Heated clothing = makers, and how many fewer layers?

[fwafwow]

Thinking about slimming down/streamlining my coldest weather whitetail stand clothing setup. I'm a baby when it comes to cold, but I've been able to sit for a full day in Nebraska with temps in the 20s with a good bit of wind. But it took lots of layers, and I felt like the Michelin Man. As part of that NE setup, I've worn the Pnuma heated vest (I carry 2 batteries) but I've still had to use a layer below and a few layers (more than you want to know) on top, plus multiple bottom layers, topped off with the Fanatic bibs and Incinerator jacket.

I'm thinking of adding other heated pieces - the Pnuma heated pants, maybe the Pnuma hand warmer, and (if there are any decent options), heated insoles or socks. I might be able to get by with fewer layers, and lighter boots (instead of the Alphaburly Pro 1600s + Boot Suits).

For those who have made any sort of similar change:

1. has anyone tried the Pnuma heated long shirt, and/or the heated core hand warmer?
2. any makers to consider apart from Pnuma (although using the same batteries would be practical)?
3. anyone have a Pnuma discount code?
4. any idea how many layers you have dropped?

 

[*zap*]

keep feet/head warm. I use down so it is light to carry...you might also use down for other layers to minimize bulk. hunt prime movement times and then go warm up. Those are viable alternatives.

 

[fwafwow]

keep feet/head warm. I use down so it is light to carry...you might also use down for other layers to minimize bulk. hunt prime movement times and then go warm up. Those are viable alternatives.

Thanks @*zap* - agree on the extremities. Some more detail below on my current setup. Maybe down would be an option for my head.

I do wear a FL Brooks Down Sweater as an upper layer, but although I have Kuiu down pants, I admit they haven't always been in my lineup, at least recently. I may need to bring them back into the lineup. And I made the mistake a few years in a row of doing more thin layers rather than fewer thicker layers.

As for hunting times, the trip I'm doing and have done in NE has been during the rut, so the more time in the stand, the better. The two times I sat from dawn until sundown the activity never stopped - but I never got a shot.... Shooting a few hours early and late is a much easier plan to cover for sure.

Extremities:

• head - Sitka Fanatic Beanie, Fanatic Neck Gaiter and Incinerator Muff (with hand warmers)
• feet - thin sock + 800g merino + foot warmers inside Lacrosse Alphaburly 1800g + Boot Suits (and not have my feet touch the metal stand - bring a pad for them to sit on)
• hands - usually in the muff with light Fanatic gloves, but I just got a pair of the Incinerator gloves/mitten combo this year

 

[*zap*]

Check goosfeet gear for down balaclava, booties and over boots. They offer options on the amount of 850 fill in the clothes. They make custom down items. They also have some discounted pre made items from time to time. My experience with them so far has been good.

 

[Beagle1]

Head - Kuiu Kenai bomber hat with First Lite Tundra balaclava

Hands - Fanatic gloves with Sitka Incinerator muff and 18 hour chemical handwarmers

Top Outer - Skre Guardian Late Season jacket

Bottom Outer - Skre Guardian Late Season bibs

Socks - Lenz electric socks

 

[fwafwow]

Head - Kuiu Kenai bomber hat with First Lite Tundra balaclava

Hands - Fanatic gloves with Sitka Incinerator muff and 18 hour chemical handwarmers

Top Outer - Skre Guardian Late Season jacket

Bottom Outer - Skre Guardian Late Season bibs

Socks - Lenz electric socks

Wow - the Lenz socks ARE spendy! If you have a pair, which series do you have? If I pull the trigger, I'm leaning towards the series 5.

I also saw that earlier this year (https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/boots.241049/post-2449367) you posted about the Lenz socks eliminated the need for boot blankets and clunky boots. Most of my current boots (in addition to the above Lacrosse, they are 3 pairs of Crispis). Am I being a bit too optimistic to go from my foot setup above to the Lenz socks plus something like the Vivo Tracker II FG (insulated) or Tracker Forest ESC (uninsulated)?

 

[Beagle1]

I believe I have the series 5. I bought them three years ago and they have gone up substantially in price.

I usually don’t use my Lenz socks for temps above the low 20s. My guess is you could get away with using them in the insulated Crispis but it would depend on how long you were on stand because with little or no insulation the heat loss would be substantial and the batteries would drain faster. For a point of reference I routinely use the Lenz socks with Lacrosse 800 gram Alphaburly boots. I am sure that you would not need 1800 gram boots with boot blankets.

 

[fwafwow]

I believe I have the series 5. I bought them three years ago and they have gone up substantially in price.

I usually don’t use my Lenz socks for temps above the low 20s. My guess is you could get away with using them in the insulated Crispis but it would depend on how long you were on stand because with little or no insulation the heat loss would be substantial and the batteries would drain faster. For a point of reference I routinely use the Lenz socks with Lacrosse 800 gram Alphaburly boots. I am sure that you would not need 1800 gram boots with boot blankets.

Thanks. I think I'm trying to do too much in preparation for one upcoming hunt, at least with respect to my feet. It would be nice to not have to pack both my 1800g Alphaburlys for the stand and another pair of boots for pheasant. But it is probably biting off more than I can chew to achieve that goal with a new pair of boots that are also minimalist (I'm heeding the PSA from @Formidilosus in another thread). I will make the minimalist boot a 2023 goal, and maybe watch for the Lenz socks on sale.

Back to the drawing board on the feet - but I'm strongly leaning away from the 5.5# of Alphaburlys and going with breathable Crispis (uninsulated Nevadas weigh 3.8# and insulated Wild Rocks 4#) with the boot suits and extra warming packs.

Thanks to @*zap* I dug through my closet and was reminded I have a heated down (Ravean) jacket (with a heated glove connection) that I might try out again. But those batteries are pretty heavy - 300g.

 

[*zap*]

Warmest jacket/parka for the weight/bulk is the sitka kelvin down ws. It is very efficient at keeping in your body heat especially if you use the hood.

 

[Detect]

pnuma heated hand muff is good. for me it increases bulk, but keeps me out longer. i also use pnuma heated vest. will be experimenting with heated socks this season. i've been using lightweight socks and boots, at hunting height, add toewarmer on the outside top of boot, and put on artic shield boot covers.

 

[fwafwow]

pnuma heated hand muff is good. for me it increases bulk, but keeps me out longer. i also use pnuma heated vest. will be experimenting with heated socks this season. i've been using lightweight socks and boots, at hunting height, add toewarmer on the outside top of boot, and put on artic shield boot covers.

Thanks. I was looking at the Pnuma muff but decided that I’ve done pretty well with my existing Sitka Incinerator muff and warming packs inside.

I will be interested in the heated socks results. The Lenz look great, and if they were “only” 1/2 the best price I’ve seen, they would already be inbound.

 

[Beagle1]

I could get by hunting without the Lenz socks if I needed to. But they have been a game changer for when I steelhead fish in the winter. I would have a hard time fishing now without them.

 

[HeavyAssault]

With my military time I found one big key was blocking the wind. The best layer you can buy/wear is something that will literally act as a wall to the wind. We had some stupid outerwear that was just way to thick/heavy to wear with little wind blocking so we still got cold. Enter in a two piece outfit that was layered Goretex with Nomex (aviation requirement) which was a God send. All I needed after that was a base layer of thermals/Poly-pros my regular uniform, then my battle rattle with my outwear covering all. Trust me flying around AFG with doors open in December isn't fun when you are cold.

Just cause it's thin doesn't mean it won't work. You could wear thinner rainwear with pit zips under your thermal layering outers. Open the pit zips when you start getting hot to help.

Look to a wind blocker garment.

 

[ljalberta]

I’ll just say for whitetail hunting the rut, I wear almost no gear from any of the standard technical hunting gear brands such as Sitka, Kuiu, etc. There are much warmer options for much cheaper that can be found at Cabelas, or any outdoor workwear store. If I’m sitting around all day, my focus isn’t on lightweight gear, but warmth.

Although I will say, my Woobie doesn’t miss a trip to a stand in November.

 

[Idaho4x4Bronco]

With my military time I found one big key was blocking the wind. The best layer you can buy/wear is something that will literally act as a wall to the wind. We had some stupid outerwear that was just way to thick/heavy to wear with little wind blocking so we still got cold. Enter in a two piece outfit that was layered Goretex with Nomex (aviation requirement) which was a God send. All I needed after that was a base layer of thermals/Poly-pros my regular uniform, then my battle rattle with my outwear covering all. Trust me flying around AFG with doors open in December isn't fun when you are cold.

Just cause it's thin doesn't mean it won't work. You could wear thinner rainwear with pit zips under your thermal layering outers. Open the pit zips when you start getting hot to help.

Look to a wind blocker garment.

Following along as someone who wants to get into tree stand hunting and colder weather hunting, and I was just researching winddtopperbut, found this thread and your post helpful, wanted to take a second to say, thank you for your service sir.

 

[HeavyAssault]

@Idaho4x4Bronco : I appreciate your support!!

 

[Detect]

was in the low 30s this morning and i used my heatronics heated socks for the first time for a morning saddle hunt. they worked pretty well. even on max setting, heated socks didn't feel super warm, but did enough to keep my feet from getting cold. wore sock liners under and uninsulated boots over. usability was a lil poor tho cuz i was trying to avoid too much movement and turn them on over three layers (long baselayer, pant, bib) which requires pushing and holding a pretty soft tactical button four times without seeing the feedback from the lights. maybe some heated socks that connect to your smartphone are easier to use, but i don't use a smartphone. overall, i'm pretty happy with them over the bulkier/goofier boot insulators with toewarmers.

 

[*zap*]

Military surplus pcu gear - level 4 wind jacket and level 5 pant. I found the level 5 jacket to be a bit noisy. They all stop wind as an outer.

 

[fwafwow]

was in the low 30s this morning and i used my heatronics heated socks for the first time for a morning saddle hunt. they worked pretty well. even on max setting, heated socks didn't feel super warm, but did enough to keep my feet from getting cold. wore sock liners under and uninsulated boots over. usability was a lil poor tho cuz i was trying to avoid too much movement and turn them on over three layers (long baselayer, pant, bib) which requires pushing and holding a pretty soft tactical button four times without seeing the feedback from the lights. maybe some heated socks that connect to your smartphone are easier to use, but i don't use a smartphone. overall, i'm pretty happy with them over the bulkier/goofier boot insulators with toewarmers.

Thanks. The feedback about movement and settings is helpful. The button on the Pnuma vest can be a challenge to use, but I can at least unzip and get to my upper chest more easily than socks in boots. The Lenz heated socks do have an app that works with your phone via BT. Those socks are pretty expensive, so I’m looking for more feedback, beyond skiers reviews I’ve found.

 

[*zap*]

Fresh/clean socks put on before you sit and boot warmers or down booties...I am going to try the down booties this season. I have used them camping but not hunting. I have a few options and 2 different overboots to try.

If you can deal with the bulk the icebreakers over boots are plenty warm when worn over a light boot.....