First Lite Approach Hoody: The Top I Usually Have On

In Rangeley I started the morning with a Wick underneath the Approach and a Catalyst vest with it. By afternoon, I had taken the vest off and was wearing the Approach and Wick.

In the Frank Church Wilderness, I was working harder while chasing elk and mule deer. I took the Approach itself off during longer hikes, then put it right back on when I stopped to glass. The conditions felt similar in temperature to Rangeley. The way I used the layers was different because the work was different.

The first time I really went duck and goose hunting, I noticed that everyone else was covering their faces. Nobody explicitly called me out; I simply had not realized I needed to keep mine out of sight. Luckily, I happened to already be wearing the hoody.

I describe the mask as mesh, and I found it easy to breathe through while keeping my face covered. It has been shockingly useful to me for waterfowl and turkeys. I also used it on that cold December goose hunt in Walpole.

How I layer around the Approach depends on how cold it is. Underneath, I use anything from a Wick short sleeve to a Furnace base layer. Over that, it can be some combination of a Catalyst vest and a shell. If I need more, I usually put my Stone Glacier Cirque Jacket over the Approach.

If I am really beating brush while tracking deer and it is above 60 degrees, I usually wear a Wick short sleeve and maybe a Catalyst vest instead. The Approach is also not the tough fabric I like for busting through thick whips in Maine or alders out west.

The little pulling I have had has been cosmetic. That has not changed my overall feeling that it has held up well, but I still have a clear preference for something else in warm, hard brush work.