If you close your eyes and try to remember how wool feels like, then only pleasant memories will come to mind. You will recognize its soft texture and the warmth that it provides. So it is no wonder that sheep can happily graze outside when it is cold.
Now the question that you need to ask yourself is the following:
Is wool clothes any good for hunting? The short answer is YES because it has many benefits that will enhance your hunting experience. I am not just talking about the warmth and comfort that it provides, but also other more actionable features specific to hunting.
The long answer will be in the guide located at the second part of this article. Now that you know that wool is an excellent material for hunting, where should you start regarding the clothes?
In this article, I have listed 5 of the best clothes that you can wear for hunting. I have included a jacket, base layers, gloves, and a balaclava that can be used for hunting.
Below is a short preview of what you will get:
- Rocky SilentHunter Fleece Jacket – (Best Jacket)
- Minus33 Midweight Balaclava – (Best Balaclava)
- First Lite Kiln Hoody – (Best Baselayer/Hoodie Combo)
- First Lite Aerowool Touch Liner Glove – (Best Gloves)
- Sitka Merino Heavyweight Half-Zip – (Best Stand-Alone Baselayer)
#1 Rocky SilentHunter Fleece Jacket – Best Jacket
The Rocky SiletnHunter is a jacket that is made for the hunter that wants to hunt comfortably in between the seasons. This jacket is not made for extreme cold weather and should always form part of a layering system.
This jacket is made from a combination of suede fabric, fleece material, and wool. This product is soft to the touch and has a smooth texture. You will also have a noise-free experience when wearing this jacket.
Some jackets will make a swish noise when moving, which might scare away the deer. This jacket will be silent, which will make it easier to get closer to the animals. This jacket has a front zipper that can easily be opened or closed and make it a breeze to take off.
You can choose between the following color schemes:
- Realtree Xtra
- Blaze Orange
- Mossy Oak
There is also a pocket on each side to warm your hands or to store more objects when space becomes limited. You will also be able to choose between different color schemes offered by this product.
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#2 Minus33 Midweight Balaclava – Best Balaclava
Some hunters prefer to wear a balaclava to keep their head warm or to add some extra layers of camouflage. This midweight Minus33 balaclava is an excellent example of something that even professional hunters would wear.
This product is large enough so that it would cover your entire head and neck area. It will cover your nose, mouth, ears, and all the areas around your neck. This balaclava is made from 100% merino wool, which gives it a soft texture, which will keep you warm.
The material makes the product very stretchable, which makes it easy to fit on almost any person. You can comfortably wear this product along with a hat of your choice. The balaclava will not fall apart because the seams are very durable.
There are many color schemes available for this product. For hunting, you can wear the Desert Sand or the Mossy Oak. There are other options such as Black, Pink, and Navy, which can be used for casual wear.
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#3 First Lite Kiln Hoody – Best Baselayer/Hoodie Combo
If comfort is a big deal to you and you want something to wear which is lightweight and will also offer some protection against the cold, I would recommend this product from First Lite. It is a hooded base layer that you can wear as a stand-alone clothing piece.
It is best to wear this base layer when it is not too cold as it will not offer enough protection against freezing weather (I have written a post on jackets that you can wear for icy conditions). This product uses Merino-X fabric, which offers a combination of 95% Merino wool and 5% spandex.
This combination gives you the odor protection, silence, and body temperature regulation that you need to have a successful hunt. It means that you can wear this base layer for almost a week without washing it. The material does not make any noise when moving, which allows you to get closer to the deer.
Spandex is well known for its durability and flexibility and makes for an excellent component to add to the mix. The hood offers some protection against the cold for your head. It also adds to your total camouflage appeal. The chest area will also come with a zipper, which will make it easier to take off.
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#4 First Lite Aerowool Touch Liner Glove – Best Gloves
Traditional gloves made from wool has some drawbacks, which makes it less suitable for hunting. Let me introduce this glove from First Lite, which counters some of those drawbacks. First Lite makes this glove from the material called Aerowool, which is a combination of nylon and merino wool.
The added nylon makes the material more durable. This way, you can use thinner material, which will give you a better “feel” or sensitivity to your index finger. It is good to know that most of the properties from the merino wool will be maintained when the nylon is added.
You will still sit with the properties from the Merino wool, such as warmth, soft texture, odor resistance, etc. You also do not need to take this glove off when using your iPhone. This glove has a touch screen sensitive thumb and index finger. The added moisture-wicking ability will also give you a better grip when handling your bow or rifle.
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#5 Sitka Merino Heavyweight Half-Zip – Best Stand-Alone Baselayer
If you love waterfowl hunting and would like to switch to wool hunting gear, this product might be for you. It uses the Timber and Marsh camo schemes, which are best suited for the habitat of waterfowl.
This product is also an excellent option for wearing as a base layer. This baselayer uses a combination of Merino wool and other synthetic materials to enhance and compensate for some of the pitfalls of using wool. It uses a blend of around 60% wool along with nylon and polyester.
This item has amazing properties such as moisture-wicking, odor resistance, and warmth, without sacrificing durability. Polygiene technology is infused into this product, which uses silver salts to neutralize microbial growth.
This product has a zip in the chest area, which can be halfway opened.
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Why you should wear hunting clothes made from wool
Wool has some great benefits which can make your hunting experience much more worth the while. Below are some of the benefits of wearing wool clothing during the hunt:
It keeps you warm and comfortable during the cold hunting season
Hunting season will most of the time be during the winter months. So it is essential to wear clothing that provides excellent insulation properties. The wool fibers will form millions of tiny air pockets, which provides a thermal barrier.
Wool is also one of the softest fabrics that you can get, which will give you a more comfortable experience. Hunting bibs that are insulated are also a good option if you did not find the wool hunting clothes satisfactory.
Wool helps to keep you dry while tracking the deer.
Wool is an excellent hydrophilic material, which means it can absorb around 30% of its weight in moisture and still feels dry to the touch. So when you start to sweat, the wool will absorb it, which will make your skin dry again. The wool will then release the moisture back into the air, where it will evaporate.
Merino wool helps to prevent the deer from picking up your scent
Even though it is not 100% effective at preventing the deer from smelling you from afar, it still helps when you add some of the other features along with it. Wool has a natural fatty acid or wax called lanolin.
This chemical helps to prevent the growth of odor-producing microbes. Microbes also need moisture to survive, and when you add the wool’s moisture-wicking ability, you come up with a robust solution for an odor-reducing material. The HECS hunting suit is also excellent at reducing odor. This suit also uses a grid which prevents the animals from picking up your electrical radiation.
Wool is noise-free when moving
Have you ever heard that swishing sound some materials make when you move? The last thing you need is for the deer to detect you because of the noise that you make. Wool is almost entirely silent when moving, which means you can move closer to the deer without being detected.
Is fleece suitable for hunting?
Fleece is suitable for hunting. It is very quiet and has some of the same properties as that of wool. Both will keep you warm during cold weather, but wool will take the upper hand when it comes to moisture.
Wool is a natural material that comes from sheep, while the fleece is made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Fleece also works best used when worn as an undergarment because it is not as effective as wool at blocking the wind. This is the reason why you would want to wear a windbreaker on top of the fleece.
Who makes the best wool hunting clothes?
One of the best brands that sell wool huntings clothes is First Lite. This company is known to use Aerowool in their products. They sell men’s and women’s clothing and gear that can be used for hunting.
Aerowool is a material that uses a combination of Merino wool and nylon. This technology is also excellent at reducing moisture on your skin, which will prevent you from sweating. It is good to know that this combination will give you all the features you need to hunt in comfort and warmth and avoid detection from the deer.
So yes. My vote goes to First Lite.
Which piece was your favorite?
I must say that it is hard to compare the base layers with the gloves as an example. What I would do is stack the Rocky SilentHunter Fleece Jacket on top of one of the base layers if the weather is cold outside.
I would also not forget about the gloves because there is nothing worse than pulling the string of your bow when your hands are cold. The balaclava is also great at protecting your face against the elements that nature will throw at you.
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