Edge
FNG
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2015
- Messages
- 59
This is the second installment of my First Lite apparel report. I am not affiliated in any way with First Lite or any other manufacturer for that matter, just a guy who loves to hunt!
North Dakota archery hunt during the general firearms season (Nov 6 - 14) in Southeast North Dakota. I haven't been lucky enough over the past 5 years to draw a gun tag and have hunted with my bow as the bow tag is OTC for any sex. Some day I'll draw a gun tag....
Hunting style: Tree stand and ground blinds. Longest walk to stand was .5 mile although the plowed fields and recent heavy rains made a miserable trek as the mud clung to the bottom of the boots making them feel like 10 extra pounds on each foot.
Weather conditions: upper 20's into the 50's with winds from 5 - 35+ and little/ no precipitation. Quite a change vs last year where it was -5 to 20 with similar winds.
First Lite products used: Sanctuary parka and bibs in ASAT, North Branch jacket and pants in ASAT, Kanab 2.0 ASAT, Llano and Chama long sleeve zip in ASAT, allegheny bottoms, allegheny exp, red desert boxers, balaclava in fusion and merino gloves in fusion (forgot to pack my ASAT balaclava and gloves so stopped at Scheels in Fargo and picked up the only set they had). Note: I had the Stormfront jacket and pants along for the trip but lack of precipitation relegated them to the bench. I also had the
Uncompahgre Puffy along but temps were too mild to layer the puffy underneath the outer garments and too noisy to wear as an outer piece while stand hunting. I'll give my thoughts on each of the outerwear pieces:
Sanctuary jacket and bibs: For cold weather these pieces are very warm and comfortable. The side leg zip closure on the bibs allows you to dump heat while walking to the stand, great feature! The outside stuff pockets on the bibs are also very handy, I usually stashed my range finder on the right leg. The Sanctuary jacket fit great, was very warm and comfortable and had great freedom of movement drawing a bow. The jacket and pants in conjunction with the Llano top and the allegheny bottom was all I needed to stay very warm in the mornings where the temps were in the upper 20's/lower 30's with 5-20 mph winds. I found the walk to the farthest stand generated some excess heat and sweat but was easily dissipated. Even when the temps increased to the upper 30's/lower 40's the jacket and bibs again kept me comfortable, I did not feel overly warm. The material was very quiet while in the stand and completely blocked the wind. I ended up shooting an average 8pt while wearing the jacket over NB pants. I highly recommend the sanctuary for cold weather, although it is much too heavy to wear while hiking.
North Branch Jacket and Bibs: The Jacket is a bit too noisy in the stand and did not block the wind. I ended up shivering pretty hard one evening while wearing the NB jacket with the the Chama and llano tops and the North Branch pants with the allegheny underneath. The wind was howling at least 20 mph and as the temp dropped in the afternoon from the mid 40's to mid 30's I froze as the wind went right through me. The following afternoon I layered a very thin Cotopaxi Kusa puffy under the NB jacket and was perfectly fine in a similar situation. The pants felt a bit more wind resistant than the jacket. I was really hoping I could wear the NB jacket during the PA rifle season while hunting in the Allegheny hills but not sure how to proceed at this point. I may just wear the First Lite puffy and use the Stormfront jacket when precipitation hits. I did use the NB jacket and pants tracking and pushing deer comfortably in cool windy conditions. I wish First Lite would make a lighter weight jacket out of the sanctuary material.
Merino layers: all worked great and no complaints. I did use a heavier pair of black merino gloves from REI and used the FL merino gloves over them on the coldest mornings.
I'll post additional thoughts on the First Lite pieces in mid-Dec when I return from PA.
Edge
North Dakota archery hunt during the general firearms season (Nov 6 - 14) in Southeast North Dakota. I haven't been lucky enough over the past 5 years to draw a gun tag and have hunted with my bow as the bow tag is OTC for any sex. Some day I'll draw a gun tag....
Hunting style: Tree stand and ground blinds. Longest walk to stand was .5 mile although the plowed fields and recent heavy rains made a miserable trek as the mud clung to the bottom of the boots making them feel like 10 extra pounds on each foot.
Weather conditions: upper 20's into the 50's with winds from 5 - 35+ and little/ no precipitation. Quite a change vs last year where it was -5 to 20 with similar winds.
First Lite products used: Sanctuary parka and bibs in ASAT, North Branch jacket and pants in ASAT, Kanab 2.0 ASAT, Llano and Chama long sleeve zip in ASAT, allegheny bottoms, allegheny exp, red desert boxers, balaclava in fusion and merino gloves in fusion (forgot to pack my ASAT balaclava and gloves so stopped at Scheels in Fargo and picked up the only set they had). Note: I had the Stormfront jacket and pants along for the trip but lack of precipitation relegated them to the bench. I also had the
Uncompahgre Puffy along but temps were too mild to layer the puffy underneath the outer garments and too noisy to wear as an outer piece while stand hunting. I'll give my thoughts on each of the outerwear pieces:
Sanctuary jacket and bibs: For cold weather these pieces are very warm and comfortable. The side leg zip closure on the bibs allows you to dump heat while walking to the stand, great feature! The outside stuff pockets on the bibs are also very handy, I usually stashed my range finder on the right leg. The Sanctuary jacket fit great, was very warm and comfortable and had great freedom of movement drawing a bow. The jacket and pants in conjunction with the Llano top and the allegheny bottom was all I needed to stay very warm in the mornings where the temps were in the upper 20's/lower 30's with 5-20 mph winds. I found the walk to the farthest stand generated some excess heat and sweat but was easily dissipated. Even when the temps increased to the upper 30's/lower 40's the jacket and bibs again kept me comfortable, I did not feel overly warm. The material was very quiet while in the stand and completely blocked the wind. I ended up shooting an average 8pt while wearing the jacket over NB pants. I highly recommend the sanctuary for cold weather, although it is much too heavy to wear while hiking.
North Branch Jacket and Bibs: The Jacket is a bit too noisy in the stand and did not block the wind. I ended up shivering pretty hard one evening while wearing the NB jacket with the the Chama and llano tops and the North Branch pants with the allegheny underneath. The wind was howling at least 20 mph and as the temp dropped in the afternoon from the mid 40's to mid 30's I froze as the wind went right through me. The following afternoon I layered a very thin Cotopaxi Kusa puffy under the NB jacket and was perfectly fine in a similar situation. The pants felt a bit more wind resistant than the jacket. I was really hoping I could wear the NB jacket during the PA rifle season while hunting in the Allegheny hills but not sure how to proceed at this point. I may just wear the First Lite puffy and use the Stormfront jacket when precipitation hits. I did use the NB jacket and pants tracking and pushing deer comfortably in cool windy conditions. I wish First Lite would make a lighter weight jacket out of the sanctuary material.
Merino layers: all worked great and no complaints. I did use a heavier pair of black merino gloves from REI and used the FL merino gloves over them on the coldest mornings.
I'll post additional thoughts on the First Lite pieces in mid-Dec when I return from PA.
Edge
