Our Story
Born in the Midwest.
Built for the Hunt.
I got tired of writing checks to western brands for gear that wasn't made for the hunt I was actually doing. So I built something that was. — Mike Miceli, Co-Founder
The Origin
We Are Midwest Hunters First.
I grew up in Northern Illinois. Every fall, deer hunting with my family — that's how I was raised. It's not a backstory. It's just life. Still is.
I also grew up around my family's textile and sewing operation. Two hundred craftsmen. Sixty years of knowing exactly how fabric is built — and how it fails.
When I started hunting seriously as an adult, I kept running into the same problem. The brands everyone talks about — the ones marketed as premium — weren't built for what I was doing. I'd be sweating through a jacket rated for 20°F on a 50° October morning. I'd freeze through a cold front by noon on a sit I should've stayed for. I kept paying western prices for gear that wasn't designed for hardwood bottoms or picked cornfields.
In 2023 I stopped waiting for someone else to fix it. We pulled from 60 years of textile knowledge, sourced fabrics actually built for Midwest conditions, and started building. Seams failed. Fabrics made noise. We fixed every one of them.
Three years later that work is a full system. ThermoShield — the mid and late season answer — is shipping now, and it's the piece the line was always building toward.
What came out the other side is Cheli — made by Midwest hunters, for Midwest hunters. That's not a tagline. That's just what it is.
Years of Textile & Sewing Craft
60 Years of Craft Behind Every Stitch.
My family has been in textile and commercial sewing for 60 years. We know how fabric is constructed. We know where seams fail. We know what "built to last" actually means in production — not in a marketing deck.
When I decided to build Cheli, I didn't start from zero. I started with six decades of knowing how gear should be made. That's something no western brand launching a Midwest line can replicate.
Why It Matters
Built for the Midwest Hunt.
Not Adapted for It.
Temperature Swings
40°F in a single sit is normal here. Frozen at first light, stripped down by 10am, cold front rolling back in before last light. Your gear needs to handle all three — western insulation wasn't built for that math.
Pressured Timber
Midwest whitetail have seen every hunter in the county. Silent movement isn't a feature here — it's a requirement. Every fabric choice we make starts with noise. Always.
Terrain That Changes
Hardwood ridges, creek bottoms, picked cornfields, cattail marshes — sometimes in the same morning. One system has to work across all of it. That's what we build for.
Shipping Now
The ThermoShield™ System
The mid and late season answer. Run the Hunt Suit as one piece, or build the same coverage out of separates and shed a layer when the temperature climbs. Windproof, water-repellent, silent — engineered for the cold front and the last sit of the year.
First production run · Coppice Camo only · Limited quantities by size
ThermoShield Hunt Suit
The coldest-day piece. PrimaLoft® insulation, internal suspender system, silent-access zippers, fully articulated cut.
Limited first run · S–3XL
ThermoShield Jacket
Windproof, water-repellent, silent face fabric. No insulation — you decide what goes underneath.
Limited first run · S–3XL
ThermoShield Bibs
Full lower-body coverage built for all-day sits without locking up your legs when it's time to move.
Limited first run · S–3XL
ThermoShield Vest
Core warmth without the bulk. Layer it under the Jacket or run it solo through transitional weather.
Limited first run · S–3XL
The Gear
What Goes Underneath
The midweight layers that carry you from early October through the last sit of the year — and stack under ThermoShield when the cold front lands.
ThermoFleece 1/2 Zip Hoodie
Grid fleece mid-layer built for 35–60°F. Breathable, moisture-wicking, silent. The foundation of any Midwest layering system.
Outpost Light 1/2 Zip Jacket
Polartec Alpha insulation. DWR treated. 4-way stretch. Silent fabric articulated for bow draw. Built for the stand and the blind.
Renaissance Pant
278GSM soft-shell. DWR treated. 4-way stretch, heat vents, snap hem system. The pant we couldn't find — so we built it.
What Hunters Are Saying
From the Field
Your Hunt.
Your Gear.
Built for the Midwest hunter — not repurposed from someone else's mountain kit. The ThermoShield system is shipping now.
First production run · Limited quantities by size
Shop All Gear