Firstlite outerwear/Specter dilemma

[ptwysocki]

Last year I came on the forum and got great advice on the catalyst.

I hunt PA archery and rifle from oct-dec. ORiginally I wanted to run the catalyst pant and jacket, but was told that the jacket is likely too light a system even with layering to carry me through PA nov-dec temps. In came the solitude jacket.

I hunt 50/50 between stand and spot-stalk. Thus I really don't like bibs. Also, I wear a bino harness which has become a great piece of gear that I've come to rely on. I'm never away from our cabin for more than 4-5 hours. So I run a bino harness and a largeer hydration pack (Eberlestock mini me). The setup is great and light and packs all that I need.

My issue is when I went to purchase my kit, I saw Firstlite switched their whitetail offerings. NOW, I can only get the Solitude jacket in Specter. AND I can NOT get the Catalyst pant in Specter...only the bibs. So you can see the kit I wanted to combine is effectively impossible.

Any thoughts on how to resolve this?

Does anyone on here hunt the style I described in the temps mentioned above (i.e. in those temps with a bino harness and not 100% stand hunting)?

Any insight is great. I really want to scoop up the kit shortly as the season is getting underway.

 

[Jake_B]

I say mix and match the camo of that set-up works for you.

I too have the catalyst system and a solitude jacket from when these pieces were created, love them

 

[ptwysocki]

I'm leaning more towards a catalyst pant and jacket...I really think for still hunting even during rifle thanksgiving season...that a klamath hoodie underneath should get me through? I'm wondering if I just add an uncomp for stand hunting over top if I would be fine.

 

[K7GSXR750]

are you a member of the "first lite gear buy sell trade" on Facebook? There are a bunch of items on there popping up all the time maybe you can find what you're after on that.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I stand hunted and spot and stalk in NY and pa with a soft shell over a puffy. They are loud and not great for brush busting so using it as a mid layer worked for me. I treated myself to a set of solitudes for colder sits. I rarely wear soft shell pants. I use kuiu attack pants with a base layer until I start hauling the bib.

 

[ptwysocki]

I noticed the solitude jacket is 100 insulation on body and 60 on sleeve...which is the same as the uncomp jacket.

So i ended up going with the catalyst softshell and the uncomp. Thought is I could layer one under the other and effectively end up with a solitude jacket system.

plus the kalamath hoody I have I think I should be fine. Also have an old jetstream vest that is windproof that I could add if need be. I wasn't entirely sold on the solitude vest. Without a windproof membrane on the vest I didn't see the point.

Anyhow we'll see how it runs through mid and late season still hunts. Only other concern is how the catalyst pant will fare sitting on damp ground. Im hoping the DWR treatment will hold up. If not I see some additional waterproofing in my future.

Granted the catalyst foundry fixes this, but I like the S/M/L/XL sizing as im shedding back down to fighting weight and the XL gets me more sizing variance.