KOM

[sunshine]

hello to all, i have a question about KOM wool. can someone with experience with KOM wool tell me the difference between the bowman jacket and the bushman shirt. is there a difference in weight of wool or construction of the shirt/jacket. from your experience can you tell me what is more open to different situations. is the jacket or the shirt more versatile. i would really appreciate your comments. thank you.-

[onewhohasfun]

I have had both for over 20 yrs. You will probably get more use out of a bushman. I don't wear my bowman jacket until late season. Jacket has a lining and is a little bulky for shooting a trad bow. I like my beavertail vest best of all. If I was buying my first pc. of quality wool I would look at a vest from Two Tracks. Chuck is a sponsor here and makes a great product.

[Warren Cowen]

I have the KOM bowman jacket. Had it for 12 years, and it been thru all hunting situation,rain,snow.It still likes new, love it. Thinking about getting the beavertail vest. Onewhohasfun, do you know how munch the vest cost from Two Track?

[lone hunter]

Have both. Use the bushman most, layer with woolpower. Jacket is great in late Dec and Jan hunting.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have the shirt, have had it 11 years. Love it. I THINK (don't own one so I'll stand corrected) that the coat is a little bulky.

[longbowben]

I have the bowman coat and the button up shirt.I wear the button up when warm and bowman coat when cold .If i had to buy one it would be a bowman coat, In my opinion the best coat ever made...........No mater what the weather im dry and warm.

[Orion]

I've had both for years.  I use the shirt during warmer temperatures and sometimes on my western hunts.  Use the jacket when the temps get below freezing.  Same wool thickness in each, but the jacket is lined, as has already been pointed out. I like the blowdown pattern best.  Greatest contrast in the pattern.

[sunshine]

i appreciate all the help. can you answer another question for me. when ordering do you order 1 size bigger (for any shrinkage) or do you order same size as normal everyday clothes (jeans and button up shirt).

[Follower]

I've had KOM for a lot of year and glad I invested in it when I did.  The Bowman is bulky and I avoid it until its pretty cold.  Most of the time I wear a Trapper pullover - I like it better than the Bushman but they're all good.  The Bowman is cut pretty large so I would stick with normal sizing.  The only item that I went a size bigger is the Trapper due to its cut and I can add a lot of layers under it.

[Northwoods]

can anyone supply ballpark numbers as to the warmest temps the bowman would be comfortable and the coldest the bushman or trapper would be comfortable?  

Ted

[ErikT]

I love my KOM trapper pullover.  It was a great investment. It's a tough, well made garment.  Expect about 3%-5 shrinkage over time.   I can wear it up to 50 degrees or so if I'm sitting still.  It's probably good down to 32 if you layer under it.

[carbonflyr]

the bowman jacket also has slashcut handwarmer pockets that the shirt doesn't have. they come in real handy when you don't want to wear heavy gloves.

[cacciatore]

I have my KOM clothing for long time they still look like new,maybe softer than new.Never had the need of the Bowman Jacket,the bushman is been on all my elk hunts and if needed I layer with some sweather wool.Best garment I have ever had.

[Walt Francis]

As the others have said, they are both great!  It is mostly a trade off of extra bulk for greater warmth for the bowman jacket.  I only use my bowman jacket when the temp drops below zero, but for me the bushman is only good down to around 20 without excessive layering.  The trapper fills the void real nice.  In fact, my trapper before I out grew it.... (I mean before it shrunk... Yea, that’s it, it shrunk…That terminology makes me feel better already), and my KOM vest was good down to -10. These temps are for tree stand hunting, when walking, stalking, or climbing, there has only been one time when hunting in Montana when I needed the jacket while out of the tree stand.  As Erik said, it will shrink 3-5% over time, and you may want to allow for a 5-10% growth spurt, especially if marriage is in the future.

However, after all the praise I just gave KOM, I now use Hidden/Gray Wolf for most of my cold weather hunting; the weave of the wool is tighter and it blocks the wind better without a liner.  In my opinion, both of the patterns, predator and Blowdown, are excellent with Blowdown getting the edge.

[wahoo]

I've had my shirt for at least 15yrs and I wear it all seasons . Our seasons run until new years and just by layering I get by all winter. Still looks brand new. Depending on how you plan on using it I would think the shirt is all you need. I would just buy it big enough to layer. Great stuff.

[wahoo]

sorry I think the difference is the jacket has some kind of gortex wind block liner and the shirt does not. For archery in all seasons for me the shirt is all you need.