So my loving wife told me to get all the new hunting gear I wanted as I retired August of this year, so I had a lot of new items to try out this fall. I spent 28 days in CO unit 70 with an archery bull-only tag, with 3-4 rain days, 9 days packed in 2-4 miles, and hunting from a camper for the remainder of our time there. Here is my review of some of the "new to me" items.
Wrangler Outdoor pants: I wore one pair for the first 12 days of hunting. Extremely comfortable and very durable - no tears in spite of catching them on brush numerous times. I found it to have adequate pockets. If you are hunting in moderate temperature there is absolutely no reason to spend more in my opinion. I highly recommend these pants.
KUIU Attack Pants: I wore one pair for about 14 days of hunting. They too were extremely comfortable and very durable - no tears in spite of catching them on brush numerous times. They are warmer than the Wrangler. The side zip vents are nice but not a real deal maker/breaker. My only complaint is the front and rear pockets are very shallow and I had a call case fall out of the front pocket and become lost. While not the bargain of the Wrangler Pants, they do perform well, but at a much higher cost point. I was afraid they were going to be a little noisy, but found noise to not be a factor with them in the field. I would recommend these pants if you have the budget for them and need a slightly warmer pant.
Kenetrek Camo gaiter: I had never used a gaiter before and generally hate "more stuff". However I found myself choosing to wear them everyday. These are made from very quiet material which is great. However, they do collect lots of seeds (see pix). However, both the pants I reviewed above also collect the same seeds. I liked the fact they provide a little warmth and keep my pants bottoms and socks clean and dry, My friend had cordura gaiters and they were too noisy in the woods. I can recommend these gaiters if you are willing to pick off seeds from time to time. I will take them out next year.
Durston X-Mid 1P tent: This little 2 lb tent was a breeze to pack in and set up relatively easy. I did find that in some instances the fly would become pressed against the inner tent fabric - which can lead to water bleed through in my experience. I added about 2" to line that attaches the inner fabric to the close corners and about 5" to the tent stake loops on the short ends of the fly. This allowed the inner tent to move away from the fly and eliminated this potential issue (see pix). My only other complaint is that you need 6 more stakes than is provided to properly pitch the tent. The fly also covers a very large area so pitching area selection is the same as for a typical 2 man tent. Overall, I think it is a decent design for 2lbs.
Hunters Specialties bow sling: We covered 70-80 miles in the 3+ weeks we were in CO. A bow sling was a must-have. This particular sling began to tear at the strap-to-shoulder pad stitching (but lasted for the duration) and will need to be replaced. A slightly heavier sling will be taken out next year.
EXO K3 with 4800 bag: This bag was on my back nearly every day, all day. It did everything I asked of it. The zippers are even somewhat quiet. The 1-1/2" frame adjustment is a great feature - most of my noise in going through the woods is the pack hitting brush above my shoulders. I kept the frame short for daypacking and this minimized noise due to this. With 40+ lbs for packing in camp the longer frame did increase the angle on the load lifters which was beneficial. I found it had adequate external pockets. I had installed the stiffer lumbar pad, and it is indeed stiff! I acclimated to it and can say that once adjusted to my hip, I rarely needed to re-tighten the hip belt, it seemed to really stay in place and never slipped down. I did develop a small tear on the right shoulder pad cloth covering and EXO sent me new ones at no cost on my return home. My buddy used a new Eberlestock F1 and could not keep it up on his hips and was very unhappy. Unfortunately, I was NOT able to try out the meat packing capability of this pack. I think the EXO K3 is a very high quality and functional pack.
Eberlestock camo Belt Pouch. I put Eberlestock belt pouches on my EXO as they are quiet material vs cordura, and they worked very well. Large zipper pulls were easy to locate and use.
KUIU bino harness and range finder pouch. Each of these items performed very well and were welcome additions by and large. I did find myself questioning need for binos on my chest as we were typically in dark timber. However, I bumped a couple spikes at one point and the first thing I should have grabbed was the binos to see if they were legal. I went for the range finder (6x) and could not tell if they had a 5" brow tine. I didn't have much time to look and should have gone for binos first as time was of the essence. Live and learn. These items performed exactly as expected.
Wrangler Outdoor pants: I wore one pair for the first 12 days of hunting. Extremely comfortable and very durable - no tears in spite of catching them on brush numerous times. I found it to have adequate pockets. If you are hunting in moderate temperature there is absolutely no reason to spend more in my opinion. I highly recommend these pants.
KUIU Attack Pants: I wore one pair for about 14 days of hunting. They too were extremely comfortable and very durable - no tears in spite of catching them on brush numerous times. They are warmer than the Wrangler. The side zip vents are nice but not a real deal maker/breaker. My only complaint is the front and rear pockets are very shallow and I had a call case fall out of the front pocket and become lost. While not the bargain of the Wrangler Pants, they do perform well, but at a much higher cost point. I was afraid they were going to be a little noisy, but found noise to not be a factor with them in the field. I would recommend these pants if you have the budget for them and need a slightly warmer pant.
Kenetrek Camo gaiter: I had never used a gaiter before and generally hate "more stuff". However I found myself choosing to wear them everyday. These are made from very quiet material which is great. However, they do collect lots of seeds (see pix). However, both the pants I reviewed above also collect the same seeds. I liked the fact they provide a little warmth and keep my pants bottoms and socks clean and dry, My friend had cordura gaiters and they were too noisy in the woods. I can recommend these gaiters if you are willing to pick off seeds from time to time. I will take them out next year.
Durston X-Mid 1P tent: This little 2 lb tent was a breeze to pack in and set up relatively easy. I did find that in some instances the fly would become pressed against the inner tent fabric - which can lead to water bleed through in my experience. I added about 2" to line that attaches the inner fabric to the close corners and about 5" to the tent stake loops on the short ends of the fly. This allowed the inner tent to move away from the fly and eliminated this potential issue (see pix). My only other complaint is that you need 6 more stakes than is provided to properly pitch the tent. The fly also covers a very large area so pitching area selection is the same as for a typical 2 man tent. Overall, I think it is a decent design for 2lbs.
Hunters Specialties bow sling: We covered 70-80 miles in the 3+ weeks we were in CO. A bow sling was a must-have. This particular sling began to tear at the strap-to-shoulder pad stitching (but lasted for the duration) and will need to be replaced. A slightly heavier sling will be taken out next year.
EXO K3 with 4800 bag: This bag was on my back nearly every day, all day. It did everything I asked of it. The zippers are even somewhat quiet. The 1-1/2" frame adjustment is a great feature - most of my noise in going through the woods is the pack hitting brush above my shoulders. I kept the frame short for daypacking and this minimized noise due to this. With 40+ lbs for packing in camp the longer frame did increase the angle on the load lifters which was beneficial. I found it had adequate external pockets. I had installed the stiffer lumbar pad, and it is indeed stiff! I acclimated to it and can say that once adjusted to my hip, I rarely needed to re-tighten the hip belt, it seemed to really stay in place and never slipped down. I did develop a small tear on the right shoulder pad cloth covering and EXO sent me new ones at no cost on my return home. My buddy used a new Eberlestock F1 and could not keep it up on his hips and was very unhappy. Unfortunately, I was NOT able to try out the meat packing capability of this pack. I think the EXO K3 is a very high quality and functional pack.
Eberlestock camo Belt Pouch. I put Eberlestock belt pouches on my EXO as they are quiet material vs cordura, and they worked very well. Large zipper pulls were easy to locate and use.
KUIU bino harness and range finder pouch. Each of these items performed very well and were welcome additions by and large. I did find myself questioning need for binos on my chest as we were typically in dark timber. However, I bumped a couple spikes at one point and the first thing I should have grabbed was the binos to see if they were legal. I went for the range finder (6x) and could not tell if they had a 5" brow tine. I didn't have much time to look and should have gone for binos first as time was of the essence. Live and learn. These items performed exactly as expected.
