If you are only buying one piece for the bottoms I would have to say Stratus Pants (windstopper) for versatility. I did not have the fanatic lite bibs but I did have the jacket and only wore it once, for me it had absolutely no place in my system, it was great if it was 50 degrees and that was about it.

 

I live in NC but hunt in Illinois and Kansas. I own the Fanatic and Fanatic light bibs and coats, the fanatic hoody and vest. The hoody is by far my favorite Sitka gear. I actually own 2 and cut a hole in the back for my safety harness as I wear it the entire season.
Until the temps drop below 45-50 I wear the light bibs, coat. I usually have the coat rolled up and put on once in the stand.
Same process when temps dip below 40 except I wear the fanatic bibs in and put the coat on once in the stand.

Feel free to ask any other questions as I am on Sitka's gear pro insight team.

 

Well I've got a question, they ever consider making the Fanatic Jackets and Vests in lefty models??

 

How do you incorporate the fanatic vest and how is the vest fit/sizing compared to your other pieces?

I have the fanatic lite bibs and fanatic jacket and was comfortable down into the 20s with a mid base. I'm sure you would be ok with the lite bibs in the teens with little wind and heavy base

 

like the martial of the fanatic lite better + it's feel lighter than the stratus

 

Here is how I rate the sitka bottoms temperature wise. I'm using daytime highs and extended sits, >4hours. If it is super windy, you can add a 5-10 degrees to the fanatic lite.

Fanatic lite bibs: 60-40
Stratus pants: 60-30
Fanatic bibs: 40-10

If you're doing long walks in the 40 or above, I'd opt for the lite bibs over the stratus pants. You have the ability to vent them and they breathe better. Wearing stratus pants with base layers on long walks is a sauna.

There is a lot of overlap with the lite bibs and stratus pants, I think it mostly comes down to the terrain you hunt and how far you have to walk, as well as your cold tolerance. If I didn't have the mile walks with 200-300 feet of elevation changes, I'd definitely get the stratus pants as my mid season bottoms just to have the windstopper. A damp, cloudy all day sit in the 50s with high winds will chill you to the bone if you don't have windstopper. Too cold for the fanatic lite and too warm for the fanatic.

 

For your top the if you have the fanatic hoody and mid weight top, combined with the fanatic vest you can hunt all day in 50 degrees and be good. I'd look at adding a merino base to that set up.

You could add a Celsius jacket and get down to the teens of you had the fanatic bibs.

 

I have worn the fanatic lite bibs with core heavyweight bottoms in the 30s and been fine. I think adding another layer like merino wool and I would be good in the high 20s. That is with less than 10 mile an hour wind.

 

My ideal, most cost effective set up for 55-15 would be:
Stratus pants
Fanatic bibs
Fanatic vest
Fanatic hoodie
Celsius jacket
Core mid weight mock
Core heavyweight bottoms
Merino top and bottoms

Necessities would be
Stratus beanie
Fanatic gloves
Core neck gaiter

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking getting both the fanatic and fanatic lite bibs for the different temperatures but the stratus may be better with wind stopper.

How cold would you go just wearing the mid base, hoody, and fanatic vest before you put on the celsius?

edit: never mind, saw your earlier post explaining. thanks.

 

I bought the fanatic bibs and used them in 20 low, 32 high weather and they worked fine. Another day it ranged from 32 to 50 and I spent the afternoon with the sides of the Fanatic unzipped because it got way too warm. Negated the advantage of the camo pattern.

Luckily I bought a set of Fanatic Lite bibs the other day because they were on sale. I'll be using that to fill the gap between my Equinox pants and the Fanatic bibs, and if it's going to be windy out I'll wear another thin pair of windstopper liners between my base layer and the Lite bibs to cut down on the wind.

Up top I use a Fanatic Lite jacket with either a Jetstream, Stratus or Fanatic vest over it and the base layer underneath. I add a wool sweater under the Lite jacket in the colder mornings and take that layer out when it warms up in the afternoon.

 

Your cost effective setup would cost about 2k! I use my fanatic jacket from October thru January. In October I'm often wearing a t shirt under it and a lightweight down jacket/sweater under in Jan. With a variety of grid fleece ecwcs military shirts in between.
As for bibs/pants, i bought stratus pants this year but I'm not sure they are worth the money compared to other midweight cargos on the market. For cold weather im not sure why anyone would buy the fanatic over the incinerator. Incinerator are everything that the fanatic are except they are goretex! Oh, and don't collect ridiculous amounts of burs. Like jacket, ill often pack them in and put on in stand unless its a short walk with side vents open.

 

If you went with sitka merino, msrp would be $1833.
I get it 20% off all year long.
Diggs usually runs 30% off at the beginning of the year, they have 25% off now.
20% off: $1,466.40
25% off: $1,374.75
30% off: $1,283.10

Sitka isn't bad at all if you know you don't have to pay msrp for it, ever.

 

New to Sitka. Wanting to buy some gear for next year. Are the stratus pants fleece? And if so what would be a good pant that would collect burs?