Trey Arentz
WKR
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2019
- Messages
- 600
For many years now I have been filtering my way through different pieces of gear to try to fill certain niches. My background on hunting is a mobile style whitetail hunter with the opportunities to take a couple different hunting trips a year. I have tried most big name hunting brand clothes and always love trying new things. This year, that led me to trying out a couple of the Origin Hunt pieces of clothing.
I want to start out by saying my main decision is probably like many, to support a USA based company. I was not overly excited with the camo patterns but I opted in for the Highland camo pattern to fit my thoughts on what camoflauge really is for a deer hunter. I am a giant ASAT fan, but usually wear all solids, or solid pants and a camo top. A solid pair of brown/tan pants and the highland pattern work great for breaking up the human outline.
Stealth Wool Jacket/ Pants
This year I wanted to switch from carrying my First Lite Sanctuary set around with me, too carrying a puffy pant and jacket, and also this wool jacket and pants to quiet the puffy down for bowhunting. The pants came in immediately but the jacket took almost two months to get. Upon getting the pants the first thing I thought was, this reminds me of sweat pants. I am usually a medium in pants and ordered a large to fit over the puffy. This actually fit absolutely perfect. I loved the flashed exterior of the jacket and pants, but they did come with a burnt smell that was hard to get away.
My first hunt with the pants was about 55 degrees and I did not wear a base layer underneath. Quick night hunt in a ground blind and upon walking in, I immediately noticed that I could feel every bit of air coming through them. Almost like nothing I've ever felt in a pant. They almost felt more breathable than the Walmart wranglers that I wear early season. The night was fine but I immediately realized this may be an issue for primarily stationary style of hunting. Throughout the next month a wore them on almost every hunt, usually with a light base layer underneath. It took me a handful of hunts to realize this was not what I thought it was going to be. Now, I think my intended use of them was just wrong. I think these were build for the active, western style hunter.
When it finally started getting cold, I started to use my puffy pant and jacket, pairing them with the stealth wool pant and a sitka traverse jacket since I had yet to receive my stealth wool jacket. The morning I tested this on was about 30 degrees over night warming up to the 40s. My plan was to sit all day, but I only made it until about 11 and had to get out and go warm up. I don't recall ever being so cold. Again, the pant was just way to breathable and did not retain even a little bit of heat. I did try wearing the pants on my walks in with a base layer, then paired underneath my sanctuary set. I can tell you a normal pair of fleece lined pants faired much better. Again, these things breathed so well I could feel cold between my legs and my sanctuary set. Im not sure why but I feel like even underneath, the wool had 0 insulating value since it did not retain any heat. I received the jacket mid November, wore it for one hunt, and new this set wasn't going to do what I had planned. I wore it once in replace of my grid fleece under my Sanctuary set. I am not kidding when I say I could feel the cold air in between my wool jacket and my base layer. The Sitka Traverse jacket was much better as far as a jacket goes, and I feel even a grid fleece provided much more warmth than this set did. It breathed so well I literally wore my puffy pants and jacket, with the stealth wool over it, on my walk out one night almost 300 yards through some hills and never even got close to getting warm. These were one of the weirdest pieces of clothing I have ever tried, and the only thing I have worn that reminded me of them was the first edition Under Armour camo jacket and pants I think called the Rut set that literally let the wind walk right through. I will say they were built great and are probably great for what they are, but I can not recommend them for a stationary whitetail hunter.
Nano Wool Hoodie
I am usually a 150 weight merino base layer guy with a grid fleece on top of that. I hunt a lot early season where it gets hot. Usually a skin tight base layer gets hot quick, and I have to wear or carry another layer for mosquitoes which makes it worse. I got the nano wool hoodie to try to have one piece that does two jobs, plus it has a face mask which is great. Now this piece I was surprised by. When worn alone, it breathes super well since it is not skin tight. The hood and face mask are great. This hoodie does great as a base layer, or as a second layer to my lightweight merino crew. It's surprisingly warm as a second layer, but not as warm as a grid fleece. As soon as the temperatures dropped, I noticed myself just adding it in between my merino crew, and grid fleece for really no reason. It just added more hoods for minimal warmth. In cold situations I think the grid fleece is better as a second layer, and the skin tight merino shirt is better for getting the perspiration of your back. Where this piece fits for me would be by itself early season or as a second layer when camo and a hood/face mask is needed. Say 55-70 degrees active. Usually a large top and ordered a large and it fit perfect.
Bodyloc Stow Jacket
Just ordered this one to try to my testing isn't completely done yet. A simple blow test through the material seemed to block about 70-80% or more of my breath. I had to push pretty hard to get anything through. The jacket is insanely lightweight and I feel like it should work awesome as a quick wind jacket when sitting in a stand with just a hoodie or grid fleece on. I will be trying it over my puffy jacket to really see if it will lock in the heat. I love the pass through pockets, really makes me want to order just a basic Origin camo hoodie so I can use the kangaroo style pockets during hunting season. But is that just going to be adding another layer? What would a sweatshirt do that a grid fleece couldn't? Anyway, it's cold here in WI so I will be putting this thing through the ringer. I have a late season Iowa tag coming up, a February spring snow goose trip to Arkansas, and possibly a Brown Bear hunt in Alaska in May. Oh, and first thing I noticed is that this jacket is definitely bowhunting quiet. I think this jacket and if a pant is ever made, should be about perfect for my wind blocking needs over my puffy set. I have not tried it in any sort of precipitation but if it sheds a little of it, this jacket could pull some awesome double duty in a treestand. Should be awesome on the cool, windy days in a pit blind, and also sitting in a stand with a crisp breeze. I would see this jacket working really well as an active layer for those cold and windy days hiking.
I want to start out by saying my main decision is probably like many, to support a USA based company. I was not overly excited with the camo patterns but I opted in for the Highland camo pattern to fit my thoughts on what camoflauge really is for a deer hunter. I am a giant ASAT fan, but usually wear all solids, or solid pants and a camo top. A solid pair of brown/tan pants and the highland pattern work great for breaking up the human outline.
Stealth Wool Jacket/ Pants
This year I wanted to switch from carrying my First Lite Sanctuary set around with me, too carrying a puffy pant and jacket, and also this wool jacket and pants to quiet the puffy down for bowhunting. The pants came in immediately but the jacket took almost two months to get. Upon getting the pants the first thing I thought was, this reminds me of sweat pants. I am usually a medium in pants and ordered a large to fit over the puffy. This actually fit absolutely perfect. I loved the flashed exterior of the jacket and pants, but they did come with a burnt smell that was hard to get away.
My first hunt with the pants was about 55 degrees and I did not wear a base layer underneath. Quick night hunt in a ground blind and upon walking in, I immediately noticed that I could feel every bit of air coming through them. Almost like nothing I've ever felt in a pant. They almost felt more breathable than the Walmart wranglers that I wear early season. The night was fine but I immediately realized this may be an issue for primarily stationary style of hunting. Throughout the next month a wore them on almost every hunt, usually with a light base layer underneath. It took me a handful of hunts to realize this was not what I thought it was going to be. Now, I think my intended use of them was just wrong. I think these were build for the active, western style hunter.
When it finally started getting cold, I started to use my puffy pant and jacket, pairing them with the stealth wool pant and a sitka traverse jacket since I had yet to receive my stealth wool jacket. The morning I tested this on was about 30 degrees over night warming up to the 40s. My plan was to sit all day, but I only made it until about 11 and had to get out and go warm up. I don't recall ever being so cold. Again, the pant was just way to breathable and did not retain even a little bit of heat. I did try wearing the pants on my walks in with a base layer, then paired underneath my sanctuary set. I can tell you a normal pair of fleece lined pants faired much better. Again, these things breathed so well I could feel cold between my legs and my sanctuary set. Im not sure why but I feel like even underneath, the wool had 0 insulating value since it did not retain any heat. I received the jacket mid November, wore it for one hunt, and new this set wasn't going to do what I had planned. I wore it once in replace of my grid fleece under my Sanctuary set. I am not kidding when I say I could feel the cold air in between my wool jacket and my base layer. The Sitka Traverse jacket was much better as far as a jacket goes, and I feel even a grid fleece provided much more warmth than this set did. It breathed so well I literally wore my puffy pants and jacket, with the stealth wool over it, on my walk out one night almost 300 yards through some hills and never even got close to getting warm. These were one of the weirdest pieces of clothing I have ever tried, and the only thing I have worn that reminded me of them was the first edition Under Armour camo jacket and pants I think called the Rut set that literally let the wind walk right through. I will say they were built great and are probably great for what they are, but I can not recommend them for a stationary whitetail hunter.
Nano Wool Hoodie
I am usually a 150 weight merino base layer guy with a grid fleece on top of that. I hunt a lot early season where it gets hot. Usually a skin tight base layer gets hot quick, and I have to wear or carry another layer for mosquitoes which makes it worse. I got the nano wool hoodie to try to have one piece that does two jobs, plus it has a face mask which is great. Now this piece I was surprised by. When worn alone, it breathes super well since it is not skin tight. The hood and face mask are great. This hoodie does great as a base layer, or as a second layer to my lightweight merino crew. It's surprisingly warm as a second layer, but not as warm as a grid fleece. As soon as the temperatures dropped, I noticed myself just adding it in between my merino crew, and grid fleece for really no reason. It just added more hoods for minimal warmth. In cold situations I think the grid fleece is better as a second layer, and the skin tight merino shirt is better for getting the perspiration of your back. Where this piece fits for me would be by itself early season or as a second layer when camo and a hood/face mask is needed. Say 55-70 degrees active. Usually a large top and ordered a large and it fit perfect.
Bodyloc Stow Jacket
Just ordered this one to try to my testing isn't completely done yet. A simple blow test through the material seemed to block about 70-80% or more of my breath. I had to push pretty hard to get anything through. The jacket is insanely lightweight and I feel like it should work awesome as a quick wind jacket when sitting in a stand with just a hoodie or grid fleece on. I will be trying it over my puffy jacket to really see if it will lock in the heat. I love the pass through pockets, really makes me want to order just a basic Origin camo hoodie so I can use the kangaroo style pockets during hunting season. But is that just going to be adding another layer? What would a sweatshirt do that a grid fleece couldn't? Anyway, it's cold here in WI so I will be putting this thing through the ringer. I have a late season Iowa tag coming up, a February spring snow goose trip to Arkansas, and possibly a Brown Bear hunt in Alaska in May. Oh, and first thing I noticed is that this jacket is definitely bowhunting quiet. I think this jacket and if a pant is ever made, should be about perfect for my wind blocking needs over my puffy set. I have not tried it in any sort of precipitation but if it sheds a little of it, this jacket could pull some awesome double duty in a treestand. Should be awesome on the cool, windy days in a pit blind, and also sitting in a stand with a crisp breeze. I would see this jacket working really well as an active layer for those cold and windy days hiking.
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