I just got back from the annual Safari Club International convention in Reno, Nevada, where I spent a few days with my best friend Doug Burns. Doug and I will be going to Australia in June to hunt Asiatic buffalo with TradGanger Andy Ivy. Buff did the same hunt last year and has a great write-up about it on the Dangerous Game forum. I didn't see Andy at the SCI convention, but I saw a lot of outfitters who were offering buffalo hunts in Oz, and I sure am pumped about the trip. I will be shooting a Super Shrew two piece takedown longbow that Gregg Coffey built for me as a cape buffalo bow for Africa. Hopefully I will take one or more buffalo in Oz because I did not ever get in a position to take a shot at a cape buffalo when I was in Africa. It was really neat seeing the pictures and the mounted taxidermy of the Asiatic buffalo. They are BIG animals. If any of you get the chance to go to a Safari Club convention (in Reno, Dallas, Houston, etc.) you will love it. While most of the hunters there are not traditional bow hunters, you may be surprised at how willing everyone is to accommodate guys like us who shoot trad.
While I was at the convention, I got an email from our own Doug Campbell telling me that I needed to see if I could locate fellow TradGanger and Doug's good friend Mark Baker who was working in famous wildlife artist John Banovich's booth. I wrote Doug back and told him I knew John and had been talking with him that very day, but that I would go back by the booth and try to find Mark. The next day I met Mark and had an extended discussion with him. I kind of feel like Will Rogers, because I have never met a TradGanger I didn't like, and Mark was no exception. It is a great community we have here where we can be among our own in just about any major hunting event.
But wait -- the story doesn't end there. A couple of hours after meeting Mark, Doug Burns and I decided to hit the Mexican buffet for lunch. The few food concessions at the convention are really packed around noon, so Doug and I went a few minutes early and got one of the last empty tables available, which happened to seat 6 people. We weren't surprised when a few minutes later three guys showed up and asked if we would mind sharing the table with them. I had my face buried in my food and told them they were welcome before I even had a chance to look up. When I did raise my head, who should I see taking a seat opposite me but Jason Hairston! In case any of you have been locked in a closet the last few years and don't know who Jason is, he is one of the founders and the former CEO of Sitka Gear. Jason and I had met before during the early days of Sitka Gear when he was at the Schnee's booth promoting his new line of clothing that was bringing the latest mountaineering technology and design to the hunting industry. Most people know Sitka Gear's meteoric rise to fame. Jason sold out of Sitka Gear and has started a new company called Kuiu that will again revolutionize the hunting clothing world. Jason was there with a couple of his Kuiu guys, including Brendan Burns (no relation to my buddy Doug Burns -- at least not that they were aware of).
I had just been telling Doug about Jason starting up Kuiu and how Doug was going to need to get some of the new clothing, so we were both a little weirded out about the coincidence of Jason and the others sitting down at our table. I had been thinking of all the questions I wanted to ask Jason and things I wanted to discuss with him but probably wouldn't get the chance to. I had even written him on his Kuiu blog and asked some questions, but with all the other folks writing, Jason hadn't gotten around to responding to many of the questions, mine being one of them.
As soon as we reacquainted, I started asking Jason all my questions, and to my surprise, he and Brendan pulled out the new Icon prototype carbon fiber pack frame and samples of all the new fabrics for the clothing. WOW!!!! He has some great stuff coming! The pack frame is surprisingly small, light and simple looking. It seems to be the ideal platform for what most of us would be looking for in a pack frame for backcountry hunting or for light day trips, because it also has two different bags -- 6000 or 3000 cubic inches -- depending on what you are using it for. The packs will be super light, but will be able to haul up to 120 pounds. The only piece of the pack that they had with them was the carbon fiber frame, which was more like a sheet with lashing holes and "handles" at the two top and two bottom corners. I was impressed! I'm getting an Icon as soon as it comes out.
The clothing is going to be great too. One of the things I am really happy about is that Jason is specifying all of the fabrics in solid colors and most of them also in the new camo pattern. I have a big problem wearing camo clothing when I travel, especially on the airlines. Even I don't like seeing civilians dressed in camo walking around the airports, and non-hunters are sometimes actually offended, which does us hunters no good. So when I go hunting, I always take along all my hunting clothing, including long underwear, pants, jackets, vests, rain gear, insulating layers, caps, etc., in both camo and solids. That means my baggage is much heavier and bulkier -- both of those characteristics being bad for today's air travel where size and weight is restricted and I get charged about $25 a bag each way for every item of checked baggage. I will always have at least one checked bag for my bow, arrows, broadheads, knives, liquids, etc., but checking more than one bag gets more expensive as well as being a hassle to get onto smaller aircraft, boats, horse panniers, etc., when you get closer to the hunting area. For most of my active hunting trips, where I will be doing something other than spending the majority of my time sitting in a stand, solid colors are almost as good as camo patterns, and they obviate the need for taking along two sets of clothes for everything. I will definitely be getting solid colors for most of the clothing with a couple of items of camo to break up my outline on the occasions it will be most helpful. For sure I will have a camo cap and a camo vest that I can put on the outside to break up my form. There are two weights of long underwear, and those are only in solid color. I don't tend to hunt much in just my underwear :D , so there really is not too much point having it in camo. When I do, I will have one of my Sitka Gear tops along if I need to stay cool and still have camo. Like I told Jason, I still love my Sitka Gear and will continue to use it for some purposes, although not nearly as much once I get my Kuiu products.
I have been looking at the Kuiu camo, especially the pictures that have been posted on the Kuiu website and by Curt Cabrera here on TradGang. The prototype colors were -- how do I describe this -- less than optimal. Of course, I didn't like the purple and other weird darker colors, and the cream background was just too light except for treestand hunting that is not the best application of active hunting clothing like the Kuiu line. Thank goodness, the colors on the production materials are perfect. The base is a light tan with darker gray and brown blotches in the same pattern as the prototype. I REALLY like the camo! It reminds me of the large broken patterns that I have found to be the most effective at distances beyond about 20 or 30 yards, like my other favorites, ASAT and Predator camo. The big, high contrast patterns really break up a hunter's outline and let him blend into the background. The colors and shades in the Kuiu camo are the perfect compromise for fitting into the widest variety of surroundings. I would happily use it in wooded, rocky, desert, grassy, and even snow environments. I think it will be as versatile as any camo pattern I own, including ASAT and Predator, which are hard to beat. If I remember correctly, the solid colors are a light gray, a dark gray, and a medium olive. Not every piece of clothing will be offered in every solid color, and I don't think the Primaloft jacket will be offered in camo. Don't depend on my memory being correct as to all the color options.
The fabric for the guide jacket and vest reminds me of the Sitka Gear 90% fabric, except lighter weight, less bulky, and higher quality. I was a little disappointed when Jason told me that he would not be producing pants in that material this Spring but probably would later in the year. I wear the Sitka Gear 90% pants for most of my active hunting in the mountains during cool to cold weather. They can be a little warm for the afternoons or long, hard climbs, but when the weather gets cold, they have really saved my butt, including having to overnight on my September hunt in the Yukon without anything other than the clothes on my back. With the Merino long underwear, the guide jacket and pants, the Primaloft insulating jacket, and the rainsuit, the top half of my body should be well protected for the vast majority of my active hunting. I keep saying "active hunting" because for sitting completely still in a treestand in the middle of December with the cold wind blowing on me for hours at a time, I might wish I had something more substantial on my body to keep me warm. When I questioned him, Jason not only told me he planned to bring out pants with the same fabric as the guide vest and jacket, but also bring out Primaloft insulating pants. Now that will be welcome for those of us who also hunt from tree stands. The Attack pants that will be offered this Spring are going to be a lighter weight fabric that will be great when climbing up hill or hunting in warmer weather, but they probably won't be as warm as I like for the cooler or cold weather hunting situations where I often find myself.
As far as the fabrics themselves are concerned, they are better than anything I have seen before in any hunting clothing of this type. Jason and Brendon told me that the DWR finish is not just put on the outside of the fabrics like most companies do -- it is put on the threads of the fabric before it is woven into cloth, which makes the finish hold up even under extreme conditions like severe abrasion or long term use. The softshell fabrics are densely woven with the guide weight having a fleeced interior, yet the fabrics are very soft, warm and compactable compared to the competition. The Merino wool base layers are the best in the world and have outperformed any synthetic fabrics. Along with the great performance that helps keep you warm in cold weather and comfortable in hot weather, the wool (unlike synthetics) does not develop a stench after a week of exertion without washing. That factor alone makes it worth using. Jason says that the best way to wear the wool is to use the lighter fabric as the bottom layer with the heavier fabric as the next layer in cooler weather. He also sometimes will wear both layers in warmer weather and dip the heavier wool in a creek or pond so that the evaporative cooling from the drying second layer will keep him cooled down. Jason has said that he will probably be producing an even heaver layer of Merino wool underwear in a 300 weight in addition to the 185 and 250 weights that will be offered this Spring. That will be good for colder weather.
The rain gear is a very nice 3 layer bonded fabric. It has an outer surface that is not shiny or crinkly like most other lightweight rain gear. It does make some noise when it rubs against itself, because it is still what could be described as a hard surfaced fabric. It is very thin, somewhat stretchable, and extremely compact. Unlike GoreTex teflon membrane, which basically has not changed in decades, the membrane in the Kuiu rain gear is constructed from polyester which breathes better, is more durable, and is not noisy. This is just a much better fabric than what others are producing.
Jason has gone to Japan to get the best performing and highest quality synthetic fabrics available. I did not see the shell material for the Primaloft jacket, but Jason assures me it will be of comparable quality, but very light in weight. The fill will be Primaloft I which Jason says is the best of the Primaloft products for this application.
After spending more than an hour with Jason, Brendan and their friend, I was ready to order at least one of every Kuiu product, and that is exactly what I will be doing as soon as Jason starts taking orders. By the way, I will be paying full price for everything I buy. I am not promoting the Kuiu line, just reporting on what I heard and saw. I am signed up on the Kuiu website so I hopefully can get my entire order filled from the first production run. Jason tells me that it looks like the Spring run will be oversold, and no products will be left for anyone who is not registered to purchase. So, if you want to be able to buy any of the Kuiu products this Spring, go sign up soon. On the other hand, this is a new product line, and Jason will be very responsive to feedback from users, so there are likely to be improvements and modifications being made in upcoming production runs. That means if you buy all the current products now, you may end up wanting to buy the new products as they pop up later and think at that point that some of your early purchases are a little outdated. I am willing to take that risk and will just have to add product as new models come out. I think it is good that Kuiu plans to sell a limited selection of products now and add others later. That should keep people like me from kicking myself for overspending early and missing out on the new and improved versions that come out later. The "basic" products that will be sold this Spring are going to be good for a very long time, so I am not worried about them becoming obsolete. I do think there will be some changes over time to the initial offerings, with pockets, zippers, fit, and other more minor items being modified as users express their preferences. My main wish list for the future will be pants using the guide weight fabric, the 300 weight Merino wool long underwear, and the Primaloft insulating pants, all of which Jason has in development.
The biggest complaint I have about almost all of my hunting clothing is that by the time I get everything I might need for a high country hunt stuffed into a pack, it is heavier and bulkier than I can comfortably carry all the time. That means I am either loaded up too much or I leave something I might need behind. The Kuiu line of clothing is going to change that, which for me is revolutionary. And while doing so, it is going to work better than even the best clothing we have been able to buy in the past. I thought Sitka Gear was great, and it is, but Kuiu has taken this technology a quantum leap forward.
And that my dear friends was what I did on my January vacation!
Allan
Topic: Guess who I ran into at the Safari Club convention? (Read 226 times)
