My personal opinion on merino goes against the common narrative. I don't like it. It feels wet to me. I prefer polypropylene base, Marino over that, then layer according to conditions.
Possibly if I wasn't moving, I'd like it better. Oh well. I do what works for me. You will have to test out what works for you.
Very interesting. I had the opposite performance- merino wool underlayer was very warm, wet with sweat or dry. Polypropylene, cold when wet, always wet. But everyone's experience is different, and where you are and what you're doing makes a difference. I was mostly in the Washington and Oregon Cascades, a pretty wet environment but not extreme cold (above freezing mostly). I was a hiker and a backpacker, so a lot of sweat & movement, not a lot of still time. My operating assumption was that I was gonna be wet from sweat all the time.
The best pants i ever found were Army surplus wool whipcord. Dense weave heavy wool shirt. I carried a wadded up down vest for camp. And a Goretex rain/wind mountaineering parka, or early on, a surplus USMC poncho, which doubled for a tent (these i wore only when not moving much, or in a downpour). Last but far from least, a heavy wool watch cap, and some rag wool gloves. This outfit was heavy by modern standards, but it worked very well. Silent moving through brush.
At one time, I had a dense, heavy wool cardigan supposedly made by some Indians in Canada. High collar, heavy-duty zipper. It shed water, was maybe the best "coat" I ever found. Smelled heavily of lanolin, might've been a garment intended for subsistence fishermen. Not for carrying a pack though.
An important point: tip-top physical condition is worth a lot of outer wear. If not in shape, you'll likely be cold and subject to hypothermia.