Every hunter loves good hunting gear. The better your gear, the more prepared you will be, and ideally the more successful you will be. Although good gear comes with a hefty price tag; so most of us don’t have a closet full of the absolute best gear on the market. At least, not without a maxed-out credit card or two… So when you do buy good gear, you want to get the best bang for your buck. In other words, you don’t want to overpay for good performance if the gear doesn’t live up to expectations.
Clothing makes up a large portion of our hunting gear, and in this article, I am going to talk about two pieces of clothing that I tried out this year. The first piece of gear is the Sitka Core Merino 220 Half-Zip Pullover. This is a quality merino shirt that you can use for the majority of the year. It can be used as an outer layer early in the season, and a middle layer later in the season. The second piece of gear is the Sitka Core Merino 330 Bottom Thermals. These thermals are great for a large portion of the season as well, and I liked them best during 30 to 60 degree days.
To be clear, Sitka did send me this gear for free to try out, but they are not paying me to write a positive article, and. Everything I talk about here will be about my genuine experience with the product during the 2023 season.
How I Tested The Gear
To be honest, this review (and a few others) should have come out a long time ago… Most people will get a product, give it a good once over, and maybe wear it on a hunt or two, but not me. Call it procrastination, or call it being through, I used this gear all season long. Technically, my season doesn’t end for another month and a half, but after taking five deer this year, I think I am done.
I wore the Merino half zip and thermals on no less than a dozen hunts, and it was probably closer to two dozen hunts this year. Plus, I wore them both on a trip to Alaska this year, where I climbed a mountain in Juneau while wearing the thermals and went on a guided coho/silver salmon fishing trip in (fittingly) Sitka while wearing the half zip.
My point is, I put some miles on these two garments, and I hope my experience with them can help you figure out if you want to add them to your collection or not.
My Thoughts on The Sitka Core Merino 220 Half-Zip
Let’s start with the half-zip pullover. When you first pick this shirt up, it is deceptively thin. My first thought was that this shirt couldn’t be all that warm because of how thin it was. Let me tell you, that is not the case. Although, before we dive into how warm it was, let’s go over the basic features.
There isn’t a whole lot to this shirt, it has a main zipper in the middle that gives it its name, and then a chest pocket. The pocket is plenty big enough to hold your phone, which is what I used it for and what I expect most hunters to use it for. Other than that, there are some straps on the ends of the sleeves for your thumbs, which are useful when you start to use this shirt as a middle layer. And that’s about it, I mean, it’s a shirt, what were you expecting?
Back to how deceptively warm the Sitka Core Merino 220 Half-Zip is. If you wear a lot of merino wool, you know how good it is. Although when you pick up this shirt it is pretty thin. However, I found that it is more than warm enough to wear over a single t-shirt while temperatures are around the upper 40s to the low 60s.
I should also note that I recommend that range for stationary hunters; aka tree stands and ground blinds. If you are a mobile hunter, you are going to get warm quickly. I found this out while I was climbing a mountain in Juneau Alaska this September. It was in the mid 40s, so I had a hoodie over this pull over, and I was sweating to death, and I definitely took the hoodie off on the way down the mountain. The view was worth it, though.
I don’t really have any cons to the Sitka Core Merino 220 Half-Zip. It is a quality shirt, and it is very warm for how light it is. I can say for sure that it will be in my rotation for the next few years at least. The worst thing about it is the price tag, but you know what you are getting into when you start shopping for Sitka.
My Thoughts on The Sitka Core Merino 330 Bottoms
Like the shirt, the wool bottoms are also pretty simple. Although they are a bit heavier and thicker than the shirt, and they are made with Sitka’s ArmorSpun Merino so they are very durable. These thermals are also naturally odor resistant, which is especially important for gear just on the other side of your boxers…
Sitka classifies these thermals as “Heavy Weight” and while they are thick, I definitely would not wear them when temperatures fall too far below freezing. Typically, I paired these thermals with another set of Sitka pants I was sent this season (you can see the review of those right here when I get to it). Those pants were lightweight, so wearing these thermals kept me warm down into the 40s. If I wore my thicker pants made for cold weather, these thermals were good in the high 20s. They are great thermals, but they are just not thick enough for zero-degree temperatures, so I am not sure why they are classified as “Heavy Weight”, and I checked… they were talking about the thermals on the tag, not me…
Anyways, what was good about these midweight thermals is how mobile I could be in them. I do have some actual heavyweight thermals made by UnderArmor that could keep you warm in freezing temperatures by themselves, but they are thick, tight, and not really made for movement. I think this is the best thing about the Sitka Core Merino 330 Bottoms, they are made to move in. They are also moisture-wicking, so you stay warm even when you start to sweat on the way to your stand.
I wanted to include more images in this section, but there are only a creepy select few of you that want to see me in my thermals, so just trust me that I was wearing them in most of the images you have already seen here today.
All and all, these thermals do keep me from getting caught in that inbetween season where it is too cold to wear my lightweight pants, but too hot for heavy pants and thick thermals. I wore these thermals through the end of September and throughout October. Depending on where you are, you could wear them in November too, but probably not throughout December without a third pant layer. This is also assuming you are an ambush hunter. If you are hunting out west, or just like to move a lot, these thermals could be appropriate for the entire year.
Would I Actually Buy Them?
The Sitka Core Merino 220 Half-Zip Pullover, despite its deceptively thin appearance, delivered exceptional warmth and versatility. It kept me comfortable as a stand-alone layer in temperatures ranging from the upper 40s to the low 60s, and made for a great middle layer during colder hunts. It has a steep $200 price tag at the time of writing, but I honestly think I would have to buy it myself if the one I had disappeared. It feels great, and it can be a stand-alone layer for a long time here in the Georgia weather.
On the other hand, the Sitka Core Merino 330 Bottom Thermals excelled in durability and mobility. Despite the classification, these thermals were best in temperatures above freezing, providing an excellent middle ground between lightweight and heavyweight options. I think these thermals are best for hunters that move around alot, and they are a perfect option for keeping you warm and mobile early in the season. I much rather wear these thermals with a lightweight pair of pants than sweat to death with a thick pair of pants when temperatures are in the 40s or 50s.
Good hunting gear is expensive, and if you treat it right, that expensive gear will last you for a very long time. So with a bit of an initial investment, you can be set for years to come. With that said, I know I don’t need new hunting gear each year, I could get by for decades with what I have, but just like you, I always browse the new gear each year. So if one of these pieces of gear fills a hole in your getup, or it would make for a significant upgrade, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick them up.
Thank you for reading my article! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions or feedback, please send me an email at Patrick.Long@omegaoutdoors.net. If you want to learn more about me or Omega Outdoors, visit my About Page. Otherwise, I hope you have a great day, and check out some of my other articles while you’re here!