Curious on some favorite wool hunting clothing brands. Looking for something that will keep me warm but not break the bank too bad. And if someone has good gloves for mid-late season in MI for archery, I'd appreciate it!
In my opinion there's no "good" wool that isn't also really expensive.
Socks aren't bad, I've tried a bunch, and my go to is Fox River. I've tried their Gibraltar, but I think the classic Outdoorsox is better for outright warmth when sitting. I've played with sock liners and no longer use them. I like their Hike Backcountry for walking. Honestly a lot of the time close to home duck hunting or whatever I just use my regular daily socks.
Base layers are talked about a lot, but I haven't found them to be as dramatic a deal as many make them to be. The only thing I've found is that thick baselayers are no good for me. Thicker baselayers like the military surplus ECWCS stuff that is basically sweat shirt and sweat pants, do not work good. They are acceptable for mid layers, but that's it. Obviously avoid cotton, but I've found multiple materials will do just as good as wool for soaking up moisture. Oddly one of the best I've found is military surplus, but it's their lightweight stuff from the LWCWUS line. It's thin polypropylene and it works really good. 10 years ago they were like $5 each everywhere. Now it seems I can barely find them online. This will keep you as warm as anything else out there within it's limits which I'll get to. For wool, all of them are super expensive. Maybe there's some Chineese clone out there that's acceptable, but any good brand is going to be $100 minimum. In my own case, I bought a set of Duckworth Comet shirt and leggings. There's not a bad thing I can say about them, they are great. I only own the one set, and they have got a lot of use the last few years. I see some thinning now, so I'm probably due for new ones.
The thing about wool baselayers is it isn't really warmer, at least I can't tell. The biggest benefit to me is they are comfortable for a lot longer than anything else. As gross as it sounds, you can wear wool baselayer for days at a time. I would prefer to rotate between two sets. Anything else I've tried, polypropylene, acrylic, polyester, etc all reeks after even a single day. A quick rinse does them a lot of good, but it's just not as good as wool. If you are hunting near home, I wouldn't even worry about it. For as cheap as polypro is, 5 sets will do you fine for as long as I care to be out. There are other slight benefits, plus I find wool feels cooler during the warm part of the day, but overall if money was tight, I'd skip the wool baselayers.
For mid layers I again like my Duckworth, I think they are the Powder series. I have one shirt and one pants. Very expensive, but if I only have one set of clothes to get through a week, this is what I take. Alternatively I have a lot of luck with cheap fleece. They don't breath as well as wool, but it works pretty well. In my opinion this is a great area to spend on wool, along with socks.
For outer layers I don't use wool. I would assume that would be something like a button up flannel or similar which isn't that great in cold weather. I'm sure you could use wool as a decent insulator inside a jacket, but I don't think it would be that great. For pure warmth I don't think there is anything that beats down. I normally try to avoid the big hunting companies like Kuiu, Kifaru, First Lite, etc. In this instance I think their jackets are probably the best deal on the market. Down is like wool, it's never cheap. I don't actually own a good down jacket yet, so I can't recommend one. If you are looking to save money, synthetics work just fine for outer layers. My own personal favorite is the Clarkfield outdoors Hunter Supreme jacket. It breaths well when you need it. It does not block wind well, so I like to wear a wind blocker under the jacket on windy days. The soft material on the outside of the jacket is unlike anything else I've found. There's nothing quieter, yet doesn't pick up cockleburs and other weeds. Outer bottoms is an area I probably differ from other people. I like bibs, and I have multiple. I've found I like cotton bibs, ideally with a knee cap of something water resistant, and with synthetic insulation. No mater what I've tried, my bibs get wet, it's just going to happen eventually. I also tend to wear on the knees a lot. The warmer options of wool and down just don't work for me. I've tried the Striker Ice bibs since I liked them ice fishing, but they were not great for hunting. Plain old Carhartt bibs actually work pretty well. My favorites so far are the bibs from Clarkfield which are heavily insulated. That duck cotton outer does soak up water, but it doesn't seem to matter that much. They are quiet through brush, and they don't stick to weeds.
For hats, you can buy those wool watch caps for cheap. I use them a lot, but they aren't that warm. I'm sure there are more expensive wool options out there, but if spending the money, I say just get fur. Bonus points if you tan and sew it yourself. Nothing out there beats a fur hat.
I can't help with gloves much. Sometimes I'll use cheap rag wool gloves. If it's really cold, I'll use my surplus N4B mittens on top of those wool gloves. I do not shoot with gloves ever.
