Is IWOM Hunting Suit the ultimate cold weather suit? It’s a bold statement to make when comparing insulated body suits. I have spent over 35 years in Wisconsin winters pursuing deer, and many outings have been in either below-zero or single-digit temps. I like to call this suit the defender against the cold! Let me share my experiences and reasons for choosing this suit over other outerwear for my cold-weather hunting.
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What Insulated Body Suit Options Are Available?
You will find three main suits available:
- Heater Body Suit
IWOM XT Hunter Suit
Arctic Shield
I have first-hand experience with two of the three on this list. My first suit was Heater Body Suit (HBS). I hunted two seasons in this suit; my hunting style then was from ladder stands, hang on, and climbers.
The HBS suit kept me warm; it did not lack warmth. I never really cared for the method of putting the suit on. The suit’s style prohibited me from wearing it on my climb up, and it had to be put on while I was on the stand.
Heater Body Suit has a flaw; to shoot, you must unzip the garment, and guess what happens? You lose the heat that had been retained in the suit.
The final deciding factor as to why I switched from Heater Body Suit to an IWOM Hunter suit was that I changed my hunting style; I became a saddle hunter.
Key Features: What Makes IWOM The Ultimate Suit?
When you compare insulated body suits, you will think they are similar. And that is a very true assumption. They are suits designed to allow you to wear fewer layers of clothing and keep you warm, making your cold weather sit easier.
Let me share key features I enjoyed about the IWOM suit that I believe make this the best-insulated body suit on the market.
Yes, this suit is waterproof, and I want to stay dry when I have to sit in cold snow weather. This feature will allow you more days in the field. I find myself hunting more and more on those less-than-desirable days, and waterproof features allow me to get in the field.
Windproof is a feature I often look for in my hunting garments; keeping the wind off your body drastically increases your ability to stay warm.
Exterior pockets, I use these to warm hands and carry gear. So much room in the pockets that I often can fit any of my gear, such as GPS, phone, flashlight, release, and scent, all into the pockets, and I don’t need to bring a backpack with me. So it allows me to pack in lighter!
Another great feature that replaces another item that I often use when hunting is the suit has a built-in hand warmer muff. Again, this is less gear I must carry with me! It also has a built-in face mask you can wear or tuck aside.
These features were designed to make you much lighter, with fewer layers and less gear to carry.
How Does The Suit Fit?
The suit is meant to fit a bit loose to allow the heat trapped within to flow down to your legs and feet. The sleeves have a built-in thumb hole cuff that took a little bit to get used to. These cuffs help seal out any weather.
You can choose to wear the suit with the attached hood; you have options to seal yourself up as much as you want from head to toe. What is nice about this suit is that you can button down the hatches for ultimate warmth and protection from the elements or open things up a bit and vent some heat. You have control over your body temperature. The IWOM XT Hunting Suit replaces your big bulky jacket and bibs, the various heavy face covering, hand muff, and the need to wear thick heavy insulated boots that make climbing trees challenging.
The IWOM company believes in its product so much that they offer a 90-day satisfaction guarantee, a great opportunity to ensure that it fits you and your hunting style.
Final Thoughts To Share
As I mentioned earlier, a big deciding factor in owning the IWOM XT Hunting Suit was the ability to open up side pockets to use my removable bridge line with my saddle system. I wanted to find an insulated body suit that would not put me back in a treestand hunting style, which fit the need. You will find a great YouTube video from Average Jack Archery on how the suit works with saddle-hunting setups.
I believe the coldest I hunted with the suit was on January 9th, 2022. It was the last day of archery season in Wisconsin. Air temp was around zero, not including the windchill. I think when I got out, it was -15 degrees. I sat for four hours and never got cold. That hunt was the one that sealed my trust in this suit.
It’s been odd that in the two years I used the Heater Body Suit, I never saw a deer wearing that suit; I have seen multiple deer wearing the IWOM, hunting from the ground, in a ladder stand, and from the saddle. I share that information, wondering if it’s because of how effective the Predator camo pattern is or because the IWOM suit seems to be a more streamlined look in a tree versus the blob look of the HBS.
For my rifle season, I love that this suit has sleeves, and I can easily throw a blaze orange vest over this suit, and I instantly am legal to wear this suit for those firearm seasons.
One can see why the IWOM XT Hunting suit can be declared the ultimate insulated body suit and the defender against the cold!
Celebrate The Experience!
