Clothing Question

[j33]

What I found on their website, to me an open seam will effect performance?

Pilling, abrasion, pin holes or other cosmetic wear and tear which does not affect the performance of the product is not covered by the First Lite Warranty.

 

[jmazz]

Am I the only person that has not had any durability issues with FL clothing? I have hunted hard over the last 6/7 years in my FL gear in Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and NY with no serious issues. I tore my Kanab pant leg climbing over a fence in Oklahoma but I got that stitched up and that's my only issue I've had.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Their merino base layers are as good as it gets. For just about anything else other brands have the edge in performance and longevity in the field.

 

[tgus59]

Am I the only person that has not had any durability issues with FL clothing? I have hunted hard over the last 6/7 years in my FL gear in Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and NY with no serious issues. I tore my Kanab pant leg climbing over a fence in Oklahoma but I got that stitched up and that's my only issue I've had.

Knock on wood... but I have had great luck. Everything fits as expected, and has performed great for me. Other than rain gear, puffy pants, puffy coat, and gaiters, all of my stuff is from FL, and the only thing that didn't work well for me is the brimmed beanie, and thats due to my large melon.

I know not having a windstopper in the whitetail line gets brought up all the time, but its pretty easy to layer a cheap windbreaker under my Sanctuary.

My luck really makes me wonder if I am just super lucky with the pieces I have, if other people are just harder on gear and have different expectations or what the story is.

 

[Hondo]

I haven't experienced any issues regarding durability with First Lite that concern me and I hunt in a variety of terrains and conditions and have had over 60 pieces of FL gear. Perhaps I am just lucky and/or aren't as hard on gear as others.

I also have gear from Sitka and Kuiu and they too have issues as well as hits & misses which is why I still have gear from all of them. I expect gear to fail in the field sometimes and accept that there are often tradeoffs involved when seeking lightweight, comfortable and durable clothing as it is often comes down to a pick 2 out of the 3 type of decision with notable exceptions.

 

[strattonje2020]

first lite seak jacket is like $350

sitka gear stormfront is $600

Rokslide is the 5 percent of the hunting community that actually leaves the 1 mile radius of the old pickup. lol Its all just clever marketing to make a few bucks.

 

[Ajvandenbosch8]

I went from owning literally everything they sell to only Keeping the base layers. Between the stuff falling apart and stitch is coming out to the fact that you could buy four of the exact same item in the exact same size and not one of them will match up with another... Not to mention I froze my ass off last year not having a win stopping layer... Have since sold off everything but the bases and a couple pairs of pants and switched over everything to sitka And all I can say is wow!!!! what a much better durable clothing line.. imo First light has gone nowhere but downhill in the last few years


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[wapitibob]

So is Sitka and Kuiu,both much better in overall durability.


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I drove over to Sportsmans more than 10 years ago and bought ascent pants, core top, traverse zip t, and a 90% jacket. Other than some pilling on the traverse, it all looks new.

 

[strattonje2020]

I drove over to Sportsmans more than 10 years ago and bought ascent pants, core top, traverse zip t, and a 90% jacket. Other than some pilling on the traverse, it all looks new.

man, sitka gear from like 2010-2012 is bomb proof. i got a 2019 jet stream and it isn't nearly as comfortable/quite/durable as my 2011 version.

 

[SIontheHunt]

i think part of the issue with durability is that merino is delicate.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I went from owning literally everything they sell to only Keeping the base layers. Between the stuff falling apart and stitch is coming out to the fact that you could buy four of the exact same item in the exact same size and not one of them will match up with another... Not to mention I froze my ass off last year not having a win stopping layer... Have since sold off everything but the bases and a couple pairs of pants and switched over everything to sitka And all I can say is wow!!!! what a much better durable clothing line.. imo First light has gone nowhere but downhill in the last few years


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Same experience here. I went from having almost everything they make about 3 years ago to now only having a few base layers. FL outerwear isn't near to the level of their competitors, and after the first season with all FL stuff I had to warranty 2 pairs of Kanabs, solitude bibs, pair of socks, Halstead fleece, and a mid weight base layer. I have yet to warranty any Kuiu or Sitka product and if anything I am harder on gear now.

 

[Ajvandenbosch8]

Same experience here. I went from having almost everything they make about 3 years ago to now only having a few base layers. FL outerwear isn't near to the level of their competitors, and after the first season with all FL stuff I had to warranty 2 pairs of Kanabs, solitude bibs, pair of socks, Halstead fleece, and a mid weight base layer. I have yet to warranty any Kuiu or Sitka product and if anything I am harder on gear now.

Yes sir my solitude jacket came with 3 foot of string hanging off the front that was supposed to be the stitch for the zipper I had a catalyst jacket and pants fall into pieces in the middle of a hunt when the glue let loose for the pockets in one of the pant leg seems completely unraveled... The list goes on and on but no matter how much I like cipher camo I can’t bring myself to give them another nickel


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[strattonje2020]

They do have 2 of the top 3 Camo patterns in my opinion.

 

[Sammymusi]

I love their camo pattern.. i have the catalyst pants and wore them 1 day in the deer woods ..no jaggers just more of downed brush etc.. i emailed them with pictures on how beat up they were and never got a response back. I was very disappointed in this especially when you are paying over 200 dollars for a pair of pants !

 

[TheCougar]

I haven’t had durability issues that other have detailed here, and most of my hunting clothes are FL... I’ve got a couple of holes from falling onto deadfall that poked holes in the pants. That’s like jabbing a steak knife into the fabric, so I don’t fault the pants for getting a hole. I also am realistic and understand that the trade off for quieter and less stinky pants is sacrificing some durability. Merino isn’t as durable as synthetic, but I don’t think you can say FL gear is less durable because of that. Sitka and Kuiu would be in the same boat if they made similar products.

 

[Brent]

FL is 1 for 1 for me. 1 piece of gear and 1 failure. I bought a new pair of Uncompaghre pants prior to a muskox hunt in February and the waist button failed before I even got to hunt in them. Although not optimal, I came up with a solution to keep my pants up and made them work without a button.

FL was quick to respond to the warranty claim and sent me a new pair of pants 4 months later.

 

[Marbles]

Timely thread as I got a First Lite base layer top and liked it enough that I was considering buying more of their stuff. After reading this, I will be looking else where.

 

[THBZN]

A lot of boils down to overall QC and attention to details, not to mention which textiles can be used or not by said company or companies.
Take a look at the tape on the seam sealing on a Sitka jacket (or Arc'Teryx for that matter) compared to FL and other hunting or non-hunting brands; seam/tape sealing is required for anything to stay dry for long and I have witnessed less than perfect taping on FL jackets. Also, you have substantial financial capabilities and years of experience in textiles with WL Gore, etc. I don't think FL is a bad brand at all, but the same comparison can be made with other companies, gear, etc. The devil is really in the details many times, as is the overall quality and features of certain textiles; take cheap big-box fleece, for example. Most of the time, that stuff will pill and fuzz out really quickly. I have fleece pieces from Sitka, Arc'Teryx, Patagonia, etc. and some I have have had for years.
Gore-Tex, Windstopper, etc. definitely have the lion's share of the market, but they are quality textiles that perform in a lot of varied conditions.

 

[Sammymusi]

I cant say its all that bad .. i own alot of stuff and for sure didn't mean to trash talk .. i have the Woodbury, the kiln hoody , the Llano, the sawtooth hybrid jacket , the uncompaghre jacket , the talus gloves full finger and half, the merino beanie .. the only thing I can say that I'm unhappy with is the way the catalyst pants hold up .. i still wear em i still love em but for the money as i said before I thjnk they should hold up better

 

[CougarBlue]

I went from owning literally everything they sell to only Keeping the base layers. Between the stuff falling apart and stitch is coming out to the fact that you could buy four of the exact same item in the exact same size and not one of them will match up with another... Not to mention I froze my ass off last year not having a win stopping layer... Have since sold off everything but the bases and a couple pairs of pants and switched over everything to sitka And all I can say is wow!!!! what a much better durable clothing line.. imo First light has gone nowhere but downhill in the last few years


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This has been my experience as well. I've been through every major brand and back around once more but have been disappointed with everything I've had from FL with the exception of their base layers, grizzly 2.0 gloves and the Chamberlin jacket. The seams and stitching popping has been a problem across everything from the merino mid-layers to their synthetic stuff. Really wanted to like them and gave them more than enough money to feel comfortable in spending it in the future somewhere else.