Ron, I've been very satisfied with the Minus 33 brand of merino wool base layers. If you have the patience and time, you can find some really good deals on the web for that brand when there are no deals on brands like Smartwool and Ibex. Even a deal on the last two brands is higher than Minus 33. I have their lightweight, midweight, and heavyweight sets. A tip I learned a few years ago is, for some reason, you can buy a set of midweights at almost half the cost of a set of heavyweights. So you're better off buying two sets of midweights and wearing both of them if it's really cold. You then can peel a layer off if you start to warm up.
Darren