The objective of the work is to demonstrate the ability of the PIV technique to provide correct measurements of the velocity field in steady underexpanded hot free jet. A hot-gas generator capable to create jets with an initial diameter of 25 mm, total pressure up to 4 MPa, and total temperature up to 2200 K is presented together with the associated technique of stagnation conditions determination. The implementation of the PIV method is described paying attention to the choice of the PIV system components and to the seeding technique. Experimental results are presented on the observed jet structure and directly measured geometry of the Mach disk. The results on the velocity field are analyzed considering the effect of the kind of seeding particles as well as the jet stagnation conditions. Results from the experiment and numerical simulation are compared to validate the measurements of the velocity field.