They're the best garments I own.....camo or otherwise. If you can stomach the price tag, initially, you'll be pleased. In the long run, they;re worth it.
I have a pretty good assortment of it from vests, pullovers, bibs, jackets, pants and hats... If you have any questions about any of the garments, features or options I will try to help you out best I can.
Don't have any yet but with all my weight loss I will definetly be shopping for new camo for next year and fully intend to purchase Grey Wolf! Can't wait!
I've got to walk into an important meeting I'm driving to in a few minutes so I can't take the time to expound on the product like it deserves... I did quickly find a post I made a few years ago on another forum which may help you. I'll check back in later... I started wearing Gray Wolf last season. When I REALLY came to appreciate it was on my elk hunt out in Colorado. It was the "little" things that just made these garments stand out for me... The "gathers" at the bottom of the pant legsis a continuouselastic-like cord with one of those push-button sliders on it that allows you to quickly cinch up the pant leg while the button is pushed, and when you release the button, it's held firm. That is SUCH a nice touch after having dealt with the cotton strings on Predator's pants for years and having them pick up all kinds of cuckleburrs and beggar's lice, as well as just the time it takes to mess with tying them and having them continually come undone... These are sweet. The first time you bury your hands into your pockets when it's in the mid '30s or below, you're going to fall in love with the fact that the inside pockets are felt lined. Talk about luxurious!! You'll feel spoiled, for sure. I decided on a slow spot-and-stalk routine one morning in some light rain while we were still trying to get on some elk... I had some rain gear with me but opted not to take it, placing my trust in the repellant nature of the Wolfskin I was wearing. After moving slowly through thick and sometimes almost-unpenetrable foliage for the better part of five hours, I was still dry as a bone under my Gray Wolf gear. I spent the better part of the morning at our local Cabela's comparing base-layer offerings, and can safely say that almost every top-quality polar weight base layer comes in at a price of at LEAST $50 -- for your choice of a top or a bottom, and people buy them at those prices like they're going out of style. That's well over $100 just for underwear, basically. When you think of how much more the GWW garments offer than a mere base layer, with their all their features, to include being near-rip proof, burr proof, extremely water repellant (mine are absolutely DRY after just going through the spin cycle in my washing machine), color-fast, and fade-proof... Well, yeah... I think they're worth the price!
I have several garments from them, and am going on my third year on the different sets. It is expensive, but well worth the $$$ if you figure the lifetime of the garments. Sometimes you can watch their returned merchandise sections and specials & closeouts and get some great deals, I scored a complete set of nearly new uninsulated Wolfskin in Predator Green a couple of years ago. I also have a set in Predator Brown, along with a couple of their shirts and hats. Great stuff. I have a lot of really good stuff to layer with, and Wolfskin is the perfect material in the perfect camo options to use as an outside layer.
I've been wearing a set of the wolfskin from Gray Wolf for 4 years now. The stuff still looks like new with the exception of where the bottoms of the pant legs have rubbed together and worn them a bit. The Wolfskin is very quiet and repels water pretty well. Its not 100% water proof though and if you sit in a downpour for hours and hours, it will eventually soak through. But light rain, mist, etc, the kind of weather that seams to really be good for hunting, the wolfskin is the ticket. IMO, you won't find a better constructed or better thought out set of clothing anywhere. Sure, there are some jackets out there for example that have neat features. But will it hold up to years of abuse? Gray Wolf garmets are designed with durability and simplicity in mind. He won't add stuff that won't hold up and what he does offer in terms of additional features will. Heavy duty stitching on all seams, heavy duty zippers and snaps are just a few of the things he does that make the clothing last a very long time. IMO, clothing is by far the most important thing you can invest in for hunting. If you are not comfortable, warm and quiet, you aren't going to stay in the woods long enough to be successful anyway.
Thank you for the information thus far. The other questions I have are what linings would you guys recommend? Is the coat going to be too bulky with the conformax wind barrier and the lite loft? Too warm for October and early November? Should I go with the wind barrier and layer underneath? I hunt in northern Illinois close to the Wisconsin border.
I have a set of bibs and a pullover that I absolutely love. Both are Wolfskin w/Comfortmax lining and they're perfect from November into the late season. It's my "cold weather" gear. IMO you don't really need the insulation if you go with the lining b/c it makes it too warm for normal conditions. I prefer to layer underneath when it gets super cold. Going on 4 or 5 seasons now and the stuff still looks like new.
For "normal" hunting conditions, I've got two sets of base layers that cover me for just about everything... one set of mid-weight merino wool base layers from Scentblocker and one set of heavyweights. (I should probably note that I do NOT buy the product based on its scent-asdorption claims... the garments themselves are just VERY high quality base layers.) I wear unlined wolfskin over those when the temps get into the 40s and sometimes low 50s. When temps start dropping closer to freezing, I've got a couple GWW vests that I like to interchange. One's wolfskin with Liteloft and Comformax in it. When the temps really start dropping, I've got a wool vest with the Comformax lining as well. One of my favorite pieces is a wolfskin jacket that's got the Comformax lining in it.... that's a REAL versatile piece, weatherwise. Then, when it gets REALLY cold, I've got a wool bomber jacket with both Comformax and Liteloft in it that'lll take me into the teens and close to zero degree temps easily. Out of about 25 or 30 different pieces of GWW, those are the ones that I wear the most.
I will give you an example of what type of person you would be dealing with at Gray Wolf...Jeff. As I said in a previous post, I purchased my set over 4 years ago. Both jacket and pants are comformax lined with the jacket also having a special lining of thinsulate, not the liteloft that he typically offers. I can usually get away with wearing this set, with under armour bases, Polartec Expedition weight second layers and the jacket and pants down into the low 30's. After that I pile in a wool cabelas fatigue sweater and maybe a fleece windshear vest if its ridiculous out. Anyway, the jacket is a pullover, which I've always liked that style for bowhunting. Recently, I've rethought some of my clothing choices and decided that for one, I wanted a full zip jacket so I didn't have take my safety harness loose up in the tree to put my jacket on. I also wanted to get rid of the thinsulate liner in the jacket to make it a bit more versatile. I contacted Jeff and asked if he would make alterations to mine. He was more than willing to accomodate my request. For a nominal charge, he would alter my jacket to my specs. Talk about great service and support for clothing! I didn't take him up on the offer this year because I got sidetracked with the kiddo's all summer, but I will do it over the winter months. Just make the investment with Gray Wolf and forget about it. You will not be disappointed.
Guys, thank you very much for your opinions on the products from GWW. I believe I will take the plunge. I just wish there wasn't such a long wait. Patience.
If you plan on hunting the rest of your life, it'll be worth it. I've said it many times, but I seriously think I'll be able to leave behind my GWW hunting clothes to my youngest son if I wanted to... they hold up THAT good. He's 3, by the way.
I may have missed it in one of the posts, but how quiet is the clothing? How does it compare to fleece, wool, etc?
I just got in two more complete outfits in Wolfskin two days ago... Jeff is using a "new" wolfskin that I like even better than the older stuff... It's so quiet (and the old stuff was incredible) that I could rub my sleeves together as hard as I wanted a foot away from a deer and he wouldn't hear it. Still as water-repellant as ever, too... came out virtually dry after its first washing after the spin cycle.
I mostly still hunt. What options have you guys used and recommend? I defenitely go with cargo pockets and leg zippers.
