Arc'teryx rain gear over hunting brands?

[wind gypsy]

Does Arc'teryx ever go on sale - Black Friday perhaps?

I've had a bunch of Arc'teryx garments over the years and dont think i've ever paid full price. They are like sitka, patagucci, north face, etc - they make little tweaks to colors and features most years and old stock gets blown out. I've been set on outdoor gear for a while so haven't shopped much lately but cheepandsteep.com has been a source for lots of high end technical gear at big discounts for me. Most of the gore stuff and puffys have been 40+% off.

No brand has fit as well across their different offerings for me.

For rain shells i've had Alpha SL (i think that's the minimalist one?) and Alpha AR. The minimalist jacket was mostly fine with the exception of no real collar or useable pockets that I liked less than the AR version. I think the Alpha versions are more climbing oriented and have less frills around the collars, less utilitarian pocket placement (based around climbing harnesses), and longer body lengths in the jackets compared to the beta line.

The Gore shells are nice but they are still gore shells. Meaning they still wet out and they dont magically breathe like a fleece. They are noisy. They do fit great and seem to be a bit burlier and slower to wet out than my kuiu chugach or sikta dewpoint.

 

[MT_Wyatt]

The new Dewpoint Pro from Sitka is an interesting option now. It's "standard fit" and not expedition like a Stormfront was. I can't quite tell what the membrane/fabric package is but a new Beta AR clearly is Goretex "Pro" EeE membrane, and Sitka is "Constructed with sustainable GORE® EPE laminate" - the way they cheap out on insulation fill product (ie lower fill powers and grades) to hit price points is annoying and not "top of the line" like they try to claim, and I'm afraid they are going that way with new rain gear. If they were using Gore Pro, sure seems like they would market that.

I'm looking for some Kodiak grade raingear and Kuiu Yukon sure seems like best way to go - their fit requires a size up to layer better typically, but is stretchy compared with the loud/stiff heavy duty Gore raingear. I've had the best luck with Gore Pro in the Beat AR though....