I've meant to get an IWOM suit for a while now, just have never got around to it. I would get an IWOM over a heater body suit simply for the fact that the heater body suit has no arm holes or sleeves.
I ended up grabbing the Arctic Shield Body Insulator Suit Thursday evening. Here is my review.
It was on sale at Scheels for $199. Hunted with it on Saturday and Sunday, perfect weather to test it out.
The suit comes with a carrying strap. It roles up nicely and you buckle it into the strap and then just sling it over your shoulder to walk in&out. Works well and feels lightweight slung over the shoulder.
The suit has three zippers. A main zipper down the front all the way to near the foot of the left leg and one on each side for your arms. Have these unzipped already when you pack it in to help reduce noise/movement and save on time once at the tree. These zippers have a pull tab on both the inside and outside.
Once at the tree you unroll it. Slip your feet/legs in and pull it up. On the inside of it there are shoulder straps that you slip your arms through. There are no sleeves on it, once you have your legs in and the shoulder straps on you can zip it up. There are two internal zippers for your arms to stick out.
It has a hole in the upper back between your shoulders for your safety harness strap. Then climb up the tree. Once you get your bow pulled up etc you simple slip your arms back inside the suit and zip the arm holes up. There is a hood on the suit as well that is removeable if you want. Over the zippers there is a cover with magnets to help hold the fabric over the zipper so not heat esapes along the zipper lines.
If a deer is coming and you want to be ready for a shot you can do one of two things. From the inside you can unzip the arm holes and stick your arms out to grab your weapon, shoot, etc. Or you can unzip the main zipper from the front on the inside and bring both your arms out and let the suit slip back behind you since you have the internal shoulder straps on. It works really slick, Sunday I actually had a nice buck come in and I was able to unzip the main zipper from the inside and simply let the suit fall back behind me while I stood and grabbed my bow, worked flawlessly.
Climbing is a little but more cumbersome obviously with the suit on, but I was even saddle hunting both days and was able to wear my saddle over the suit, hang and climb with my sticks, and hunt off the small saddle platform with it comfortably enough. If hunting out of a preset stand/sticks I would think it would be a breeze.
Now, as for keeping warm, it was great. So much better than bundling up in a bunch of layers and still getting chilly like what I am use to. Usually I am good with my layering system down to the upper 30's, but with the forecasted lows to be in the teens and highs in the 20's I thought I would give this a shot. Even Saturday with the wind the suit did very well. All I wore under it was my cold gear socks, regular lace up danner pronghorn boots, under armour base layers and then my regular under armour hunting pants, a fleece(or something vest), a scheels hoody and a neck gator that pulls up over my head. I was warm and comfortable the entire time. I could feel the warmth very well. At times I did feel a little bit of chill on my arms, but nothign to complain about at all, just being nit picky there. With temps in the 20s and wind I will say I was more comfortable than I am in the low to mid 40's.
For the price point of $199 this was a great buy and I am vey happy with it. Nearly half the price of a heater body suit or IWOM. I would strongly encourage you to give this a try.
