First Lite Solitude Bibs And Jacket Review, By William Hanson

[Justin Crossley]

William spends a lot of days hunting in the cold and has struggled to find clothing that is warm, quiet, and not too bulky. This season he gave the First Lite Solitude set a try and they seem to be pretty impressive. Check out @William Hanson (live2hunt) review to see if they will work for you.

First Lite Solitude Bibs And Jacket Review

 

[robby denning]

Nice work William. I still have my gen 1 FL North Branch bibs. They’ve done well for me.

 

[cwoodyt87]

Any experience with the Sanctuary line? I too am in Missouri, and need a decent cold weather system. Trying to determine which is better suited for our state.

 

[Bigboone1988]

Any experience with the Sanctuary line? I too am in Missouri, and need a decent cold weather system. Trying to determine which is better suited for our state.

I have the sanctuary suit and I don't bust it out until its below 30 degrees. Great suit for late season in Illinois

 

[KoolBreeze]

I used a Woodbury jacket and Solitude bibs a lot this season for stationary stand hunting. If it's below 30 or windy, I had to layer up a bit to be comfortable. I plan to add a furnace base layer set before next year to see if that will allow me to shed a layer around 30 and below.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Any experience with the Sanctuary line? I too am in Missouri, and need a decent cold weather system. Trying to determine which is better suited for our state.

I have not used the Sanctuary line.

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[Ghetto]

I had the solitude bibs this year.

They didn’t meet my expectations for warmth. Great concept with the chest pocket etc, just not warm and I questioned the durability.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I had the solitude bibs this year.

They didn’t meet my expectations for warmth. Great concept with the chest pocket etc, just not warm and I questioned the durability.

Really? I thought they are quite warm. Durability is yet to be seen, but whitetail stuff needs to be quiet over toughness.

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[GoldenTriangle]

Any experience with the Sanctuary line? I too am in Missouri, and need a decent cold weather system. Trying to determine which is better suited for our state.

Might depend on where you are in Missouri. I'm in west central Illinois, just across the river from NE Missouri. This year I wore the sanctuary set more than the solitude. We had many days where temps were below 30 for part of the day and that is my transition temperature from the solitude to sanctuary. The solitude is a step above the sanctuary in design, but they are both great pieces. You can wear minimal layers and carry the sanctuary into the stand when its under 45.
I don't rate tree stand gear for durability, as its designed to be quiet and warm. If you are hunting public or walking through brush you would want to carry it in, too warm for that. Both of these pieces suffer from a lack of wind proofing, especially the solitude. If sustained winds are over 10mph and its hitting you directly, you will notice heat loss. This can be offset with layering.
I bought a fanatic set this year and really liked it. I would say the First Lite solitude set is more "Sitka" like in cut and quality than First Lite's other whitetail offerings, impressive piece.

 

[KoolBreeze]

Those of you that have both the Santuary and Solitude, how much bulkier is the Santuary? Is it enough to where it's inhibits mobility?

It's a shame neither set is windproof. Hopefully if everyone keeps asking for it, they'll eventually do it.

 

[Ian Ketterman]

The lack of windproof in the set is what deterred me from buying them. I live in central MO and it's windier than a well diggers asshole. Northern winds in the 20's have been the only thing to kick me out of a stand early.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

The lack of windproof in the set is what deterred me from buying them. I live in central MO and it's windier than a well diggers asshole. Northern winds in the 20's have been the only thing to kick me out of a stand early.

I live in Rolla and haven't had too much trouble with winds kicking me out of stand, but I don't go out when it is really windy as I have never had good success in high wind. Besides tree stands are scary in heavy wind lol.

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[Jordan Budd]

Those of you that have both the Santuary and Solitude, how much bulkier is the Santuary? Is it enough to where it's inhibits mobility?

It's a shame neither set is windproof. Hopefully if everyone keeps asking for it, they'll eventually do it.

I would say it's 50% bulkier... You'll notice it in the bibs more than the jacket in my opinion. As for mobility I didn't have any issues shooting and I had to be in a goofy situation to make it. The only mobility issue is being able to raise your leg up high for tall steps on the tree.. but I think that's just a late season bib issue in general. Get layered up enough and it's going to be an issue. I always unzip the bib leg from the top down a ways walking in for venting, and that also helps a ton with mobility climbing into the tree. Once your in the tree and zip everything up it's a non issue.

When I would sit down with the Solitude and compress the insulation around the knee I could feel some coolness, which I could expect because I compressed the insulation. But I never ever had an issue with the Sanctuary set cutting wind and I had multiple days with 20+ mph winds when it was cold. I didn't wear the Solitude but a couple sits this year and for how I dress I like that system over the Sanctuary unless it's super cold. I like to have base layer bottoms on plus the Catalyst pant, then have the bibs over the top. Some like to just have a couple base layer bottoms on under their bib and in that case I'd stick with the Sanctuary. But if you like to have regular pants on underneath then I'd lean to the Solitude for temps 10-50. I'd say if you're only going to be using them 20 and under you'd probably want the Sanctuary.

 

[KoolBreeze]

I would say it's 50% bulkier... You'll notice it in the bibs more than the jacket in my opinion. As for mobility I didn't have any issues shooting and I had to be in a goofy situation to make it. The only mobility issue is being able to raise your leg up high for tall steps on the tree.. but I think that's just a late season bib issue in general. Get layered up enough and it's going to be an issue. I always unzip the bib leg from the top down a ways walking in for venting, and that also helps a ton with mobility climbing into the tree. Once your in the tree and zip everything up it's a non issue.

When I would sit down with the Solitude and compress the insulation around the knee I could feel some coolness, which I could expect because I compressed the insulation. But I never ever had an issue with the Sanctuary set cutting wind and I had multiple days with 20+ mph winds when it was cold. I didn't wear the Solitude but a couple sits this year and for how I dress I like that system over the Sanctuary unless it's super cold. I like to have base layer bottoms on plus the Catalyst pant, then have the bibs over the top. Some like to just have a couple base layer bottoms on under their bib and in that case I'd stick with the Sanctuary. But if you like to have regular pants on underneath then I'd lean to the Solitude for temps 10-50. I'd say if you're only going to be using them 20 and under you'd probably want the Sanctuary.

Thanks for the info. 50% bulkier would make me leave them in the closet most days, so I think I'll stick with the Solitude bibs & Woodbury jacket and try out a furnace baselayer set with them on the colder days. I always wear a pant as well, since I usually carry the bibs & jacket into my stand.

I had the exact same experience a few times with the solitude bibs around the knees. Wasn't anything that bothered me but noticeable.

 

[Ian Ketterman]

I live in Rolla and haven't had too much trouble with winds kicking me out of stand, but I don't go out when it is really windy as I have never had good success in high wind. Besides tree stands are scary in heavy wind lol.

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I'm a few hours NW of you. My property is on a bluff so it's wind 90% of the time.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Not clear to me from your review...made in China?

 

[Meridian90]

The lack of windproof in the set is what deterred me from buying them. I live in central MO and it's windier than a well diggers asshole. Northern winds in the 20's have been the only thing to kick me out of a stand early.

I sat the sanctuary in below zero temps and 20 mph winds with no issues in northern MN.

I generally run a puffy with the sitka jetstream over it until it's below 10, then switch to the sanctuary. I would expect a dip switching away from a "windproof" jacket but really the warmth is noticeably higher in the sanctuary.

 

[Ian Ketterman]

I sat the sanctuary in below zero temps and 20 mph winds with no issues in northern MN.

I generally run a puffy with the sitka jetstream over it until it's below 10, then switch to the sanctuary. I would expect a dip switching away from a "windproof" jacket but really the warmth is noticeably higher in the sanctuary.

Damn Canadians

 

[T-moss]

Great review, thanks!