Looking to try out firstlite

[C.payne]

I have been looking at the catalyst jacket and also the solitude jacket and uncompahgre. I'm in MN mostly a stand hunter. Any experience with the solitude? Don't know if the catalyst will cover me for the whole season or if I should look into getting both, or getting an Unc 2.0 instead of solitude. It's all intriguing but the budgets not going to allow me to buy them all.

The Catalyst jacket definitely shines as a spring/fall soft shell for active hunting situations or going to town. I would not rely on it in the tree stand as an insulating jacket. One other note is that I find the lower sleeves and cuffs to be very tight so if you would consider yourself to have larger forearms this may be an issue for you. Where the Uncomphagre shines is as a packable puffy insulation. I use it in the tree stand as my outer layer but it is not super quiet (I have the 1.0). If I did the majority of my hunting from the stand I would look to one of their other pieces in the whitetail line up. I do a little of everything so the Uncomphagre is versatile enough to get me by in the stand.

 

[BCBackcountry]

I have owned many First lite pieces over the years. Their sizing has definitely been one of their only negatives. I live in BC and have shipped many items back to exchange for a new size. That being said any items in the last few years have fit very close to size. If you are ordering a long standing piece that has not been refreshed (called 2.0) just be cautious and know it will most likely fit big.
I would say you would be a large in their clothes.
I have many items but my favourites are: the wick hoody, fuse hoody, tag cuff beanie, catalyst pants for late season and the uncompaghre puffy (old version).
Overall great clothes, great company and the customer service has always been very easy to work with on exchanges. So other than it costing a little bit to ship the package back. I wouldn't be too concerned if you had to exchange something.

I'd agree with this, returns from Canada aren't that big of a deal. You will take a hit on some extra duties/shipping if you have to exchange something, but since their pricing is lower than Sitka for the same quality of clothing, you will still probably come out ahead.

 

[jrb4277]

I own almost every piece FL makes, and my must haves are the Tundra balaclava, furnace top, and corroguate bottoms.

 

[Austink47]

The tag cuff beanie is amazing, I know it is just a beanie, what could be so amazing? Can’t explain it it just is.