Stop the misery! Pnuma’s IconX Heated Core base layer delivers the right amount of heat in just the right places so you can stay in the woods or at the shooting bench longer and with maximum comfort.
by Rob Reaser
I truly envy western hunters. Not because they have backdoor access to the most impressive hunting territory and coolest big game animals in all North America. (OK…I do envy that.) It’s because the environment they hunt and the game they pursue generally doesn’t demand sitting still for long stretches in ice-cold conditions. All you eastern whitetail hunters who have sat in a blind or a treestand from sunup to sundown know exactly what I’m talking about. Moving around to get warm runs the risk of blowing out deer. The only hope is that the involuntary shivering will provide a brief respite from the chill that has seeped deep into your bones.
That’s the part of hunting that’s no fun.
Over the years, we’ve learned the materials and layering strategies that help us, if not to conquer the cold, then to at least make it tolerable enough to stay out and hunt. But therein lies the rub — sufficient layering creates bulk, which creates its own problems when maneuvering for a shot with a bow or trying to shoulder a rifle. Layers of heavy, warm clothing can also induce the death knell of cold-weather hunting if you aren’t careful, and that is sweating. You sweat; you’re done. And I’m at a real disadvantage here because I can simply think about climbing a hill and I start to sweat.
A Solution
Last month, I went on a two-day deer hunt in southern Ohio and was able to test out a clothing system developed by Pnuma Outdoors called IconX Heated Core. Pnuma sent me a shirt, pant, and a handwarmer to test drive. And true to a late-December Ohio hunt, the first morning was a balmy 21 degrees. For me, that is definitely in the “not fun” zone on the thermometer, but it was the ideal conditions to see if this IconX Heated Core system was worth the price of admission.
Pnuma bills the IconX series as a heated thermal underwear base layer. Three items are offered in the series: long-sleeve shirt, vest, and pant. They also make a strap-on muff-style handwarmer.
The heart, or the core, of the clothing is a lithium battery-powered heating system comprised of thin wires the deliver heat to strategic parts of the body. On the shirt, for example, there is a heating grid positioned across the chest. In back, there is a grid below the neck and between the shoulder blades, and a lumbar grid along the lower back. These are the essential areas on the body where elevated warmth is sufficient to keep your core comfortably warm and to minimize felt cold along the arms and abdomen.
The pants follow a similar concept, with the heating grid positioned atop the thighs and lower back. Here, the large muscle groups in the legs stay warm, which helps keep the rest of your legs comfortable.
The heating grids are sewn to the inside of the clothing and are secured with their own panel. This “heat pocket,” as I call it, keeps the heated wires from directly contacting the skin. I believe it also helps trap warm air to better distribute the heat generated. Additional heat-trapping pockets come courtesy of the unique stitching of the shell in the areas around the heating grids. That’s the crinkle sections you see.
As mentioned, the Heated Core system is powered by rechargeable 7.4V lithium batteries — one battery per item. The battery plugs into the heating grid and secures in its own pocket. A hook-and-loop patch seals up the pocket, preventing the battery from slipping out.
Interestingly, the battery also includes a USB port, so you can charge your dead phone battery with it in a pinch.
Three heat settings are integrated into the system. This is controlled by a soft-touch button fused to the material. The buttons are waterproof and illuminate when the power is turned on to indicate the heat level — high (red), medium (orange), and low (green). The battery charge is fairly generous. On high, the unit will produce heat for up to two hours; four hours on medium and six+ hours on low.
In the Field
As I said, the first morning of the hunt was a bone-chilling 21 degrees when I stepped into the blind for an all-day sit. I waited about an hour and a half for my walk-in heat to disappear, then held out another half hour or so before turning on the thermal grids.
To make matters a little more chilling, in my rush to get in the blind before daybreak, I forgot to take my breakfast and my lunch! So, there was no fuel in the furnace for the entire day. One of my hunting buddies teased me by sending a picture of him gnawing on all kinds of snacks throughout the morning. My only defense was to send him a photo of me chewing on a twig and to ask for mercy. So, yes, I was more than a tad cold and my prospects for the day seemed bleak.
I turned on the pants and shirt, along with the handwarmer, to the low setting and settled in to see what would happen. I was expecting to feel a rush of warmth to the heated grids, but I could detect no zones of heat seeping in. Then at some point — maybe five or ten minutes later — I realized that I wasn’t cold anymore. I was just…comfortable. There were no hot spots, only an overall sense of warmth.
And so it went throughout the day, growling stomach notwithstanding. The IconX Heated Core system worked flawlessly, and so I enjoyed a full day in the Ohio River Valley hardwoods, watching Booner squirrels run around (Ohio squirrels are big!) and wishing something with antlers would come my way.
The next evening, my fortune turned around. A nice buck climbed the horizon of a field I was watching with minutes to go before shooting light ended. The 8-point was on the move and offered only a front-quartering shot, which is a difficult one to make because a wee bit off on the shot placement and the bullet can glance away from the vitals.
Easing the Dead Air Primal suppressor out of a slit in the blind, I grunted the buck to a stop and put my Burris Fullfield crosshairs between the shoulder and the brisket. The T/C Encore Pro prototype barrel (you can read more about this new offering here once it is released later in the year) barked softly and sent a 170-grain Hornady 350 Legend InterLock bullet straight into the boiler room. The buck spun and crashed dead into the brush within four seconds.
Not Just for Hunting
Although those of you who will be running between coyote sets over the next couple months could certainly benefit from a heating system like this, a set of Pnuma IconX Heated Core isn’t just for hunting. During the winter, my time on the range is necessarily clipped because I don’t play well in the cold; however, this is the perfect setup when cabin fever sets in and the shooting bench is covered in ice. You can stay behind the gun longer, and you won’t be encumbered by layer upon layer of clothing just to stay warm.
