Good alternative to Under Armor?

warpig602

warpig602

Active member
Recently made the move from AZ to Iowa and had to invest in some cold weather camo. After getting all my camo squared away its left me a bit short on funds. I hear the under armor heat gear makes a great base layer. Unfortunately I wont have the funds to make that happen this year. Is there a good alternative somebody can recommend to get me through until next year?
 
you need to buy UA cold gear if you want to stay warm: Cold Gear for Cold weather, Heat Gear for Warm Weather.

wool base layers are a usually cheaper and good alternative to UA. I personally love UA products, but there are a lot of other lower cost ones that are similar and do the same thing.

Check out Cabelas and take a look in their base layers section
 
Hunter Specialites has a new line of the UA style stuff. Duke is another good brand. I use duke everyday in the winter as a base layer for work. IIRC, it was $45 for set of top and bottoms.

Also, Walmart does have some decent stuff from Starter, I believe. And target has Champion brand stuff. It is in the "active wear" and "workout" area. Forego the camouflage, as it brings a premium price for brand royalties.

And as stated above, wool base layers are nice. Try to get as high or a "merino" wool count as you can. It goes for socks too. Anything over 50% is good. 70% and higher is better.
 
Cabela's heavy weight base layer, they're on sale right now.

I've worn the same pair for years and they are still good (yeah, I mean hunting, not year around without washing them
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Cabela's Hollow-Core Heat Layer Base Layer Bottoms

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Cabela's Hollow-Core Heat Layer Base Layer Crew

Now if you're going to hump all day, that's stuff's going to be hot. I can sit a stand a long time in it, though. It doesn't get wet and clammy if you've got a Gore-Tex layer over it.

Quote:And target has Champion brand stuff.

That may be worth a look, I've had a lot of Champion socks and similar and they're good quality. Costco used to carry it here, I was sad to see it go.
 
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check out underarmour.com the outlet section. i have found some great deal there on clearance and as far as cold gear goes you can't beat it for these Iowa winters.
 
WP602,
get yourself some of the Polypro stuff from Cabela's or Wally World..lightweight stuff for active hunting, and heavy weight for stand hunting.
Under Armour is nothing but a marketing system. They have not cornered the market on a new "miracle" fiber.
I would never have paid the prices for the UA stuff, but I've gotten a bunch of it as gifts from family members. It's good stuff, but it's no better than the other polypro stuff that I've worn for years.
 
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starter at walley world. they also carry some rocky stuff with the hunting gear. heat gear is a good base layer when its cold. then layer accordingly.
 
Originally Posted By: CARTER LAKE-SHARK heat gear is a good base layer when its cold. then layer accordingly.

Heat gear is for warm weather.

Cold gear is for cold weather.

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I bought a set of Nordic track base layers from Sears right around Christmas time last year and they are sweet! The quality and weight is just as good as the UA cold gear stuff and it was marked down to like $14 each! very happy with it so far. Can't go wrong for the money!
 
heat gear types wick the moisture from your skin. cold gear wicks the moisture from your skin and insulates due to the added fleece layer. you wouldn't want to wear cold gear when its warm, and i do not own any heat gear leggings. but heat gear is a good BASE layer when cold. just not by itself. layer accordingly.
 
Don't overlook the Rocky brand poly underwear available at Wal-Mart. I've had a set for a couple years now and it's served me well here in the cool desert and higher in the mountains of NM and WY. It's very reasonably priced as well.
 
Sam's carries some poly underwear that's pretty darn decent. I picked up a pr of their lightweight last year and were pretty pleased with them. If you do get to the point of spending the $ on quality skivvies, don't pay for the underarmor name. Get Polarmax (expedition wt). Cabela's carries it as does your larger ski/mountaineering shops. It runs about $50/pc. I lived in that stuff fall and winter, working construction in W. CO. @ 7000'+. I was given a set of underarmor and they haven't been out of the drawer in yrs.
 
Thanks for all the replies, figure dif anybody would know it would be the guys here. Seems there are plenty of alternatives avaialable.

My camo came in today from Midway, pretty good timing, got some light snowfall couple days ago.

FYI, Midway has there Natural Gear Snow Camo on sale right now. I really like the pattern, quality seems pretty good for the price. I think this will work well for my uses, time will tell how well it holds up
 
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