time for new clothes?

[HandGunner]

I have an all blaze orange for firearms its over 10 years old. Was my dads but he doesnt like the bulky weight of it so it became mine for the last 10 some years. Is it time to get new stuff? Boots are the only new last year I wore a snowboarding type winter coat and snow pants I used when I did ice fishing. Kept me windproof and cold proof seemed better than the blaze I wear but have no idea if its because I move more at camp or what. Can I expect the same with buying new blaze gear? What can I expect from the wally dump vs like browning brand, whichis what the blaze I have now is. What can I expect to spend getting name brand? Is it worth it?

[leechlake]

15 years ago I bagged the idea of having an expensive blaze orange coat I really only wore about 5 days a year unless I wore it ice fishing. I use various fleece jackets or other "hunting" coats and wear a blaze orange fleece vest over the top of them. You get the layers that you need to stay warm without dedicating $400 or whatever you spend on one blaze orange coat.

I wear the fleece camo coats bow hunting also. Some of the fleeces are black or other neutral colors and I wear them all year but once fall comes I dedicate them to hunting only for scent reasons.

[HandGunner]

So its all proper layering? Will a fleece sweater or light jacket for my inner jacket keep me warmer and more breathable than the inner jacket that is feather filled and thick that I have now, after hiking valleys and getting the deer back to camp the inner jacket that zips into the outer jacket gets soaked in my sweat I have to take it off and carry it to the stand to prevent getting stuck with a damp cold inner jacket.

Ive sweat to the point I can ring out the sweat in that inner jacket. For legs I wear one of them rocky mountain something brand inner spandex type long johns and just the matching overalls to the outer coat should I find a fleece pajama pants?

[Powerstroke]

Yes, proper layering will make all the difference. My blaze orange clothes are fairly lightweight. ts nice when its warm out and when its cold out I just adjust the amount of clothes I wear underneith.

I bowhunt, so I hunt all fall and right up until new years. The main thing you can do is buy quality layers of clothing that you can use to adjust to the temps. Even rifle season has had temps vary between 0 degrees and 45 degrees with sun to rain and snow.

My system looks something like this.

-Base layer of polypropylene long underwear top or bottom, light or heavy depending on the temps.

-2layer sock system of polypropylene liner and a light or heavy sock depending on temps.

-Insulation layer if its very cold using heavyweight fleece.

-Pants and shirt

-Hooded sweatshirt as an outerlayer on top if its warm enough

-Outerlayer pants and jacket for hunting (camo or blaze depending on the season)

-Hat and gloves (again, I use a two layer system depending on the temps)

-Boots somewhat matched to the weather. I have rubber boots that are barely any insulation, I have midweight leather boots that are 400 or 800 gram thinsulate and I have Cabelas Saskatchewan 2000gr boots that will keep your feet warm long after you're dead.

So, on a very cold day that is a lot of clothes to wear to the stand when its freezing cold and you will likely sweat. I wear only the lightweight clothes while walking to the stand and then I put on the heavy layers after 10-15 minutes and my body has started cooling down. This helpes me stay warm longer and dryer so that I don't sweat in my clothes and get wet and cold too early.

Last year I hunted the last week of December in -5 degrees bowhunting. I used this exact system and stayed perfectly comfortable for 3-4 hours straight.

The best part is these clothes can be used for other things like ice fishing, bird hunting, or snowboarding or whatever else you like to do in the fall/winter. That way you're not spending $400 on clothes you only wear 2 weekends a year.

[mnguy152]

well what i did a few years ago was went to the goose store after deer opener and when the coats were on clearance and got one. What i got was the guide gear 4 in 1 coat. I paid about 100 bucks for it that was 6 years ago did the same for my son 2 years ago. Sure might only wear it couple days a year but u always have ice fishing or late season football games. But now I have a good jacket and can stay still on stand for longer than I did before with out 15 layers on. Now I hunt in wisc now too so I get more use out of it too.

[CodyDawg]

This is quite the topic that I could type pages on, but here are a few thoughts.

I have went to merino wool as my baselayer. Smartwool is the best I have tried, but there are other quality brands out there. It is expensive, but you get the best of both worlds....warmth retention and wicking. I used to have polypropylene, but I got rid of that after using Smartwool. Oh, and their socks are second to none.

I have been using a lot of wool lately as both mid layers (more Smartwool) and top layers and I really like how quiet it is. Like others, I use a blaze vest over the top of everything. I use fleece as well for mid layers, but my top layer (under the vest) is usually wool.

I use pack boots for stand hunting (think sorels).

One tip that really makes a difference is to use gaiters. Man, do they keep your feet warmer!

One think I will NOT use while deer hunting is something noisy. No nylon or anything like that at all. Scratch your fingernails on it in the store and if you can hear it, I am not interested. Try it on wool or fleece and you will see what I mean.

To answer your question of Browning vs Wally world brands.....you get what you pay for almost always. In fact, Browning is good, sometimes really good, but I wouldn't call it the best. Pay for quality gear once and be done with it vs spending a lesser amount time and time again.

[HandGunner]

Thanks guys Im going to look into finding some fleece clothing and change up how I layer things