Braken Wear Testing by Ryan K Sanpei

[robby denning]

Hey Roksliders, not sure if you saw our intro to new sponsor Braken Wear a few weeks ago? (if not, click here Please Welcome Braken Wear)

As promised in that thread, Hawaiian hunter and gear test Ryan K Sanpei has been testing the Braken Wear Scorcher top, their flagship piece of warm weather gear.

Scorcher Top - Braken Wear

Ryan's already got blood on it and will be chiming in on this thread periodically with is experiences. Members are welcome to chime in, ask questions, and if they own any Braken Wear, post it up too. If you'd like to subscribe, just hit "Thread Tools" at top of this post.

Looking forward to Ryan's experiences. He's a unique trad hunter and always a hoot to follow.

Take it away Ryan...

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Thanks Robby!

The timing was perfect for testing this Scorcher Top from Braken Wear. Unit B on Oahu opened up for bowhunting on February 1st. It's located on the west end of the island and in my opinion, it's one of the toughest public land hunts. The terrain is steep and you're constantly walking on uneven ground (loose rocks, boulders and thick vegetation). Generally speaking, the temperatures are the hottest on that side of the island and on most days, it's hot from sunrise to sunset. I feel this area would be Rokslide approved!

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

In this area, I have to contend with the sun and vegetation, which is why I would prefer a long sleeve top.

In terms of the vegetation we have this brush which has thorns that are curved. It won't cause harm, but it'll break skin and leave some good scratch marks. We also have the normal pointed thorns, but they don't do as much damage as the previous. Having long sleeves can prevent from having bleeding arms. But here's the flip side to having extra material, we have burrs that stick to almost anything and everything and one of these burrs has small thorns which will annoy you all day if not removed.

For sun protection it's nice to be covered up and not get burned. Sun and heat is always a tough combination. In my opinion, vents and mesh are the best for ventilation, but then it may not have any UPF ratings (UV Protection).

Another reason why I prefer long sleeves, is because if I select the right material, I don't have to worry about the "shine" coming off of my skin.

Here's a look at the Scorcher Top and below is the description from the company.

The ultimate warm/hot climate top. The Summer top is constructed from fabrics with air flux technology, manufactured to maximise breathability without sacrificing durability.
AIRFLUX fabric technology with microscopic pin-holes to allow unrestricted air flow, keeping your skin cool in the hottest conditions. 100% polyester composition for super fast drying time, keeping you light and dry.
Lightweight and ultra-quiet fabric by Toray. Microscopic holes throughout maximise air-flow and evaporation. Perfect for the active hunter - keeping you cool, dry and comfortable in the hottest conditions.
-Flat lock stitching
-1/2 front zip
-SILENTSLIDE YKK zippers
-4 way stretch
-Air flux fabric
-Anatomically fit shape
-Thumb Loops

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

The test begun on Saturday morning. The temperatures was in the mid 80s and the humidity was around 70%. We didn't have any trade winds, which are typically the winds that keep us cool. The winds were variable and it was definitely the hottest day of the month.

I begun the trip at sea level. Typically it'll take me about 1.5 - 2hrs to get to the area where I begin to hunt. The time varies as I'll glass along the way. Usually it's about a gain of 1200 ft to get into the area where I begin to hunt.

Here's an image of the side of the mountains that I was hunting.

An image from a few weeks back. My wife and hunting partner.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

I should also mention a couple more things. I typically "run hot" and seem to be very heat sensitive. On a normal hot day, I'll break out in a heat rash and if I overheat bad, I'll begin to get a bad headache and at times get nauseous. For 90% of the day, I have my pack on and for 99% of the day, I have my bino pack on. In addition, the things that I hope for in a hot weather shirt is for it to expel the heat as quick as possible and to dry fast. This can be tough to judge when you're wearing a backpack and bino pack, but it's primarily how I hunt, so it becomes my standard.

Now back to the story...
On Saturday, I made my way about halfway up before I started to glass. That initial climb is usually pretty brutal. I started off with the shirt zipped down to mimic a standard crew neck shirt. I began to sweat, as expected and at about halfway to my first glassing point I began to heat up. As mentioned, it's tough to judge the rate of heat being expelled, but during heavy exertion, it didn't seem to dissipate the heat as fast as my shirt with large, mesh pit and back panels (this is to be expected). By the time I reached my first stop, I broke out in a full sweat. I removed my pack because I was curious to see how fast the shirt would dry and I cool. In terms of drying, it dried pretty fast and at rest, I cooled down quickly.

After glassing, I didn't see anything in the lower sections, so I decided to head up higher.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

For the next part of the climb, I zipped the shirt the entire way down. Like I mentioned, my two favorite things are mesh and vents. This works well as my bino pack sits below my chest. Sorry for the selfies. I'm usually not a selfie guy, but it was a solo trip and didn't have enough time to take out the tripod for every picture. This shirt has a generous front zip.

As I was making my way to the top, I spotted a few goats. I dropped my pack and made a stalk. After about 50 yards of crawling, I closed the distance to about 30 yards. They were feeding to me and everything was working out, that is until the wind hit my back. The gig was up and they were gone. Discouraged but not defeated, I kept ascending. Fortunately for me, goats were climbing the ridge that I was heading for. With a few more steps, they would be out of line of sight. Once out of view, I scrambled as quick as possible to where I felt that I could ambush them. Fortunately, my plan worked out and I was 30 yards below them as they continued their climb. I got to 20 yards as the last nanny made her way. She made a few more steps and I started to draw. At about 17 yards I dumped the string. The arrow impacted right above her elbow. It looked like and felt like a good shot. She trotted off and I lost sight of her as she headed towards the cliffs which weren't visible from my position. I then went to retrieve my pack and took a water break.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Because of my shot placement, I went to inspect the area. This is what i found. It wasn't solid lung blood, but it looked like major artery or heart blood. The blood trail continued to look very promising.

The trailing was a little sketchy as it was along the cliff, but thankfully it looked like she didn't jump or fall off. After less than 50 yards, I found her laying in the grass. I made quick work of the cleaning process and hung up the meat in the shade to cool.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

After finding an animal, the adrenaline dump, and cleaning an animal, I usually heat up pretty bad. On this day, in the shade and without any pack on, I was fine.

Here's my grip and grin.

They must've stitched a little luck in this shirt as I've been hunting this unit since opening week and this is my first pack out of the season.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

On the way home I was able to test a couple more things. One would be exertion again, but this time it was because of a heavier pack strapped tightly to my back. The second would be durability as I decided to head home through the thick stuff. After descending a few hundred feet the one thing that really made my day was the fact that the burrs (that I hate) didn't stick to the material. I even stopped and rubbed my arms all through the brush. The curved thorns did snag a little, but not much and the flat lock stitch held up very well. I usually fray my flat lock stitches bad.

In terms of dumping heat during heavy exertion, it does it's job, but I'm still not sure it's the "best" material for my specific application and this specific hunting area. Keep in mind, I do heat up quickly and I'm heat sensitive. After today, I can say that I would have no problem wearing this in any other unit on a hot day.

One thing I almost forgot to mention was the collar. Because I like to wear ball caps (even my caps need a mesh back ), the collar helps to keep my neck from burning up. I'm not sure if the material has any UV protection, but it does save my neck from getting burnt.

After getting out of the first section of thick brush, I stopped to snap another image.

Not a Kifaru approved way to strap meat to the frame, but so far it's the best way I've found to keep the meat as cool as possible. It's another reason why I try to head home in the thick stuff. It usually holds more shade in those areas.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

There were a couple other things that I did observe while hunting but forgot to mention.

The material was quiet as stated. When the materials were rubbed together, against other material or against the brush, I didn't notice any considerable noise.

The material is also very light in weight, but my digital scale is broken, so I can't give an accurate weight.

I like the position of the thumb loops. The thumb loops that I used in the past were stitched too close together. These sit around the entire drumstick portion of your thumb.

It does say that it's a four way stretch, but in my opinion, it doesn't stretch much. This isn't a concern for me though as it fits me well and doesn't restrict my upper body movement.

Last but not least, the camo pattern. I'm no expert on patterns but I do like the colors used. In many of the images I've seen, the base color seems to be a light tan, but I think it's more of a light olive. Both Robby and I agree that this may be a great pattern for sagebrush. I feel it has the ability to break up at close range, which is important for bowhunters. I'm not sure about distance though. I'll get my wife's opinion this weekend. I was going to take off my shirt, hang it and travel some distance to take a look, but there were way too many mosquitos.

I'll be taking it out again this weekend and hopefully I'll get better outdoor images as my hunting partner will be with me. I'll be testing durability and heat dispersion during high exertion. Again my pack will be on, but this time the weather will be calling for tradewinds.

 

[robby denning]

Excellent overview and hunt Ryan. Looking forward to more of this. Love the hunt background.


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[Justin Crossley]

Awesome stuff Ryan! Looks like this stuff is proving to be a great option for warm weather hunts.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Excellent overview and hunt Ryan. Looking forward to more of this. Love the hunt background.

Thank you Robby!

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Awesome stuff Ryan! Looks like this stuff is proving to be a great option for warm weather hunts.

Appreciate the kind words Justin!

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Well that was a fun review! Definitely makes me want to give their stuff a shot for turkey hunting. Not sure if you have the equivalent to briar bushes there Ryan, but if you do can you comment to whether the material snags or not?

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Our worst thorns curve towards the tip. I'll take a picture of them this weekend as I'm not familiar with briar brush. The material doesn't snag easily and will pass over most of the thorns we have in this area. On this trip, I did notice that the snags that did occur came from hooking in the "microscopic holes". It seemed to hook a single strand and pull out a little. I tugged at them to see what happened. The strand would pull, then break off. I'll try to get pictures of that as well. In comparison to my other hot weather shirts, it would rank as one of my better shirts in terms of not snagging. Please keep in mind, this was only one trip.

 

[les welch]

Hey Ryan! Very cool pictures. That's an amazing canvas that you get to hunt on! Thanks for the write-up. Any chance you have a picture of what you were hunting? What type of goat do you mean? What else do you have to hunt out there?

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Hey Ryan! Very cool pictures. That's an amazing canvas that you get to hunt on! Thanks for the write-up. Any chance you have a picture of what you were hunting? What type of goat do you mean? What else do you have to hunt out there?

Thank you Les!
Unfortunately I didn't take any images of the animal. I don't take as many "grip and grin" photos these days. Below I have a decent representation of a Spanish billy that was shot in this specific public land area.

Here's an image of a Spanish billy that was hunted on private land. Again it's a decent size for the area, but they do grow bigger.

We also have Axis Deer, Mouflon Sheep, Feral Sheep, Hybrid Sheep, Blacktail Deer, some exotics, feral cattle, hogs and a buch of game birds.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Les,
Austin who lives on Hawaii Island just harvested this beautiful ram with his recurve. In my eyes, this is a trophy with a rifle. He is currently hunting with Braken Wear and has many great things to say about this new line of hunting apparel. Ask this guy to see some of his Mouflon!

 

[robby denning]

" Feral Cattle"
Now you're talking!


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