Base layer recommendations

Hi all. Before I nio down to mountain warehouse and get whatever base layer they have on offer are there any that I should look at first? I do have some bamboo ones which are excellent but too expensive for farming at 45 quid each.

Nothing beats wool/merino wool as base layer unless its kinda hot outside.
Dries quick, keeps you warm when wet.
Fleece as mid layer when really cold.

I run in the norwegian mountains all year, and often use bamboo in hotter days, but always wool when sub +5'C.
I even use only wool sweatshirt at +3 to +12'C alot when its not much wind and rain.

My best mate moves timber and loads lorries on an open crane in all weathers. I got him some base layer stuff from sports direct for xmas, long sleeve top and long johns. Quick wicking stuff £26 if I remember right.

sniper

Listen to the Norwegian fellows - their advice will be spot-on where this is concerned.
If you can get Norwegian army shirts they're excellent but these are not a base-layer. The military folk I work with swear by Buffalo Mountain shirts but they cost an arm and leg but are a well-ventilated tough, work top

For regular working trips to the Falklands I went to Mountain Whorehouse or Blacks (I forget which) and got some excellent Peter Storm longjohns and long sleeved thermal base-layer also by Peter Storm and these are excellent. LINK TO TOP
The undershirt has a zipped neck so you can allow heat out; it's important in a cold climate to "dress up and dress down" as required so you don't get into a situation where you generate a sweat because that will go cold and make you cold (and wet) later on.

I'm outside all day every day and appreciate the not getting a sweat on as that's a surety for becoming frozen. In the past I have struggled with having enough clothing to be warm meaning that it's almost impossible to work effectively. Being warm and still able to move, that's the future!

Looking on mountain warehouse they do a merino set at 26quid each which isn't totally offensive for workwear, they also have a polyester high wicking set at 10 each. Think I might have to handle each see how warm they feel.

Well from a personal perspective, (I work outdoors in all weathers all year round). Some of my work can be fairly 'passive' such as just walking around big jets visually inspecting stuff, but an hour or so later I might be involved in changing several huge mainwheels which is heavy and laborious work interspersed with stopping to do detailed work such as wirelocking etc. So it's easy to get very hot then get very cold shortly after.
I'd say the best single piece of clobber I've got are my Buffalo Mountain shirts - simply because they take a hell of a lot of punishment, are capable of keeping you warm - even when wet, and have a whole load of vents to unzip to stop you building up too much heat,
Mine get covered in everything from aviation fuel to grease and as a result are constantly being washed, yet they survive for years.

However you were talking about base-layers (I assume for sub zero conditions). I usually get away with just a tee-shirt under the Buffalo but if its seriously windy thats when the PeteStorm thermal shirt comes out.
Sometimes I'll use the thermal base-layers with the Norgie Army shirt with a big Hi Vis coat over the top of that... Or a Norgie Army knitted Jumper (not to be confused with the Norgie shirt) as well as the hi-vis coat.
Unfortunately the Norgie Army jumpers are difficult if not impossible to get here.

It is a dilemma and takes a lot of different combinations trial and errors and experiments etc to find what suits you - at the end of the day its horses for courses

Unfortunately I haven't tried any of the Merino stuff but Ive heard its highly regarded.