As long as you buy something a size bigger, for when you pack on that inevitable 20 pounds that comes and goes, high quality clothing is something that will last not only your lifetime, but you can actually pass it on to another generation.
Another aspect of high quality clothing is, it's one of the rare opportunities where you can 'Buy American", where the vast majority of material and labor is actually made here. Think of it as a "put your money where your mouth is" proposition.
Wool is nearly impossible to beat for traditional archery hunting. The material attributes are well known, those being warm, good when wet and quiet. But it's the quiet part that is so important, since traditional archery is a close range game, where 30 yards is well out of range for the majority of hunters. Other materials, with the exception of unlined fleece, can make the slightest noise when dead, dead calm in the woods.
I suggest you actually pick a lighter wool versus a heavy weight wool. Most archery hunting is done in fairly nice Autumn weather, where temps in the 40's-60's is common. Heavy wool on a sunny 50 degree day can be too much. That's where buying up in size in a lighter wool comes in handy. If October or November temps dip into the 20's or 30's, extra layers with a heavy wool sweater will take care of the chill. Heavy weight wool is great in December, but most hunting hours afield are logged prior to December, for most archery hunters. And lots of hunters are south of, or at least near the old Mason-Dixon line, where even December isn't frozen.
Unless you're going to late season deer hunt in Canada, Minnesota, Michigan UP, etc. most lined wool garments are excessively warm and heavy to boot. Also, any lined garments typically always make a little noise. Do you see that I hate any noise?
There's some great sponsors here that sell some great clothing. Also look into King of the Mountain, Silent Predator, Gray Wolf Woolens, Day One Camo, Classic Sportsman Wool and others mentioned in other posts. If you want plaids, Johnson Woolen Mills has some fantastic patterns to mull over. Any Pendleton Board Shirt will last a lifetime too, although I believe they are assembled in Mexico now. Still, I have several new Pendleton's because it's hard to find a high quality, yet light weight plaid button down shirt with a straight bottom hem that's made in the USA. A Pendleton Board Shirt with a very light weight wicking base layer is perfect when temps are in the 60's.
I'll give a specific shout out to Gray Wolf Wool, because they will do custom work, even with wool you provide. They've done a bunch of clothing for me, even some blaze orange wool for rifle season. In fact, today I'm sending a yard of a sweet Johnson Wool plaid pattern to Gray Wolf for them to make a bucket hat for me. While certainly not Wal-Mart cheap, that's they type of quality and service many traditional archers love and seek out.
Johnson Wool makes plaid wool daypacks/backpacks and fanny packs and their prices are very reasonable...
http://johnsonwoolenmills.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=2 I found the oddest source for great, one of a kind Pendleton wool plaids. It seems Pendleton wool plaid is big with the South LA Low Rider crowd. Who knew? Check out this link for the best new Pendleton selection you'll find. They even have prior year plaids and exclusive plaids made for just them, by Pendleton...
http://greenspansstore.com/category.sc?categoryId=37
Topic: Hunting Clothing-I need recommendations (Read 608 times)
