Back country clothing

[SWODM3]

I hate to open this bucket of worms but I am on the search. I’m Located in Calgary and prefer to try stuff on before purchase but I find it hard to locate certain brands. So I gotta ask what brands do people like for mountain hunting. Over night - week long trips sept- November. I have a few sitka shirts but hate the price tag when getting into the winter gear. Any suggestions on what holds up and what you’ll just buy then replace? Full kits or mix and match gear? I am interested in first lite and kuiu but once again it’s tricky to locate gear and might just buy online and hope it fits right.

Thanks in advance!

[MountainTi]

Find a Helly Hansen outlet store. There is lot's of good clothing around made right here in Canada or at least North America.
I don't understand the fascination with buying overpriced hunting clothing made in China.....Sitka, kuiu (and I have some of each)
Don't need camo to be a successful hunter

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Swazi out of New Zealand has great gear as well.

[Outbound]

It really depends on your budget. Arcteryx makes the best, but you pay for it. First Lite is good but also up there in price. Columbia is more budget friendly.

[3blade]

I have a mix of firstlite, Sitka, icebreaker, northface, Cabela’s and helly hanson collected over the years. Firstlite and Sitka are pretty dead on with sizing, ordered online and haven’t had a problem.

You can save serious $ by looking around and waiting for sales. Eg: Cabela’s backcountry glassing pants were over $100 cheaper than Sitka for basically the same thing. Firstlite sale saved me around $300 on a bunch of stuff. It’s not a cheap endeavor though.

Current gen gear from hunting brands has two advantages over sport brands: camo (yes it helps, no it’s not essential) and durability. Many pieces are reinforced in places that get hard use during a hunt. Time is not a friend to goretex. Refresh the DWR treatment yearly, but also understand that it will eventually wear out and leak. I have been replacing worn out synthetic pieces with merino. It’s also worth understanding that any “membrane” fabric needs a thermal gradient to move moisture away from your skin...so if you are hiking hard in the cold and have to suddenly stop and sneak slowly without adding layers, you’ll get real cold. Wool is much better in this regard, and much quieter overall.

Rokslide is a good place to find info, but it’s worth remembering that most of those guys are well south of us.

As far as late season hunts - you really should have a heated shelter to do overnights. All the high end clothing in the world won’t save you if you cant warm up.

[j335]

I was upgrading my gear as my hunting style is changing and ended up with alot of 50-60% off Eddie Bauer gear (guide pants, rain jacket, puffy jacket). Take a look at "thelasthunt" website, bought a Outdoor Research Ferrosi gridded jacket for $85 (vs similar Kuiu Peloton 240 $260). Just some examples, you can find all that gear in earth tones. Best thing is I can use this gear daily.

I have some random First Lite, Kuiu, Sitka gear that I have some experience with. I think Kuiu stuff on sale is a good value (sizing is odd). I think First Lite is a bit overpriced for quality and Sitka stuff is very durable but you pay for it.

[Canadian made]

You could try Fjallraven as well. Most of their hunting line is not in Canada yet but it is great outdoor gear nonetheless.

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[dalewig]

I’m a big fan of Eddie Bauer , perhaps it’s not as good as kuiu/Sitka but I think still pretty darn good quality and wayyyy cheaper . I wear the guide pro pants for sept/oct then have an alpine version of the pants for when snow hits , alpine version is more of a mountaineering pant. They also have good puffy and fleece for great prices.

As someone else mentioned the last hunt is a good website , got some good deals on outdoor research gear there.

If you aren’t set on camo you can get good clothing and save a ton of money by going with non-hunting specific companies.

[bobwayzie]

Used might be the way to go, I picked up a really nice First Lite puffy jacket from a user here for a good price

the last hunt website is full of sales, last season's items but when you can save $100+ on a pair of pants who cares if it's last season.

[Tronneroi]

I got some Plythal gear on sale through camofire. Really reasonably priced, even outside of the sale.

I've taken more game in a pair of Carhartt pants than I have wearing anything else though. Redhartt in Calgary will order you anything that Carhartt carries.

[Abe89]

I’ve been doing multi day backcountry trips Since 2004, love it so much I even grabbed a BA in the stuff, anything from 3 days to 10 days to 21 days...I’ve had the chance to try out a lot of different gear.
I’ve found the average lifespan of goretex to be 3 years max no matter how well you take care of it or what the price tag is.
I’ve used a wide range of fleeces and wool sweaters...these can be very inexpensive, but very effective.
REI, MEC northface, outdoor research, mountain hardware...tons of good tried and true brands.
I’ve done all kinds of winter camping in snow shelters with nothing but winter weight synthetic or wool long johns, a midweight wool sweater, and a heavy weight fleece and wool layer underneath goretex shells....and I’ve done the same with 10$ pieces of crap from Can tire. Nauturally synthetic tends to smell...
So, it’s all doable, absolutely...it doesn’t have to cost lots and you can grab better items one by one as you have money.
That being said I’m a kuiu guy. That research and technology exists for a reason, I agree that they are more durable in certain areas, are designed to move and stretch, but definitely two of my biggest sells (other than performance) are weight and pack ability...hold a sitka cloudburst jacket and kuiu chugach side by side, you can feel the weight difference and the kuiu compresses smaller. yet I can’t tell you how blown away I am at its ability to breath yet still keep me dry. (I’ve done weighted hikes in -30, jacket will have a layer of hoar frost sweat that permeates through, yet it hasn’t leaked yet). I may have had a dud product but my sitka cloudburst had me soaked in 3 hours...I could’ve wrung out my sweater. That’s a hard pill to swallow for its price tag. When you’re in the backcountry that stuff is your life line. Get stuff that works within your price range. Heck, I know of a guy that went for a day hike in jeans and a cotton shirt in a wildland surrounded by farm country....got lost, freak spring snow/rain came in, just about lost him to hypothermia. I’ve done 90% of my backcountry stuff in cheap sweaters and fleeces, springing a little extra for good shells...make sure it works. And quick sidenote, kuiu has gear days, catch em and try stuff on, write your size down and keep it for when you order it in.


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[JohnB]

Another vote for Eddie Baurer. Guide pants are my go to for early season.

[BigJon]

Originally Posted by CDNOutdoorsman

Swazi out of New Zealand has great gear as well.

Just a heads up that the owner of Swazi came out of in support of the gun ban decree in New Zealand (semi auto’s including Browning BAR’s, ruger 10/22, etc).

I was getting a pro discount through them but I’m done buying anything from that company. Too bad b/c they do make some practical outdoor clothing.

[roper1]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Find a Helly Hansen outlet store. There is lot's of good clothing around made right here in Canada or at least North America.
I don't understand the fascination with buying overpriced hunting clothing made in China.....Sitka, kuiu (and I have some of each)
Don't need camo to be a successful hunter

Agreed. I run Merino under, some blend of at least 85% wool over that with something rainproof handy. Having said that, my son hunts hard & is a Kuiu fanatic.

[Dubious]

Buy gear that matches your hunting style and terrain. All of the gear does work the fancy stuff does cost more but has less bulk. If you’re not doing long range multi day/week long backpack hunts you don’t need a 3000$ wardrobe and if you are doing that style you done need it all on day one ease into it, what works for one guy may not fit your body or work well in your specific environment. Your going to want to try some stuff out and may decide to switch brands for what ever reasons. I have a lot of Sitka but am growing more fond of first light for my back pack hunts. Truck based stuff I’ll wear anything that matches the conditions and isn’t made of the devils cotton.

[oldgutpile]

I hunted decades in plain wool, and just using the layering system. Quiet, warm (too warm on days?), and still works while wet (although it can get real heavy!).
The biggest advantage is QUIET. When I am wandering the thick bush looking for elk, nothing works better.
Having said all that, I have bought both sitka and kuiu gear. The Kuiu gear, especially with the "Zip-pitts", for me is a game changer. So easy and pleasant to regulate your heat with these. I dont find it anywhere near quiet enough for many circumstances though, and it does not hold up like wool for the money.

[SWODM3]

Interesting to see some guys are like myself and use gear that isn’t necessarily hunting only gear. What ever works and is on sale has always been my method. I do like the kits as long as they’re good quality and not insane prices.

[Stinky Coyote]

Most of mine comes from MEC, big fan of patagonia alpine guide pants, the usual merino base layers, down options, syn hoodie, pretty much everything, good gators there too. Reasonably priced most of it, couple places to step up like those pants or a solid down coat for when you stop etc. but otherwise you can stay pretty basic. Those pants of mine wearing like iron, i use them for skiing also, why not.

Camo is for hiding from people, not animals. The sheep are probably more scared of camo than regular hiker gear. I go no camo for anything i can except maybe calling coyotes, even then faded carhartt's work pretty good there too. Probably doesn't hurt in a treestand with a bow, otherwise, don't bother, look more like a clown in camo than anything imo. Weird fashion for people only.

[Broken-Arrow]

Someone mentioned Fjallraven already, they have a store downtown Calgary and another in Banff. Haven't tried their jackets but they make some wicked (bushcraft) pants that are great for hunting.
Also a big fan of FirstLite, but they only do direct sales now so thats a pitfall.