Puffy over softshell or the other way around

[Nubs]

I am a treestand hunter venturing into the western realm and trying to buy clothes that can do both.

So what are your preferences?

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[ianpadron]

A better and more flexible combination is a hard shell over a puffy.

However, if you insist on running a soft shell, most puffies do better underneath them since they are not as durable and seldom waterproof.

You will need to be cognizant of how much your soft shell compresses the insulation layer, if things are too tight, you will lose the benefit of the puffy.

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[Nubs]

A better and more flexible combination is a hard shell over a puffy.

However, if you insist on running a soft shell, most puffies do better underneath them since they are not as durable and seldom waterproof.

You will need to be cognizant of how much your soft shell compresses the insulation layer, if things are too tight, you will lose the benefit of the puffy.

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Is there a shell out there that is quiet enough to draw on a deer inside of 20 yards? I am only speaking from the experience of a North Face shell I have from snowboarding, and it is not quiet.

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[ianpadron]

In terms of a true hard shell? Not that I know of, the Sitka Thunderhead has a brushed faced and that would probably be your best bet.

One thing that I've learned about hard shells and noise though, is that if conditions are requiring a hard shell, it is probably pretty noisy out (rain, wind, etc) and a little fabric noise is no big deal

Is there a shell out there that is quiet enough to draw on a deer inside of 20 yards? I am only speaking from the experience of a North Face shell I have from snowboarding, and it is not quiet.

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[TravisIN]

Same boat as you OP. I’ve built me a really awesome tree stand system with nothing but stuff from the big game line up from Sitka. All of it’s subalpine. I am super happy with it. I didn’t wanna go with there fanatic bc it’s a lot of money for a one dimensional system. With what I have now I feel like I’m good to go almost anywhere and do anything. Here’s what all I have and I’ll try and explain how I use them all together for different situations

Lower body- Apex, Timberline, Core heavyweight bottoms

Upper body- lightweight crew shirt sleeve, lightweight crew long sleeve, mid weight zip t, core heavy weight hoody, kelvin active, kelvin lite hoody, flash pullover

So if it’s warmer it’s easy and I go apex pants and short or long sleeve crew and I’ll usually bring either the hoody or the mid weight zip t. If it’s turkey season I’ll throw knee pads into the pants. Bring the flash pullover for a rain jacket.

As it gets a little colder I’ll switch to a timberline pant, long sleeve, and the hoody and grab the kelvin active. The active is more than quiet enough to treestand hunt in.

As it goes up add a heavyweight bottoms and the zip t for another layer.

When it gets really cold I’ll put the kelvin lite under the active. I have the active in an xl and the lite in a large. The active is a little shorter styled jacket so an xl is great with nothing under but has room for layers.

Also the flash is xl so it fits easily over everything.

I am so happy with my system. Not the conventional route that I would say Sitka designed things for. But I think that’s what’s awesome about Sitka and all the different (sometimes confusing) pieces they offer. Like I said, the whitetail stuff is cool but seems very one dimensional and would do me no good out west. This way I’m getting the most out of my gear and money.


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[cornfedkiller]

Sorry for derailing from the original question (and I'm in the same boat and looking for the same answers as the OP), but can someone explain the difference between a soft shell and a hard shell? And what would the sitka jetstream be considered?

 

[ianpadron]

Sorry for derailing from the original question (and I'm in the same boat and looking for the same answers as the OP), but can someone explain the difference between a soft shell and a hard shell? And what would the sitka jetstream be considered?

A hard shell is a fully waterproof jacket. They are typically uninsulated.

A soft shell is a water repellent jacket, many of them have a small amount of insulation, typically in a form of fleece.

The Sitka Jetstream is a softshell jacket.

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[FURMAN]

Are you wanting this for day hunts or back country hunting?

 

[Jayhawkhunter]

Look at the FL Catalyst for a great softshell that is incredibly quiet

 

[Wrench]

If 20 yard deer are your target and you're not in a rain forest, I'd take a hard look at wool. It's not "waterproof" but good quality tight weave wool is really close and deadly silent.

 

[Nubs]

Look at the FL Catalyst for an incredible softshell that is incredible quiet

This is actually why I'm asking the question. I have wool base layers from Kuiu and First Lite. I also have a couple puffy coats from each vendor as well. I think I prefer the First Lite Uncompahgre, but think I want to size down from an xl to a large.

I plan on hopefully doing some overnight camping in the next year or two so I am buying gear accordingly, or trying to.

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[Nubs]

If 20 yard deer are your target and you're not in a rain forest, I'd take a hard look at wool. It's not "waterproof" but good quality tight weave wool is really close and deadly silent.

I shot a doe at the beginning of the month wearing the uncompahgre. I bought a Lost Park Parka this year, and although it is warm, I don't think its something that I am going to hang onto from a warmth to noise stance. Maybe replacing it with a shell is a better option.

I just wish more places offered nice clothing to try on before you buy and have to pay shipping several ways.

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[freshta]

^^^...what Nubs said (last sentence). A total PITA.

 

[sneaky]

Same boat as you OP. I’ve built me a really awesome tree stand system with nothing but stuff from the big game line up from Sitka. All of it’s subalpine. I am super happy with it. I didn’t wanna go with there fanatic bc it’s a lot of money for a one dimensional system. With what I have now I feel like I’m good to go almost anywhere and do anything. Here’s what all I have and I’ll try and explain how I use them all together for different situations

Lower body- Apex, Timberline, Core heavyweight bottoms

Upper body- lightweight crew shirt sleeve, lightweight crew long sleeve, mid weight zip t, core heavy weight hoody, kelvin active, kelvin lite hoody, flash pullover

So if it’s warmer it’s easy and I go apex pants and short or long sleeve crew and I’ll usually bring either the hoody or the mid weight zip t. If it’s turkey season I’ll throw knee pads into the pants. Bring the flash pullover for a rain jacket.

As it gets a little colder I’ll switch to a timberline pant, long sleeve, and the hoody and grab the kelvin active. The active is more than quiet enough to treestand hunt in.

As it goes up add a heavyweight bottoms and the zip t for another layer.

When it gets really cold I’ll put the kelvin lite under the active. I have the active in an xl and the lite in a large. The active is a little shorter styled jacket so an xl is great with nothing under but has room for layers.

Also the flash is xl so it fits easily over everything.

I am so happy with my system. Not the conventional route that I would say Sitka designed things for. But I think that’s what’s awesome about Sitka and all the different (sometimes confusing) pieces they offer. Like I said, the whitetail stuff is cool but seems very one dimensional and would do me no good out west. This way I’m getting the most out of my gear and money.


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If you hunt the west in snow, the elevated pattern does really well in those situations. Late season out here the stratus gear is money with the windstopper and fleece face.

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[TravisIN]

If you hunt the west in snow, the elevated pattern does really well in those situations. Late season out here the stratus gear is money with the windstopper and fleece face.

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Yea I like the elevated pattern. My reasoning behind saying the whitetail stuff is one dimensional is that most of it is designed for sitting for a long time. At least that’s my understanding of it. I have the fanatic hoody in the ev2 pattern and where it a lot too but that and the heavyweight core are kind of interchangeable for me. My thinking is that if I bought, let’s say, a fanatic set I definitely wouldn’t wear it on the western hunts I do. Probably wouldn’t wear it during turkey season. Wouldn’t wear it in the early season. So I’d have a lot of money in some pieces that have a very specific use. That’s my theory anyways.


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[sneaky]

Yea I like the elevated pattern. My reasoning behind saying the whitetail stuff is one dimensional is that most of it is designed for sitting for a long time. At least that’s my understanding of it. I have the fanatic hoody in the ev2 pattern and where it a lot too but that and the heavyweight core are kind of interchangeable for me. My thinking is that if I bought, let’s say, a fanatic set I definitely wouldn’t wear it on the western hunts I do. Probably wouldn’t wear it during turkey season. Wouldn’t wear it in the early season. So I’d have a lot of money in some pieces that have a very specific use. That’s my theory anyways.


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You are discounting the entire series because of a few specialized pieces in said series. The fanatic hoody and heavyweight hoody are the same material with a few tweaks to the fanatic, like the kangaroo pocket and the face mask. The lightweight gear in the elevated pattern is useable across all hunt methods.

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[TravisIN]

You are discounting the entire series because of a few specialized pieces in said series. The fanatic hoody and heavyweight hoody are the same material with a few tweaks to the fanatic, like the kangaroo pocket and the face mask. The lightweight gear in the elevated pattern is useable across all hunt methods.

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Not discounting the series (wish I could afford it all) just saying that for my uses the western stuff is more versatile. And that I feel like I get more out of my money going with the mig game stuff. And really if you throw out all the core layers, which are the same thing just different pattern, pretty much all the pieces are specialized. I was telling the OP what I use and why. My example about the kelvin active is that it works very very well in a treestand setting for me as well as for its intended purpose. Whereas I don’t think many of the whitetail stuff can say the same thing if you wanted to use it for a backpack trip. I haven’t put hands on all the whitetail pieces, maybe the Celsius midi would would great in both. I don’t know. I only talked about the pieces I use and have put hands on. Just trying to throw out some possibilities.
As far as the fanatic and heavyweight hoody. I know they are the same hoody but, on sites like this as soon as you generalize something and say they are the same thing you get someone correcting you and pointing out differences. But if you say that they are interchangeable for me, like I did, you get corrected saying they are the same thing. I would never tell some not to use one thing or another but he asked about what stuff works for both and I told him my experience and opinions.


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[mcseal2]

I use most of my stuff hunting whitetail and predators in the midwest and on western trips. What pieces go depends on the expected weather and hunting plan.

To the original question I generally put a shell over the puffy but not always. If I'm going to be moving a few hundred yards and glassing regularly I'll use the puffy as the outer layer so it's easier to take off and put on.

The Catalyst mentioned earlier has pretty slim fitting sleeves. The only puffy layer that works well under mine is a FL Uncompaghre vest. If I was planning around that I'd size the puffy to go over it. I actually seldom use the Catalyst unless I don't need to layer much under it and I really want to be quiet.

My favorite all around softshell and the one I use the most later season is still the Kryptek Dalibor 2. I like the Sitka Mountain jacket too if I don't need a hood and just need a wind stopper.

I have a FL Seak and Sitka Cloudburst for hard shells. Both work well but are fairly loud. I probably prefer the Seak of the two.

The most wind resistant fleece I've used is the Kuiu Peloton 240 hoody. I almost always have that on when hunting, it's the piece I layer around.

The quietest puffy I've used is the Kenai from Kuiu. It's also the least wind resistant. The Kifaru LPP is the warmest I've tried but I want to try a warmer down puffy. I whitetail hunt in KS in December and want a puffy warm enough for that but that I can also use out west if it's really cold. Something a step warmer than the Kifaru LPP. I'm leaning toward the FL Chamberlain since it has the most down. I got the Kuiu Superdown Pro pants and used them this December whitetail season. They are great to put on once I'm at my hunting spot and really helped keep me warm and blocked wind. I'd like a puffy jacket and pants that compress well enough to pack that I can put on when I'm going to be stationary for several hours, then layer for hiking under them.

 

[sneaky]

Not discounting the series (wish I could afford it all) just saying that for my uses the western stuff is more versatile. And that I feel like I get more out of my money going with the mig game stuff. And really if you throw out all the core layers, which are the same thing just different pattern, pretty much all the pieces are specialized. I was telling the OP what I use and why. My example about the kelvin active is that it works very very well in a treestand setting for me as well as for its intended purpose. Whereas I don’t think many of the whitetail stuff can say the same thing if you wanted to use it for a backpack trip. I haven’t put hands on all the whitetail pieces, maybe the Celsius midi would would great in both. I don’t know. I only talked about the pieces I use and have put hands on. Just trying to throw out some possibilities.
As far as the fanatic and heavyweight hoody. I know they are the same hoody but, on sites like this as soon as you generalize something and say they are the same thing you get someone correcting you and pointing out differences. But if you say that they are interchangeable for me, like I did, you get corrected saying they are the same thing. I would never tell some not to use one thing or another but he asked about what stuff works for both and I told him my experience and opinions.


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The Midi jacket is the whitetail line version of the Kelvin active, just with a brushed face. If you already have the active I would just stick with it.

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[TravisIN]

The Midi jacket is the whitetail line version of the Kelvin active, just with a brushed face. If you already have the active I would just stick with it.

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It looks awesome. I was really hoping they’d make a midi pant Bc I think those would be a killer addition.


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