Jason Hairston, who is the founder and CEO of Kuiu, was also the founder and CEO of Sitka Gear. He sold out of Sitka Gear to start a new company where he could maintain creative and quality control and operate under his new business model that includes only direct sales to customers without the added costs and difficulties of maintaining a wholesale and retail distribution chain. There are many advantages to Jason's new business model, including better gear at a lower price. The disadvantages? None, except for the people in the distribution chain who have been eliminated from selling Kuiu products!
I have met Jason on a couple of occasions, and he is the real thing! I have a lot of Sitka Gear, I will probably keep most of it and just add the Kuiu stuff. I saw the fabrics and the prototype pack frame at the Reno Safari Club convention and they are better than anything similar offered by the competition. From what I have seen and read, Jason will also have the best designs and the best construction, based on the philosophy of creating what works best in the field rather than what looks best on the store shelves and racks. My only concern is that I will buy too much as an early adopter and then have Jason make some great changes or additions in response to comments from users (Jason listens to his customers!!!). When that happens I may wish I had waited a little longer for the updated version. Fortunately for me, Kuiu will offer some of the more basic items in its first production runs and then add more in the future, so I will be somewhat protected from myself. The primary additional piece of clothing I want now that Jason will not be offering until later is pants made with the fabric used in the guide vest and jacket. I'm sure the guide pants will be coming out before too long -- hopefully by late season this year.
The Kuiu camo will be fantastic for most uses, like camo patterns such as ASAT, Predator and Winona, but for dark green, fairly solid backgrounds Kuiu probably is not the ideal pattern, nor will it be too good for spring turkey hunting because the birds see colors and you need to match the color of your background. No camo pattern will work well in every condition, including Kuiu. In all fairness, Kuiu clothing is made specifically for mountain hunting, so it may be a bit of a compromise in some other environments, although I live in Oklahoma and think the camo pattern will be great for 80% or more of my hunting situations. I plan on getting some solid colors and using the camo more sparingly, like in the guide vest and the head cover, so my outline will be broken up, but I can wear the clothing to and from the hunt without looking too camoed up and sticking out like a sore thumb. And no one is saying that you can't use other brands of clothing in conjunction with the Kuiu stuff. I know I will.
Allan
Topic: The latest KUIU update....another update tonight 2/22 (Read 1109 times)
