I just bought a bunch of the Sitka clothing on sale from Cabela's for half price. I have been wearing mountaineering clothing for many years, having joined REI back in the 1960's when it was still a relatively small co-op for people who wanted the latest mountaineering equipment. Of course, there have been many advances in materials and designs over the years. Now all of that stuff is pretty mainstream with almost everyone I know wearing it. I feel like the song, "I was country when country wasn't cool".
I already had quite a bit of the mountaineering clothing and would wear it under my camo hunting gear. The problem was that almost no camo was truly state of the art in design and materials until Sitka Gear started making its products. Their biggest accomplishment was they created a "system" that incorporated existing technologies but designed them for use in hunting scenarios with camo patterns, pockets, layering, etc., that fit the needs of hunters. When you compare the Sitka Gear products to similar mountaineering clothing made by companies like The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Cloudveil, Marmot, and others, the prices are similar. But most of the other companies are not making systems that are designed specifically to fit our needs as hunters. Browning has come out with a new system of hunter clothing that is very nice. I tried it on and the sales rep told me it was better than Sitka Gear, but I did not agree. If I had to pay retail for both brands, I might pick the Browning; however, at the half off sales price, I did not even think twice about the Browning when I ordered the Celcius bibs, vest and jacket, the 90% pants and jacket, the Traverse beanie, the Core top, and the ball cap. I would have ordered the Traverse top and bottom and the Core bottom, but they were out of stock. I did end up buying the Power Dry Polarfleece top and bottom made by Cabela's because it is similar to the Traverse top and bottom and will probably do fine. I figure if I need to strip down to just a lightweight top, the Core top will work fine, and I could layer it over another long underwear top if I needed a little extra warmth.
Admittedly, I have only tried on the Sitka Gear and wore it around outside for awhile this weekend. I have not hunted in it yet to see how it performs in the field, but based on having used mountaineering clothing in hunting environments and experiencing the way the Sitka Gear initially feels, I think it will be great. Not only that, I have talked to many people who have used the Sitka Gear, and the only complaints have been about warmth until people learned how to layer up. Well, I guess people complain about how much it costs too, and that is a legitimate concern.
I wanted the Sitka Gear for things like elk, moose, sheep, bear and other cool/cold weather hunting where I will either be very active or need to travel by aircraft to get there. I need to have all my hunting clothing fit into a reasonable space, whether in the bags that will be going into limited space on an aircraft (especially bush planes) or will be put into my backpack to transport to a fly camp or to carry on my daily hunting treks. Some wool, like long underwear, caps, gloves, or other small items work well in those situations, but most wool outer garments get bulky and heavy. There are various problems with other clothing too, which is why the mountaineering folks started creating clothing for those conditions. Would I spend the kind of money it takes to buy all the Sitka Gear just to drive my car to an area to hunt for deer, hogs or other animals, particularly when I was normally hunting from a tree stand or a ground blind? Heck no! I'm not sure that the current Sitka Gear would even be the best clothing for the job under those circumstances.
I appreciate the input from Curt, JC and many others here on TradGang about their experiences with Sitka Gear. What they say is very similar to what I hear from everyone else I have talked to about the clothing, but it is nice to have people I trust confirming my impressions. I bet my 1/2 off purchases of Sitka Gear from Cabela's are about as good as what the "pro-staffers" paid for theirs. I know JC and can personally confirm he would not say anything about Sitka Gear that wasn't factually true, and I believe Curt is the same. I doubt I will be alive 40 years from now like Steve O, and I definitely will not be hunting by then, but it is good to know that Steve thinks the Sitka Gear will last that long.
Arrowslinger, I am 6'1" and weigh 185 pounds and large regular length fits me perfectly in all the Sitka Gear clothing. The large regular pants have an inseam of 32" and the large long pants have an inseam of 34". In jeans I wear 34"w x 34"l, but the large regular Sitka Gear pants (both the Celcius bibs and the 90% pants) at 32" fit perfectly. At 6'3" you would probably want the long pants unless you are long-waisted.
Allan
Topic: Sitka gear? (Read 2547 times)
