the wind picked up with some rain, I would switch the order: sawtooth then puffy then Corrugate jacket. I lost a little insulation warmth due to the Corrugate compressing the puffy but saved a HUGE amount of heat loss from the wind. Never even noticed it through the Corrugate jacket. I thought it was a great combo and you can switch how you wear them according to the conditions.

 

[buckwalleye]

I bought the cirrus for early season elk in Eastern WA in 2017 because it was light and cheap. I found that it didn’t provide enough warmth for me when temps got below 60 and I was sitting for extended periods and I run pretty hot. It just doesn’t insulate that well because it’s so thin and light. I ended up getting the unpronounceable and it is in a whole different league warmth wise. It’s slightly heavier on paper but in real life I don’t notice a difference in my pack. It is a little less packable but you can just smash the crap out of it with other stuff in your pack and the hood provides a MASSIVE benefit in keeping the heat in. I would recommend going that route without a second thought. You will never regret the vast amount of extra warmth you get with it at a negligible weight penalty. I picked up the guide jacket for this years hunt and fell in love with it. Blocks wind very well and keeps the moisture out. I’m the mornings with no wind but a good chill I would put the guide over my sawtooth for a little extra heat retention and put the unpronounceable over that to maintain the loft and insulation it provides without compressing it. When I needed to move it was easy to strip it and pack it. When the wind picked up with some rain, I would switch the order: sawtooth then puffy then Corrugate jacket. I lost a little insulation warmth due to the Corrugate compressing the puffy but saved a HUGE amount of heat loss from the wind. Never even noticed it through the Corrugate jacket. I thought it was a great combo and you can switch how you wear them according to the conditions.

Thanks for such a detailed response! I thought for $120 on sale I'd get the cirrus but maybe I'll just bite the bullet on the uncompahgre. It says that it runs a bit large for sizing? I ordered xl in all my other tops and they fit comfortably. Could have maybe even gone to a large in the corrugate. Thinking large for uncompahgre?

You say when temps got below 60 it didn't keep you warm. What kind of temps we talking about below 60? If I'm hunting and the temp is in the 50s I'm in my lightweight gear. Like kiln hoody by itself. Or a tee and the corrugate. Little confused there....

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[optimusprime]

Sorry, I meant 50’s. I run pretty warm but when I’m sitting For long periods I get cold. In the mornings the temps would get down to around 30 or so and in the Cirrus I would still be cold until temps got up probably around 50, but that’s just a guess. I was way way way more comfortable in the unpronounceable. My layers this year were always a Wick top or Sitka core lightweight hoodie, my sawtooth jacket, Corrugate jacket and then puffy for the cold mornings. Once the sun came out I would strip the puffy. With the cirrus, I was still freezing with the following: Wilkin half zip, llano short sleeve, minus33 midweight long sleeve, cirrus and Kuiu Guide jacket. All around the same temps but this year I was much warmer. The hood helps tremendously. Sizing wise, you definitely want to size down on the unpronounceable. I’m 6’1 and 220 and wear an xl in all my tops. I took the advice of others and got the Large puffy and it is a perfect fit with room for layers but not overly bulky. Whatever your shirt size, just go down one size. I also went down to a Large in my Corrugate jacket. Hat thing fit weird in xl. Super baggy arms and poofy body. The Large is much better for me. I do however, prefer my tops more form fitting. I don’t like a lot of extra material so take my preferences with a grain of salt.

Here is a pic of the puffy on my frame.

Again, this is a Large. My Corrugate jacket barely fit over it but once it did, I was a toasty marshmallow when the wind and rain picked up. The puffy still hung a little lower than the Corrugate jacket when it was underneath but it didn’t affect anything. Hope this helps.


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[buckwalleye]

Awesome man thank you. We're about the same size so that's a perfect reference. I'm with you on the xl corrugate. Kinda baggy sleeves and definitely not as fitting as my other pieces in xl. Maybe I'll look into a return on that as I've only worn it twice. I do lot of tree stand hunting where I need a layer after I get into the stand from hiking in. Late season temps can easily get in the single digits or below zero here. Sounds like the uncompahgre would be better for my situations. Thanks again

Sorry, I meant 50’s. I run pretty warm but when I’m sitting For long periods I get cold. In the mornings the temps would get down to around 30 or so and in the Cirrus I would still be cold until temps got up probably around 50, but that’s just a guess. I was way way way more comfortable in the unpronounceable. My layers this year were always a Wick top or Sitka core lightweight hoodie, my sawtooth jacket, Corrugate jacket and then puffy for the cold mornings. Once the sun came out I would strip the puffy. With the cirrus, I was still freezing with the following: Wilkin half zip, llano short sleeve, minus33 midweight long sleeve, cirrus and Kuiu Guide jacket. All around the same temps but this year I was much warmer. The hood helps tremendously. Sizing wise, you definitely want to size down on the unpronounceable. I’m 6’1 and 220 and wear an xl in all my tops. I took the advice of others and got the Large puffy and it is a perfect fit with room for layers but not overly bulky. Whatever your shirt size, just go down one size. I also went down to a Large in my Corrugate jacket. Hat thing fit weird in xl. Super baggy arms and poofy body. The Large is much better for me. I do however, prefer my tops more form fitting. I don’t like a lot of extra material so take my preferences with a grain of salt.

Here is a pic of the puffy on my frame.

Again, this is a Large. My Corrugate jacket barely fit over it but once it did, I was a toasty marshmallow when the wind and rain picked up. The puffy still hung a little lower than the Corrugate jacket when it was underneath but it didn’t affect anything. Hope this helps.


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[optimusprime]

Ya dude, you would die in the Cirrus, literally. If I was gonna be stand hunting in those temps for very long I would actually be looking at warmer tops to include a furnace on top of the kiln. Also, the unpronounceable is touted as a lightweight puffy and it is. In those temps you might think about something along the lines of the Sanctuary Jacket. It’s more of their late season stand jacket. It’s quite a bit more expensive but it’s gonna be way warmer. This is just me though. If I was in a stand that’s what I would be looking at from First Lite. Sitka also has their Fanatic line which is super warm and quiet as well if you don’t care about mixing and matching. If it were me, I think I would need more than the unpronounceable and those tops for a tree stand. I basically wore the same thing you have above, although you had the midweight merino tip listed and I was good into the 30’s. If it were in singles like you’re gonna be in, I know I would need more layers or heavier tops.

 

[DrHogfan]

I’ve stand hunted with the cirrus in temps down in the 40’s and upper 30’s. Base layer merino, 200-250g, then a fleece layer, and cirrus over. I got the cirrus for its packability. I will upgrade to Uncompahgre if it’s colder than that. For bottoms I pack the puffy pant. Seems to work ok. Where I hunt, temps are usually in the 40’s-50’s and only drop lower with big winter fronts.


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[Justin_the_EDG]

I've done some standing around for 8 hours on a VERY windy day (gusts into the 40s was the report if I remember) that was in the mid and upper 30s temp-wise. Wore a SS t-shirt, heavyweight fleece, and the Cirrus over the top and was perfectly comfortable. Face and ears were cold and got wind burned, but my torso never felt cold.

 

[buckwalleye]

I think I'm gonna pick up the cirrus while it's on sale. If I need more I'll get the uncompahgre later. I want something packable while steelhead fishing in the creeks too....it can get cold in a hurry. I don't want to sound like a hardass but I feel like I'm pretty acclimated to cold weather. I do a lot of ice fishing, and while most other guys are in their huts I'm just sitting on my bucket. And I've sat out there in below zero whiteouts. I have a nice hut thats stayed in my attic the last few years...I like sitting outside and traveling light. Now for a quick sizing question. I just sent back my corrugate guide jacket because it was too big (xl). I have xl in the kiln and klamath and they fit good. It says on firstlite website that it's on the more fitted side, and to size up. I'm thinking an xl for the cirrus?

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[optimusprime]

My Cirrus was loose in the torso but kind of short length wise. It was an XL. The XL was fine though. My XL was a tad looser in the torso than my Large unpronounceable but a little shorter. I wish I could stay as warm as you guys in those temps haha. I freeze when sitting but I can live in a short sleeve while moving in sub freezing temps. My thyroid is probably just jacked lol.