I do not have any experience wearing wool, but I have worn fleece a lot. My back ground with it is with the military and its issued items. I worked on a flight line and we flew year round. I also had a motorcycle at the time and it was my only mode of transportation.
What I learned early on is that you have to layer fleece correctly. When I had fleece early on in my career I wore it as a stand alone item and I froze my but off. It, like many others have said, does not cut wind. I have since changed how I layer.
All my gear was issued and I liked it so much I purchased my own items. I liked it that much. So for my first layer is a shirt that is almost spandex. It is sort of like the under armor stuff. Its form the F.R.O.G. line of USMC clothing. Its 75% modacrylic 10% Spandex 10% polyester and 5% X-Static. It was designed to be flame retardant. The next layer is my favorite layer. We call it waffle shirt. It is also part of the F.R.O.G. line. I do no know what its made of but it is awesome. This is the most versatile part of my system. I use it from 50 deg down to 30 deg with a jacket. It keeps me warm! The next layer is fleece. I have 2 fleeces. One is thin and one is thick. They both are polartec. The thin one I use when deer hunting because it is less bulky. The thick one is used on those occasions where it is extremely cold. The wind kicking layer I use depends on what I am hunting. If it is deer it is a jacket that is quiet but cuts the wind. For the waterfowl hunting I do, and depending on the temp (which where most of this hunting is done it is cold cold cold) I use a heaver jacket but is not quiet at all.
My legs dont get cold easily. I have a pair of polartec pants that are amazing! I throw a pair of pants (denem) over the top for some wind protection. Over that for deer goes a pair of normal bibs from cabelas. If I am waterfowl hunting I have neoprene waders on.
My feet are another story. They sweat in sandals. I have a wicking layer on and wool socks but after 4 hours my feet are cold. I always have to wring my socks out after a hunt. I can not get the feet part right. I always show up to a hunt in sandals and no socks and change to my boots when I get there. That extends the cold from hitting my feet early on.
I wear a spandex like neck gator that keeps the wind, snow, and rain off my neck and ears. On top of my head I wear an all fleece bennie that keeps my head toasty.
This gear has been worn in all types of weather conditions and in different combinations. The coldest I have rode my motorcycle was a day where it was a-11 wind chill day. I had a steady speed of 60mph. The ONLY thing that got cold was the tip of my nose. It was on a dual sport bike, not one with heat. (I know its not bow talk but cold is cold, and on my bike is where I test my cold weather gear).
The coldest day hunting I have had was duck hunting and it was 0 deg with winds at 20-25mph. I was not cold at all.
Hope it helps and I hope I can try some wool one of these days.
Kyle
Topic: Wool v/s Fleece (Read 1167 times)
