Preface: I have run the gamut on wool—KOM, SI, Filson, Silent Predator and others. All expensive and hot for mobile pursuits.
I love wool in all varieties. Unfortunately, wool has sort of lost its place to synthetics in the USA. A lot of the stuff you buy in the us today is mostly too heavy. It’s a damn shame! The European market is still alive and well albeit, very expensive. You can find good-excellent wool hunting apparel in Europe at all price points. Look for brands like jaghund, harkilla, falraven, etc... To your question, I have replaced rip cords with first lite kanabs and Kanab 2.0’s. You can’t buy those new anymore but you can buy obsidians but, for me the obsidians fit like MC Hammer pants. I hear they may have worked that out!
You will probably think I’m crazy but, I bought a pair of harkilla no.6 wool trousers sometime post whipcords that are truly unbelievable. They were nearly $400 but, they get regular and vigorous use over the last 7-8 year’s and are still basically new. Some guys will flip out about the price ($500 today) but, they are solid and will likely outlast me (46 today). Great wool is an investment. Again, there are many, many European companies in tune with wool/merino/shetland. I bought the top shelf model but, their are other options. Good luck!
