About this time last year, with big game seasons over, I was sitting around the house wondering how I would spend the next few winter months. I had enjoyed pheasants when I went to junior college in western Kansas but hadn’t done so since then because I had no bird dog, and assembling a dozen folks to walk fields has become increasingly difficult as age has brought families and careers. Coincidentally, a Pudelpointer breeder I had been watching announced an accidental tie with a German Wirehaired Pointer. Before the day was over, I had a deposit check headed out for one of these (affordable to me) bird dog mutts.
Early the next summer, I showed up at Steel Fork Kennels with my brown mutt in tow to meet Andy Taylor and find out if this dream of hunting birds with my own dog would come to fruition. Despite being a mutt, birdy genetics showed up, and we invested every Saturday in training with Andy.
One of those days, I got to examine and try on a prototype upland vest that he was helping KUIU develop. The feature that jumped out at me immediately was that this vest had a vertical carbon fiber stay running from the lumbar to the neck area to take weight off of the shoulders. I ended up loading the vest with a few boxes of shells and a few hundred ounces of water to experiment, and the stay worked just as intended. A few months later, the final version of the KUIU Upland Field Vest was released, along with a few other new upland focused pieces of clothing.
KUIU Upland Field Vest
KUIU enlisted the help of full-time upland guides and bird dog trainers to check as many boxes as possible for the upland hunters who are away from their vehicles for the entire day. Further focus was put on the hunter who is out with at least one dog and falls into the lifestyle category rather than the hobbyist. The folks who are chasing backcountry chukar or whose perfect September involves the sounds of beating wings over hot sage or rolling prairie grass versus bugles near a wallow. The hunter and dog’s need for on-demand water, lots of it, drove KUIU down the path of incorporating a load-bearing carbon stay fully capable of transferring tens of pounds of water, plus the weight of an injured dog, off of the shoulders and into the waist belt.
Functional Features
I have spent more than several days with the KUIU Upland Field Vest so far this season, and these features have stood out as highlights.
The shell pouches sit to the side of my thighs and do not interfere with my gait, even when climbing uphill. They have multiple elastic-topped compartments for tools and several elastic shell loops. They are also big enough to fit two boxes of shells, even with tools, and the top easily Velcros closed.
Back Pouch
The back pouch easily fits my 100-oz water bladder, a clunky medical kit, and some layers. It has a separate small zipped pocket I found handy to keep my license and clip in my keys. There are also exterior cross straps on the back of the pouch should a person have a bulky jacket they need to secure. The position of these straps is customizable, and the locking side release buckles function well at maintaining compression.
Separate Game Pouch
The game pouch is compressible via two straps underneath that I found easy to adjust while wearing the vest. The interior of the game pouch is made of a material that was easily cleaned out with a damp paper towel and some bleach wipes. On each side of the game pouch, both on the exterior and interior, are large fields of PALS webbing that accept any MOLLE accessories. I used these for additional water bottle pouches and found the best home for my clunky medical kit to be within the game bag secured to the PALS webbing.
Dog Carrying
Within the game bag are horizontal fold-out carbon stays on each side that can hold the game bag opening wide or provide additional support in transferring a dog’s weight to the waist belt. These stays fold out of the way against the back of the wearer, or when open, snap around some loops inside the game bag to stay put. While I did not test the dog-carrying capability, Andy did run into a situation in Montana where one of his large pointers cut a lower leg artery and needed some QuikClot, compression bandage, and perhaps the first KUIU Upland Field Vest ride back to the truck. The below photos are courtesy of Andy.
Water Bottle Pockets
The attached water bottle pockets, one on each side, were in an excellent spot for me to access easily but never hit my arms or elbows. KUIU includes two 32oz squeeze-flow water bottles, but the pouches also fit the typical squeeze-style sports water bottles. There are no straps or covers over the water bottle pouches, but I never encountered one of the bottles coming out of the pouch in the slightest. I GREATLY APPRECIATED how quickly I could water my dog with one hand and not have to fiddle to get the bottles in or out.
Exterior Material
The 500d Cordura resisted water on the few outings with some drizzle, was tough enough for standing corn and milo, and I have had no issues with the YKK zipper on the backpack or the Duraflex buckles. The shoulder straps are cardboard thin, allowing my shotgun to come up unimpeded. I thought the waist belt was thinly padded enough to be very mobile while also giving me some cushion. It should be noted that the lumbar area of the waist belt is not sewn at the top or bottom of the back panel, so one could add a wrap-around style lumbar pad if they wanted to customize the feel.
Not All Rainbows and Butterflies
I physically measured around my waist 39” and originally ordered a size XL/XXL based on their size guide with the product page stating M/L fits 28”-36” and XL/XXL fits 37”-60” measured waists. The XL/XXL size was way too big for me. Fortunately, KUIU offers free sizing exchanges and it took about a business week to have the M/L size in hand. My opinion is that anyone who is 41” measured waist size should order the M/L version.
There are two open top “cell phone” pockets that are in between the waist belt and the shell pouches. I have a Google Pixel 8 Pro measuring ~7”x3.5”x5/8” and it was a bear to get in and out of the cell phone pocket while wearing the vest. I found that loosening the waist belt fully made that task easier, but I ended up just using this pocket for a beanie and small choke tube box. To the same point, the shell loops inside the shell pockets were pretty much impossible to put 20g shells in when wearing the vest. So, load those shell loops up beforehand.
There is KUIU branding all over this thing: huge on the backpack, inside the waist, on both shoulder straps, on the shell pockets, on some of the Duraflex hardware… When looking through the color options of blaze orange, solid khaki tan, and Valo camo, I chose the Valo simply because the branding on it was the least gaudy.
Keep or Pass on the KUIU Upland Vest?
Definitely, it is a keeper. At the end of the day, my shoulders could not tell I had been wearing the vest all day. The goal of transferring the weight off of the shoulders and onto the hips, just like the high-end elk hauling packs we all love, was accomplished with ease. 500d Cordura is more than up to the task, and the layout of the KUIU Upland Vest was intuitive for me while still allowing room for additions if one wants. I am certain that with the load-hauling ability of the innovative carbon stay system, I can haul an excess of water when needed or haul my dog out in a dire situation as quickly as I am capable of. I am happier than I thought I would be with my purchase and can see myself using this for a decade or two. Order yours today.
Ask Kyle questions and see long-term durability use here.
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