Are Sitka and FL worth the money?

[123efd2]

Doing my first elk hunt this year (late October Idaho) and buying new gear as I have never done anything more than deer hunt in South Carolina. Are Sitka and First Lite worth the money or are there cheaper but good quality brands/gear you guys recommend? I dont have a problem spending the money on quality gear as I will be doing a lot more western hunting over the next several years but I don't want to throw extra $$ just for a brand name. What are your guy's recommendations?

Remington

 

[Bojangles21]

Definitely worth money. I would be looking for sales on Sitka (they seem to be on sale the most). Black ovis has good prices and a lot of the times on Camofire there’s Sitka Saturday and they has stuff super cheap, I got a Sitka mountian jacket for $120 on camofire a while ago. If you can I’d go try some products on and then order online


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[William Sublette]

The outdoor marketing machine loves noobs with more money than sense.



FWIW

 

[toadmeister]

I would say yes, they have for me. I hunt more comfortably and quieter in a wider range of temps and conditions. Greater utility out of well designed pockets, goods, length, or swing of the arms.

Haters are gonna hate.


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[philos]

Sitka and First Lite are quality products but I always try to find a sale. I have a pair of the Sitka Ascent pants and they are-to me-the best hot/warm weather hunting pants available. I live and hunt in South Carolina and I wore the Ascent pants during archery season when temps were in the mid to high eighties and was as comfortable as one can be in that type of heat & humidity.

You can absolutely buy less expensive gear that will work fine and I seldom buy all expensive stuff. For example for layering I usually have a cheap synthetic t-shirt as my first layer. I see no need to get a name brand for this piece as it is simply my first layer.

I do see a need for good quality items particularly when the weather is hot or very cold or rainy. For the average cool, dry day when you are not hiking way back you could outfit yourself with clothing items from Walmart or Target and not skip a beat. If fact Wrangler now makes a synthetic pant that works just fine for must of us and is considerably less expensive that most high end hunting gear. I have Eddie Bauer guide pants that I found on deep discount also.

We outdoors folks can be a bit more frugal minded and do just fine. It can be tough to make good decisions if you get caught in the marketing blitz from the "famous" hunters touting all the must have gear. Gearing up takes about as much planning as any other aspect of a hunting trip. Start now and try to avoid any last minute expensive purchases. And don't forget to look at classified sections of this and other forums as well as Ebay.

Good luck!

 

[IdahoElk]

Kuiu for sure,not so much the other two

 

[LIWolverine]

For ME in my many different hunting scenarios....they are definitely worth the money I spent.


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[canyonhunter47]

If OP has late October elk, I assume he is not archery hunting. If rifle hunting, camo is arguably not that important. I really like the Sitka items I own (and I can try them on, unlike FL) but outdoor gear brands have just as good or better gear for 90+% of your needs for way less because you’re not paying the camo tax.

To be fair though, hunting gear has some use cases that are different from other outdoor pursuits so they may end up being the best for your money for some things, especially on sale (who else willingly trudges through the thorns besides hunters?). Also, hunting brands like Sitka/FL support conservation more. Still, your license/tag sale goes way more directly to conservation.

 

[NEhunter]

I’ve been running Sitka for quite some time and for me, it is definitely worth the money.


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[Desk Jockey]

That is a personal choice. I own way too much of each brand. There are plenty of others too that are worth checking out. There are some non hunting outdoor brands that work fine for hunting too.

Good clothes can make you more comfortable and can be lighter. There are also some hunting specific functions you find on hunting brands not on other outdoor brands like quieter fabrics and hardware. Pockets for hunting calls. Skinny sleeves for bow shooting. Slots for tree harnesses.

This stuff is all great but there are plenty of people that go into the woods in whatever they care to that get it done just fine. It up to you and how you want to hunt and spend your money.

 

[Catahoula]

Mentioned in another thread, but I wear all First Lite clothing as does my spouse. In short, I feel the FL clothing has been worth the money for both of us. It’s personal fitment for each, but we have found FL to best fit us and our comfort. I like to wear as many merino articles as possible versus synthetics. Sitka and Kuiu make some outstanding and durable pieces as well.

 

[ChrisAU]

As someone who for years said all the expensive hunting clothing was useless and a sign of a dumbass with too much money...yes.

 

[bikinitoboots]

Sitka has done a great job designing their lines. Useful and well thought out pocket designs/placements. Little details that come in handy. Hand gloves on the end of the sleeves, built in face masks. They’ve done an even better job on their women’s line. Seems to me first lite struggles with consistency. If it weren’t for that, I’d have more first lite-at least their base layers. I second that the outdoor clothing sector also has some really good pieces. I’m not a fan of Sitka’s pants so I wear fjallraven.

 

[Kilboars]

Sitka gear is bullet proof.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Doing my first elk hunt this year (late October Idaho) and buying new gear as I have never done anything more than deer hunt in South Carolina. Are Sitka and First Lite worth the money or are there cheaper but good quality brands/gear you guys recommend? I dont have a problem spending the money on quality gear as I will be doing a lot more western hunting over the next several years but I don't want to throw extra $$ just for a brand name. What are your guy's recommendations?

Remington

I have had seams come apart on clothes from both companies and Kryptek as well. Either on the first use or very early on. I think they all make good quality products but none are without flaws sometimes.

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[Spence14]

I’m not a gear expert but I’ll tell you an example of why I like FL AND Sitka.
I bought a lot of FL gear last year and really liked it. Most of my hunts were from a tree stand and the gear I bought was perfect. This year, I will be doing more spot and stalk in the mountains. The big heavy FL jacket I bought last year would not be ideal for these types of hunts. I needed something lighter and more breathable. What did I do? I sold the FL jacket for $15 less than what I paid for it and bought a new one that fit my needs better for this year. Sooo I used the jacket a whole season and lost $15 bucks + shipping to adapt to my needs. Good gear holds value. That’s what this site has taught me. I have also done this with Sitka pieces.

 

[smokinbobf4]

I think it is if you hunt a fair amount. I bought more after my first elk hunt because I realized how much better it was. I had only a couple pieces of Sitka and I honestly felt like I could move better and got a bit less fatigued with it. That was the biggest thing to me. Really didn’t know what I needed until I went. The layout of pockets and zippers is really nice also. I will say I did really like the Eddie Bauer guide pro pants also. Not quite as much stress but still really nice.


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[deerkiller]

Definitely worth money. I would be looking for sales on Sitka (they seem to be on sale the most). Black ovis has good prices and a lot of the times on Camofire there’s Sitka Saturday and they has stuff super cheap, I got a Sitka mountian jacket for $120 on camofire a while ago. If you can I’d go try some products on and then order online


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First Lite is American made, the owner supports "BCH" avidly and it's just plain good stuff

 

[deerkiller]

Sitka has done a great job designing their lines. Useful and well thought out pocket designs/placements. Little details that come in handy. Hand gloves on the end of the sleeves, built in face masks. They’ve done an even better job on their women’s line. Seems to me first lite struggles with consistency. If it weren’t for that, I’d have more first lite-at least their base layers. I second that the outdoor clothing sector also has some really good pieces. I’m not a fan of Sitka’s pants so I wear fjallraven.

I'd disagree on the Sitka pants, at least the Timberlines, they are perfect as far as I'm concerned - I've worn the hell out of them from antelope to late season elk cows and the solid colors around camping a bunch with nothing but high praise - First Lite tries hard and is a good AMERICAN company which I personally give points for, I can stand to repair a seam or two now and then - as far as base layers go, First Lite, SmartWool, Ice Breaker are "my" brands - I have 2 FL coats and they both go with on most hunts, Timberline pants, KUIU zip off base bottoms (excellent feature), LOWA boots, Darn Tough socks have won me over - can't think of the gaitors right now but they're better than all the rest IMO (they're packed away, KUIU maybe ??) SOME items a guy can get by with just about any brand, other items are so personally specific it's just best to try then yourself - the suggestion that all brands are just selling unnecessary "stuff" to dummies is moronic, again IMO

 

[NebraskaStickHunter]

There are several great clothing brands out there that can fill a variety of needs. I have several Sitka pieces that I love and wear as much as I can. I recently bought some kuhl radikl pants that were a third the price and are equally comfortable just not Camo. The hiking community has been perfecting clothing for years and the market a plentiful. Don’t be chased off by haters about buying quality gear. FYI I have used Sitka’s warranty and they back their gear 100%. Good luck going down the rabbit hole.