re: Let’s Discuss First Lite/Sitka

I've never had fancy hunting clothes and I've always have gotten cold when hunting. Wind getting through has always been what's killed me. This winter I was due for new hunting clothes. My old academy stuff needed to be retired.
I realized I qualified for a sitka discount. I decided to go all in bc I was tired of being cold with 8 shirts and jackets on. I really wanted true wind protection the most.

I bought the status bibs and jacket, celcius midi jacket, stratus vest and midweight core shirt and pants. I wore all of this without the midi jacket (insulator) had me comfortable in 32* this past weekend. Some items are insulators some are windblockers some are both. They do exactly what they are designed to do.

In a few weeks i'll be in Lubbock hunting and last year it was a low of 19* and blowing 20 every day when we hit the fields. That was miserable when i didnt have what I needed.

I also bought the hudson jacket for waterfowl. It is 100% waterproof and windproof and very insulated.
All of these items are much thinner than anything I've owned and for sure warmer.
The fit is great because it's all designed to layer with the other pieces. Under layers have different fits/finishes than outer layers.
Paying full price is crazy but if you can snag a discount it's in line with the other high end brands and for my needs I dont regret it. Others may still think it's crazy but so is an f250 to pull your gatortail.

From this past weekend here is the stratus vest and core shirt. I also have first lite guide pants that are awesome [url=https://ibb.co/8X1rCXZ] [/url]

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I bet 90% of the time you go deer hunting you don’t use your gun.

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So you carry an insulated coat and bibs every time you hunt, no matter the weather, just in case? It was 70* a week ago.

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First Lite and Sitka

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How do they compare for just your run of the mill average hunter?

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So you carry an insulated coat and bibs every time you hunt, no matter the weather, just in case? It was 70* a week ago.

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Yea I actually do. I have a pack that always has a Kuiu super down pro jacket and and pants that I keep in my truck all the time. They are so easily packable that I always keep them in my bag. I hunt a lot of below freezing mornings in North Alabama. I have read where people say if you don’t live north of the Ohio River you would never wear the Sitka incinerator jacket but I wear mine all the time duck and deer hunting. I guess I’m just cold natured. People are different but to say someone is wasting their money for buying Sitka or First Lite to use in the southeast is making a lot of false assumptions in my opinion.
And it may have been 70° at daylight where you hunted a week ago but there have been some pretty cold mornings in the rest of the southeast.

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How do they compare for just your run of the mill average hunter?

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I don't own enough similar pieces to be able to compare them. Sitka is too expensive at full price, but it is easy to get a discount. First Lite will have 25% off site wide this winter, but it will be after most hunting seasons are closed.

On the othe hand, my brother really like Kuiu.

I think it is a Ford/Chevy argument.

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to say someone is wasting their money for buying Sitka or First Lite to use in the southeast is making a lot of false assumptions in my opinion.

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Of course southeast can mean some cold places and if you're hiking that shite pays off big time. I've hunted in whatever I had my whole life, I've never owned much hunting clothes and never really needed them. The nice stuff is still nice but absolutely not necessary 99% of the season in Louisiana.

Out west is where that expensive stuff really pays off and it's designed for that. Things like weight and packed size matter alot, and it gets cold enough to kill you. I've got some expensive wool base layer stuff and a kuiu poofy jacket and some other stuff. The base layers are the only thing I find universally usable. The rest of it comes out a few times a year just becuase I have it but if I didnt, I wouldnt miss it. I just throw on my $120 carhart coveralls and go.

Well, for any of you planning on venturing to the great white north of Mississippi for the game this weekend, I hope you pack your Sitkuiu Lite. Oxford is basically the frozen Tundra now. Must be that 10% time of year y'all were talking about

do you get a sticker to put on your truck.

In south Louisiana we might break ice 10 days a hunting season. Those days the nice base layers really pay off.

Moral of the story is if you want some nice hunting stuff, blow your money on good base layers rather than good outer layers. The base layers are useful far more often than the outters.