Asio Late Season Jacket & Bibs Review (Dead Quiet Warmth)

If you are trying to find out what you would be getting if you bought the Asio Gear Late Season Jacket and Bibs, then keep reading because you’re going to want to see this.

I have tested and reviewed a lot of hunting gear over the last few years and had the opportunity to test and review a lot of options from Asio. I’ve reviewed their early-season hoodie and pants, and most of their mid-season lineup and learned a lot about the quality of their products and how they hold up when compared to some of the best in the business.

With all this experience, I’ve become a fan, and what I found in this Asio Late Season Jacket and Bibs review has just added to that.

Let me explain.

Asio Late Season Jacket and Bibs Review

In September, Asio Gear provided me with their new 2.0 version of the Late Season Jacket and the Late Season Bibs to test and review. Yes, I got these items for free, but if you read my other reviews here, you already know that doesn’t matter.

I only write unbiased reviews based on real-world testing. My integrity is more important than any company’s product. That being said, I didn’t find much to dislike about Asio’s late-season gear.

I tested Asio’s late-season jacket and bibs during both November and January hunts in the coldest conditions possible. I saddle-hunted and hunted from a Novix Helo mobile tree stand. I climbed trees, hiked through dense brush, and put these late-season options to the test.

Here’s what I found.

Asio Gear Late Season Jacket 2.0

Features

• Ultra Quiet: The new 2.0 version’s outer material is extremely quiet. It’s surprisingly quiet for a late-season windproof jacket.
• Just Plain Tough: The durability is excellent, like most of the Asio Gear I’ve tested. You can tell when you pick it up that it will hold up in thick brush and tough terrain.
• Ultra Windproof: The windstopping membrane just plain works. This is a thick, heavy jacket and the wind isn’t getting through this thing.
• Warm as Hell: I don’t care what temperatures you are hunting in. You don’t want to wear this on the hike-in. I did it for a test and regretted it big time. 10 degrees with sub-zero wind chill? Check!

This jacket is for you if you want to do all-day sits in the coldest parts of bow season. Follow Asio’s layering recommendations and you can go sub-zero with this jacket. I sat in 25-degree temps with a 290g Merino base layer and Asio Midweight Hoodie and didn’t even think about the cold. In 15-degree weather with sub-zero wind chills and the Core Warmth Vest, I was toasty for hours in 20-30 MPH winds.

Unlike most late-season jackets, it is dead quiet and you can draw your bow with confidence instead of apprehension. I recommend washing it 1-2 times before hunting with it. I found that from November to mid-January it really quieted down to just about perfect after a few washes.

Asio Gear Late Season Bibs 2.0

Features

• Ultra Quiet: Just like the jacket, the bibs are extremely quiet. For late-season archery, you don’t find this kind of stealth often.
• Brush Busting: Can take on dense brush and look as good as new after. I picked some thorns out, and they held up really well.
• Highly Windproof: In 20-30 MPH winds, nothing comes through.
• No Bulk: Late-season bibs you can hike to your spot in comfortably, but you better unzip the leg zips or you’ll overheat fast.

The bibs are my favorite of the two here. I used the bibs even when only wearing the Core Warmth Vest and Sherpa-lined jacket. They are extremely versatile for an extreme cold weather hunting bib. Low bulk, quiet, comfortable, and easy to vent out. These bibs are flat-out awesome for late-season archery.

Asio Late Season Jacket 2.0 Review

Putting together this Asio Late Season Jacket review was more difficult than I thought it would be, it just wasn’t cold enough in November here in Pennsylvania to give it a good test. On my first morning hunt, I tried to test it I only had around 300 yards to walk and decided to wear it hiking in.

Big mistake.

I sweated like a banshee and was so heated up that I left it at the base of my tree. The bibs and other layers I was wearing ended up being plenty. It was 25 degrees when I walked into the woods that day, but was up to 38 by the time I walked out.

In January, I was finally able to put it to the test. We had over a week of serious cold here in the USA and I jumped at the chance to test the jacket once again.

This time I sat in 10-degree temperatures with sub-zero wind chills that were so cold at times they hurt my eyes. I did this for two more days and I even wore the jacket to shovel snow at my house.

Warm, Wind Stopping. and Water Resistant

The jacket stops the wind. No question about it. With the wrist gaiters, the ability to cinch the jacket down at the waist, and an extra long back; no wind is getting through. Period. No matter how hard the winds blew on me and I had them blowing in gusts up to 30 MPH, I didn’t feel the wind at all.

I did not get rained on while wearing the jacket during my test, but I did get snowed on quite a bit. I didn’t worry because I have used the Sherpa-lined jacket a lot and this is just a heavier version of that. It repels water very well. The snow didn’t bother me at all and that is a plus.

The jacket is built with taped seams on every single pocket. From the sherpa-lined jacket pockets to the chest and rangefinder pockets, this thing is sealed up for warmth.

Bottom line: The jacket is incredibly warm and can handle sub-zero temps with the right layering and you don’t have to worry about the wind or light rain or snow. You will want to carry the jacket into your hunting spot though. It is just too warm to wear when hiking.

Dead Quiet and Built for Bow Hunters

The jacket is built for bow hunters through and through. The attention to detail is what sets this jacket apart from others in this category. The collar is tapered to allow for solidifying your anchor point when drawing your bow. The tree stand safety harness slit in the back is a great feature that almost every bow hunter looks for and the jacket is super quiet.

The difference between the original version to the new 2.0 version is significant. This jacket is very quiet. Normally when you shake your arms back and forth in a jacket like this, the windproof membrane makes a lot of noise. Not in the new 2.0 version. Is it completely silent? No, but very close.

Fit, Durability, and Function

The Asio Late Season Jacket fit well, but after wearing it a bit I wished I had gotten a medium instead of a large. I am 5’8″ and 185 lbs and normally wear a large. That being said, I can be between sizes with different clothing. The jacket sleeves were slightly long for me and the jacket was slightly heavy and a little bulky.

I believe if I had gotten a medium instead of a large, this would have been rectified. My only wonder is how much that would restrict layering. With the large size, I had no problem adding extra layers underneath, even though the sleeves taper to allow for drawing your bow.

In addition, the jacket is extremely comfortable.

I carried the jacket with me most of the time, but the one time I did bust brush with it, it held up very well. Read below and see what I thought about the durability of the bibs and that should clear things up for you. I think the jacket is seriously tough and extremely durable.

The biggest question I had was how would the jacket do when hunting from a tree stand or saddle. In my saddle, it was a little bulky and I looked scrunched up, but as I said above, this might have been better if I got the medium instead of the large.

Climbing trees using my climbing sticks wasn’t an issue and when hunting from my Novix Helo stand I didn’t have any problems. I liked having my safety harness on under the jacket. If I had to wear it over it, that would not have been comfortable. Being able to put my hands in the sherpa-lined pockets instead of fighting to get through the safety harness was a big plus.

Highly Recommended

The Asio Late Season Jacket 2.0 is a great option for bow hunters who want to beat the wind, stay warm and dry, and be comfortable in the stand in January or February. The ability to stay quiet sets it apart from other options and this will definitely be a plus for bow hunters.

Asio Late Season Bibs Review

The thing that stood out to me after a few hunts with the bibs between November and January is how versatile they are. You can wear them in the low thirties to below-freezing with the right layers.

With the leg zippers that run down the entire length of each pant leg, you can easily vent out on those days when it’s in the 20s and 30s. But still have an asset to use for the extreme cold of the late season.

I like these bibs even more than the jacket. They are incredibly warm and extremely comfortable. Plus, they are extremely quiet for a late-season pant. I was really impressed.

Warm, Wind Stopping, and Water-Resistant

There’s not much to add here. The bibs mimic the jacket in almost every way in this category. That being said, I think the bibs are warmer than the jacket. You can put them on in your living room and you’ll be burning up in 10 minutes.

I wore them shoveling snow and did snow angles in them and felt no extra cold and the snow didn’t get through the Durable Water Resistant (DWR) protection at all. These bibs are as solid as they come.

Fit, Durability, and Function

The fit of the bibs was perfect for me (as opposed to the jacket). I have between a 33 and 34 inch waist and normally wear a 30-32 inch inseam. The medium size I received fit like a glove and I had no issues layering underneath them. I used my 300g weight Merino bottoms with the bibs and had no issues. I was extremely comfortable and warm.

The durability sets the bibs apart from other late-season offerings that focus on using fleece toppers to keep things quiet. These pants can handle dense brush and I had to pull out numerous jaggers, without any issues. The bibs take the thick stuff on very well.

This is the one thing I think sets Asio’s gear apart from a lot of other companies. They offer a bow hunter-specific product that applies a multifaceted approach to the product with serious attention to detail in the design.

Highly Recommended

The low bulk yet extremely warm nature of the Asio Late Season Bibs allowed me to hike, climb trees, hunt in my saddle, and tree stand comfortably without any issues. The bibs are extremely functional and I’ll be wearing them a lot next season.

Conclusion

In this comprehensive Asio Late Season Jacket and Bibs Review, I gave you a ton of reasons to like and little to dislike about this unique late-season bow hunting gear.

These items will match up with the high-quality construction and attention to detail of the top brands in the business. Take that along with their one-of-a-kind RAPTOR camouflage and you have a winner.

I can’t recommend the Asio Late Season Jacket and Bibs enough. Get them now.