Questions about Kuiu clothing... need experienced opinions...

[Paul Shirek]

I'm going on a guided Elk hunt to Wyoming this September. I was thinking about wearing some army BDUs but am now looking at the Kuiu line. Will it be a big improvement? I do like the BDUs but am concerned about them getting wet by walking in the grass... Also, I've heard that the Kuiu stuff will repel a light rain. Will I be able to get by without rain gear? Also, what about walking through Blackberry bushes, (I do this a lot at home in WI) Will they last or rip? Hoping some of you can help. Price is not too bad and I am willing, just want to know how they will be better then what I now have...

[Dan Adair]

Here's my opinion on Eric and KUIU.  And I'm a gear abuser, bowhunter, gun hunter, backpacker, serious fly fisherman, and even spend some time around stock.

First off, lets talk gear....  I don't like that the water repelency is provided by a DWR coating.  Those go away with time.  Heck, it even happens with Goretex garments if you use them enough.  2nd, the camo isn't the best for this area.  I like ASAT better.  3rd, it's heavy for what you get...

2nd off.  KUIU's decision to have those garments made overseas to keep with production demands was a deal breaker...  If they'd been up-front about it, I'd be okay with it.  BUT.....  They continued to sell "made in N. America" product, and ship it to fill orders, that showed up with Made in China stickers on it.  THEN Eric decided to tell everybody what his decision was AFTER they were turning up in peoples mail boxes.


So, I went back to Merino Wool.  I've got two pairs of Firstlite Kanab pants.  One in dark earth, and one in ASAT.  I've also got a much heavier pair of ripstop type pants from IBEX, which are dark grey, and I jokingly call Tactical Slacks.  In September in NW Montana, I wear the Firstlites a lot.  If I'm backpacking somewhere, I also have along a 200 weight Merino bottom.  Those two layers work for me until winter wolfin'.  But then I'm used to this climate and conditions.

[awbowman]

Yea I think Overseas production of kuiu will hurt the company.  Just my opinion though.

[awbowman]

Yea I think Overseas production of kuiu will hurt the company.  Just my opinion though.

[awbowman]

Yea I think Overseas production of kuiu will hurt the company.  Just my opinion though.

[Mamba]

I bought kuiu for Colorado archery elk 3 years ago and I was very happy i did.  We had some sort of precipitation every day, and we walked through wet ares that normal bdu would have been soaked.  I know about bdu's, I wore them for 8 years. The pants worked perfect, they repelled water.  I did get stuck in one down pour and I am pretty sure I got soaked, but I don't think you are going to hunt in anything for elk that will help you there.  They where also light enough for early elk.  I did get pulls in the material.  Not too much but I did.  I don't think I would walk through a pricker bush with them. I now wear them for turkey and early season deer hunting.  I would buy them again and I am very happy with them.  As far as made in China, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but product did what the advertisement said it would.

[Bigriver]

I have the vest and the attack pants. I have worn them for 4 elk hunts so far and really like them. The features are great, material stretches and seems relatively non reflective. I like the pattern & it seems really durable to me. The fit was awesome also. I beat the snot out of it and it is holding up well.

I like the way they are marketed and sold direct. I have experienced great customer service so far. The price point is doable for me.

In own lots of high end hunting clothes, KOM, Gray wolf, Sitka etc., Kuiu holds it`s own with them.

As far as made in China, I would like to see the
guys complaining about it to give it a rest. It seems to pop up on every Kuiu thread. It is getting old. That is my opinion. Hope I`m entitlted to it.

[nineworlds9]

LOL I wonder what would happen if they started building Schafer Silvertips in China?? LOL
  :p  

I was very interested in this line, especially after seeing the pieces up close when I shared a camp with an individual who was covered head to toe in the stuff.  He seemed to do really well in the cold with it.  I will say I'm not so interested now that I know its made for 5 cents an hour and that I'm largely paying for marketing and proprietary design at this point.  Just saying.

If the stuff is cheap enough to me I'll try it.  Unfortunately its that ingrained Wal Mart mentality that drives most of US commerce now.  I'm not 100% immune to it either, even though I espouse traditional values LOL.

[Hummer3T]

kuiu is great gear and vias is a great camo pattern, but it has a very specific application (mountain hunting).  That being said I wear mine everywhere for hunting, boreal forest, prairie, alpine and for work.  

I think you would see a huge improvement and I would start with merino 1/2 zip, attack pants and gaiters.

I would say a couple things, not the best fabric for briars, thorns (wears very easy /not very durable for this application.  

water repellency is good for light precipitation but wet grass or rain, you will want more.  maybe another kuiu product, I use space rain from cabalas.

p.s. not sure who Eric is (from above) and  I would like a North American product but Jason (owner of kuiu is committed to the best product period)

[Dan Adair]

My bad...  I don't know why I call him Eric (Jason...)  I meant Jason.  I know his story, and I know he's a trad bowhunter too.  I know a lot of other people in the outdoor biz too.  I followed Jason's webpage from the start and really liked his idea and business model.

Right up until the Made in China deal...  If he would've posted on his webpage "well Fanboys, I'm going to have to source manufacturing of the Attack Pants to China to keep with demand..."  And then did just that, I'd get it.

But what happened was, he continued to hype the "our product is made in N. America (Canada)" angle, and let fanboys hype that angle...  All the while, manufacturing of much of his product line was sourced overseas.  Once Chinese product started showing up in the mail (I got a pair) and people started asking questions did he make a statement on the matter.  Anyone with common sense will realize that this was not a simple ommision.  It was deliberately ignored in hopes of moving product and making money, or not losing sales.  

It doesn't really matter what happened, my opinion (and many others that are gear abusers) is that it was extremely dishonest.  Therefore KUIU no longer needs my business.  If it was my company, I'd have made the announcement a month ahead of time, emailed all the people that were on the backorder list, reduced the price 15 bucks for everybody on the backorder list for the swap in manufacture (I'm sure his margins improved more than that on a product now made in sweat shops.)  Guys like me would've been cool with that.  I understand he's running a business, and this is America, and he's not a non-profit orginazation.  That would have been the up front way to go about it...


As far as Silvertips being made overseas, I'd rather see Tien quit the restaurant biz and just go to work for Dave full time

[Shane H]

Wow! This got ugly. The kuiu attack pants are the most comfortable pants made. And a lot more durable than the first lite. But buy what you want its your money.

[Coyote Commander]

I think Kuiu is on par with the likes of Sitka, and at a much better price point. (They got some great deals going on their base layers right now on their website if you wear a large or bigger fyi). I know a few AK guys that swear by the Kuiu rain gear.

I think their lighter weight base layers are only a merino blended with poly, the heavier weights I think are 100% merino.

Im still partial to my First Lite though, even if it is a bit more money.

The deal breaker for me on Kuiu outerwear was the noise levels. While I wouldnt call it terribly loud (theres other stuff out there a lot louder), its a lot noisier than my First Lite stuff. Deal breaker for this bowhunter.

[Coyote Commander]

You might want to check out Kryptek too.

While their camo pattern may be a bit hookey (and this coming from an ASAT guy), their outerwear is pretty decent, and is actually somewhat close to "quiet".....something thats lacking in the designer camo world IMO.

Core4 is another to check out. Its the "budget" minded "performance" camo. Camofire usually has it up every now and than.

[Dan Adair]

You're going to find this hard to believe...


But me being a trad bowhunter, I tend to be a little stubborn  

I try and avoid camo a lot.  When the clothing I want isn't available in non-camo, I tend to stick to camo that's old school, and not NASCARified.


On base layers in merino, I've owned them all.  I hate to say it, but my opinion is once it's available in camo, it's usually bottom end Merino.  Buy the hippy friendly Smartwool and IBEX stuff, and you'll be amazed at how much better it is.  If you want itchy crap, buy Icebreaker and save a few bucks.

[Bjorn]

My son has a set of Kuiu Guide gear I bought him a coupla' years ago. He loves it.
For myself I chose Sitka and now have lots of it. Both companies make great stuff but it may not fit. The Kuiu fit is ideal if you are 6' and weigh 185. I'm not and can't get any size to fit at all in the Kuiu line.
Sitka is a lot more fit friendly. Both brands are surprisingly water resistant-and neither is whitetail quiet. You really have to move carefully in the final approach-but it can be done. The rain gear from both brands is fine if you don't move around strenuously.

[NBK]

Originally posted by Hummer3T:
kuiu is great gear and vias is a great camo pattern, but it has a very specific application (mountain hunting).  That being said I wear mine everywhere for hunting, boreal forest, prairie, alpine and for work.  

I think you would see a huge improvement and I would start with merino 1/2 zip, attack pants and gaiters.

I would say a couple things, not the best fabric for briars, thorns (wears very easy /not very durable for this application.  

water repellency is good for light precipitation but wet grass or rain, you will want more.  maybe another kuiu product, I use space rain from cabalas.

p.s. not sure who Eric is (from above) and  I would like a North American product but Jason (owner of kuiu is committed to the best product period)

X2.  Wore kuiu for a September elk hunt in Colorado and was extremely satisfied.  Sheds water very well though I too packed cabelas space rain for real precipitation.  As far as the vias camo pattern, I had a bull sneak up at thirty yards as I'm sitting on a log with no cover.  He looked right through me.  Guys I was with commented throughout the hunt how hard it was to pick me out if I wasn't moving.
Bottom line; I'm not enough of a fanboy to have heard about the whole china deal, but I can't deny the gear was worth every penny to me and yes, it would be a HUGE improvement over cotton bdus.

[Spookinelk]

Silk weight underwear,synthetic mid layer and quality soft shell Gortex outer layer is what I always s wear. I have not been impressed with some of the name brand technical hunting gear I've purchased and am back to wearing gear similar to what I wore in the 90s.

[Jorge]

Kuiu pants are by far superior to the Bdu, greats to walk in the wet grass or under light rain.  The Dwr works very well. They are made in solids colors, best option for me. I have wool pants ante are very quiets, but the Kuiu are better for the rain, dry quicker, more comfortables and perfect for active hunts.

[Kevin Dill]

Have seen both Sitka Gear and KUIU used extensively in hard hunting and wearing situations like Alaska. Last year it was down near zero degrees in September and we basically lived in our KUIU for 12 days. It stayed clean because it repels moisture and dirt. The fabric is as tough as any bowhunting garment is likely to be. Toughness usually comes at the expense of quiet, and we have no problem stalking in on animals. I think the KUIU line uses better fabrics than Sitka currently. I own a lot of KUIU stuff, but I'm decidedly no blind advocate of one maker's product. KUIU has had product issues on a few things, but so does every maker at the outset.

I'm a wool-lover too, but these days I rely on synthetic outerwear when out on long hunts. A pair of KUIU Guide Pants compared to my woolen Filson or Codet pants proves the KUIU are about 35% lighter in weight, which matters when packing light for hiking or flying in deep.

As far as the whole China thing goes: Much has been said about this. I would prefer a USA, then North American, then European, then anywhere else build on my gear. I typically try to buy top-quality products, and if North America isn't making them then I'm buying a foreign-made item in most cases. I can't find anything like KUIU or Sitka made in North America, but would love to do so. My nice LL Bean shirts are made overseas, as is much of Filson, Pendleton, Rocky, North Face, Kelty, Bauer and other quality stuff. All these companies were USA outdoor gear icons. For that matter, a clear majority of treestands got their start in the USA and then went overseas. I think KUIU figured out that using current North American clothing-manufacturing systems for their products was a route to staying small and having to charge much higher prices. Speaking of...KUIU recently lowered the price on several of their best outerwear items, and is currently running a 30% off promo on all Merino products.

[Paul Shirek]

Thanks for all the replies. You have been helpful!