In a world of endless gear selection its hard to figure out what works and what does not. Materials, construction and fit are a hard combination to match and First Lite usually finds a way to do it, especially in there Merino-X clothing. Not all of First Lite clothing is first rate, but all of it could be. I own several pieces: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Obviously this is my opinion and others might disagree but thats personal preference. I rarely write reviews because we live in sensationalized world. Rarely do reviews do gear justice and warrant a purchase the cost of a grocery bill for a family of 5.
I've owned and worn the Sawtooth Hybrid for a little more than a year and it has far exceeded my expectations. Lets start out with materials: wool, merino wool to be exact, is a miracle material. Living in NW Wyoming, wool is king. We get a lot of precipitation and its cold most of the year. This is one of the reasons I choose to purchase this piece. I can wear it under or over other layers and stay toasty warm playing with the kids or cool backpack hunting in the Wind Rivers or Tetons. The body mapping on this piece is insane. Warm where it needs to be and cool where is should be. If all pieces of clothing were made this way we might not need to peel clothing off our body before we head over the next ridge. The nylon on the body mapping is very durable and I don't see any wear. Crawling through sagebrush and brushing on granite has had no affect on the material.
Construction is what we all want to know about. 'Will it last my western hunt'.... seems to be the new question I see on customer reviews. One thing some companies struggle with is mating stretchy material to stretchy high quality thread. I won't name any but I have clothing that hasn't stayed together more than a week because of poor stitching and thread quality. (It really pissed me off.) I can say that First Lite does a quality job of matching materials that work together. I have one stitch line on my right cuff that has started to unravel. Thats it. After +200 of days wearing this piece, thats it. Zippers are good. I don't wash it after every time I wear it to minimize degradation to the wool. The overall construction of the Sawtooth is excellent!
The fit of the Sawtooth is interesting. It took a while for me to get used to it because its longer in the chest and has long arms. For years I used a Patagonia R1 XL as a heavy base/light hoody. The Sawtooth has the exact fit. The zipper gets bunched up in your beard and the cuffs are bunched because they are cut for thumb holes. Thats why this is a technical, do-all piece. The zipper goes to your nose if the hood is up and the thumb holes are awesome when wearing gloves. As an everyday piece the fit can be a bit annoying but its still the first thing I put on in the morning. I am 6'4'' and 210 dad-bod athletic. Chest is 48". My waist is 35''. Ive never felt like this piece was to slim fit or overly baggy. Id say its a Athletic fit. I layers nicely under most of First Lite Jackets and over most of the light weight Merino-X layers just like they say. I wear XXL in all of First Lite outer layer Jackets.
When I got up this morning I put the Sawtooth Hybrid and Ill take it off when I go to bed. I'd wear it to bed if I was in my tent. I truly think that if you were to purchase on item from First Lite, this is the one you should get. It covers most conditions and is extremely versatile as stated. It has a good reputation and the construction is very good. Merino-X has changed the game for me on fast, lightweight, and warm hunting. With 3 kids it was a big purchase but it allows me to use my time in the mountains more efficiently and stay longer when I can. Cheers to the Sawtooth Hybrid Jacket!