For those of you that use Sitka gear which jacket and pants do you recommend for early season and late season. I am thinking about getting the incinerator pants and jacket for late season but not sure about early season. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
This is coming from a guy that doesn't have the newest pieces but I'll try to help. Also if this is 60-70 degree early season temps then anything will work. This is what I would consider for the mid 40s-50s range. First thing is to get a vest. It's a must. IMO. Either the Shacket or the stratus vest. Next would be Fanatic hoody. Combine that with the vest on the first few weeks of the season and you will be golden. Also great for a layer as you get later into the season. Having used the original fanatic during November, I highly recommend the fanatic lite for early season. Huge fan of how it's designed and would be perfect for the early/mid October hunts. I'm probably not the one to talk to when it comes to bottoms because my legs never really get cold. Having said that, I might go with the stratus pants and just skip the base layer on those early season hunts. This is assuming that the Equinox is the ESW pants from last year. The ESW were okay but not sure if I'd buy them again.
Late season would be Fanatic or Incinerator. LOVED the Fanatic for the 20-30 degree range. With the proper layering I believe it could work all the way down to a calm 0 degree day. Never used the Incinerator but if you hunt in negative temps then I'd strongly consider getting it.
I have had pretty much the entire Sitka line at various times. I have a half a dozen of the new EVII pattern. And have had day hands on most of the new pieces. Something to keep in mind is there is huge over lap between items in the whole line. So here is my current recommendations with some alternatives as well. Keeping in mind I am lucky to tend to run hot and generally most guys would think I under dress. Foundation pieces. fanatic hoodie Stratus vest ( I go back and forth between the shaket , however the vest wins out because it layers better and also has wind stop. ) fanatic lite is a must have, and with layers it will take me deeper into the season. Early season pants I would get the Equinox vs the Straus and use bases depending on the temps. I would couple these up with the three tops I mentioned above depending on the conditions. Now the tough part. I like the quietness and increased warmth of the NE Fanatic Bibs and Jacket, however they are slightly more bulky then the previous version, the incinerator jacket and bibs have a higher warmth to weight ratio however...it comes at a increase in cost and they aren't as quite. Now that said the great thing about both the Fanatic bibs and jackets ( and the incinerator also) is that you really aren't going to have to bulk up on layers unless you down into the teens and below...this stuff is warm and you can get away with minimal layers. The EVII fanatic bibs and jacket took me through that bad cold snap we had last Nov, I was hunting KS and we had almost 7 straight days that never made it above the low teens ...with stiff winds on top. I really appreciate both pieces. When I received the new bibs this spring they had some very small changes to them but nothing negative. The jacket is the same still. It's really nice stuff. If you have any specific questions let me know.
