Help! Big guy that struggles with clothes!

Joined
Dec 2, 2022
Messages
366
Location
Southest Michigan
Hey guys!

I’m a bigger guy, currently 6’2, 300lbs. On a calorie deficiency diet that has me dropping weight fast, (~10lb in the last week) and also have some good workout/activity going on. Hoping to lose at least an additional 20lbs before my upcoming hunting trip.

I leave on October 20th to head to Montana for my first Western hunt, to try to bag an Elk. (Rifle, general Tag.) Hunt is from the 23rd-27th.

I will be using a day pack (Mystery Ranch Sawtooth 45) and hunting in South/West Montana, with family that owns and has access to private and public land. Day hunt, leaving in the dark of morning and staying out all day. Spot and stalk.

Buying clothing has always been an anxiety-filled activity with me, always having a hard time finding clothes that fit. Additionally, I tend to favor loose, slightly baggier clothing.

My typical attire for work is Lee Extreme Motion khaki pants/shorts size 44, though these are now quite large on me and I will need to go down a size (maybe more than one size down after this cut before the trip.) For tops I typically wear Under Armour Polos in the 3X Tall size. These currently fit me well, ever slightly on the baggy side.

After doing some research online, I ordered a mid-season elk kit from Kings Camo. They seemed to have the largest sizes, and I was stressed the largest sizes from the main brands would be too small. (Bonus, my rifle is in Kings XK7 Camo.)

I had the hopes that the clothing would arrive slightly too tight and I’d be able to work my way into them over the coming two months. I ordered the following:

e0f740db00609c0bced3bbfc2f21d3b6.png



That wasn’t the case. The hoodie was the only item offered in 4x and online reviews on the 3X all said it was small. It’s way too big. All of the other items are also slightly too big/baggy, sleeves too long, and on the pants the reinforced knee area falls below where my knee actually is.

My first thought is to contact Kings, and to try out everything one size down. (There’s a $9 return fee I think.)

At this point, I’m wondering if I’m better off sending it all back and starting off with another brand with better knowledge?

I love the idea of First Lite, however they only go up to 2X, and I have a hard time understanding/matching the sizing charts. When I measure myself, and order accordingly, things never seem to match!

My order with Kings was around $850, so I’d like to keep the total kit below that. I’m also a fan of companies that offer “kits” catered towards your hunt. I’m new to this style of hunt, so I have no knowledge or experience in layering systems, and light-weight clothing.

I know this is a lot but any help is greatly appreciated!


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Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Messages
3,741
Location
Weiser, ID
Send the Kings back and exchange for the right size. You're not going to beat Kings if you're on a tight budget and all of the brands fit differently. No matter what brand you buy there's likely to be several pieces that don't fit correctly on a guy your size and you'll be playing the return game again. Don't waste to much time on trial and error or you'll be out of time before the trip starts. Good luck man.
 

Behemoth

FNG
Joined
Jun 9, 2023
Messages
5
Kings XKG is tight. Im 6"2 265 and their stuff is true to size in hoodies, at 40 waist it fits but very bottom of the range. If solids are an option the wrangler ATG pants from Tractor supply kick butt.
 
Joined
May 29, 2023
Messages
448
Location
WA
If you are serious about dropping weight, I'd send it all back and buy a set of decent but cheap clothes to hold you over for this season. Get some Walmart Wrangler cargo pants, a camo shirt and maybe a good insulation layer. The rest of the layers that you're not wearing consistently (rain gear, etc.) I wouldn't worry about being camo or being high quality if you're day hunting and not backpacking. I think you can save a lot of money and potential frustration if you don't fully outfit yourself in all new camo.
 

jimh406

WKR
Joined
Feb 6, 2022
Messages
1,158
Location
Western MT
I'd wait until you stabilize your weight to buy hunting clothes. You don't really need Camo at all for rifle hunting. You'll be wearing orange after all. Just make sure you have clothes to keep you warm including a good underlayer, and layers.

If you are deadset on buying outerwear, buy something with suspenders. It won't hurt a lot for the coat to be a bit large, and will be good if you layer. As you probably know, it can be cold or warm in SW Montana in October.

Good luck on the weight loss. I don't know what you are doing to lose weight, but most people have good luck with one of the low carb diets.
 
G

geriggs

Guest
I am just about the same size as you. Sucks having to figure out what fits and what doesn’t. I can tell you from my experience that most Kuiu 3xl is true to size for me. I just bought a 3xl super down pro pant and it’s appears to fit ok (maybe a tad tight). I also have a 3xl Sitka jet stream jacket and that fits good. The newer version is cut a little lower which is nice.

Pants are usually more of an issue. I have worn some 3xl whitetail pants from Sitka and those fit but they don’t have many of them and don’t work great for western elk hunting. I tend to wear under armor 3xl. I have yet to try kryptek pants but their jackets were a bit small at 3xl so I expect the same on pants.

I also have one down jacket from skre in 3xl and it fits pretty good. It’s the only piece from them I have.

Good luck


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Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
356
Location
Zeeland, MI
First off...keep grinding on your journey! I love hearing about the success, but also get yourself on a program where you can be successful for life. I was on the same life path you were on, and the results are out there as long as you keep the drive alive!! Just think this is awesome.
With regards to cloths, I was in the exact same boat that you are in a number of years ago. I was a big guy and needed help getting into the right gear. I ended up coming across Skre Gear, and they were amazing to work with. I know that I swapped things back and forth a couple times until I found what fit me best. It turned out to be a 3XL jacket and size 40 pants; but it worked! I knew that I had to lose weight to fit into the clothing the way I wanted to, but that was a good thing for me. I don't wear my Skre Gear any longer, not because it isn't good, but I've just moved into other sized clothing. You might be on the 'outside' of fitting comfortable in it, but at the rate you are going, you should be by the time your hunt comes.
I see that you are on the other side of the state from me, but if you have any questions at all; please feel free to contact me. I would love to help you out in any way that I could!
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2015
Messages
5,942
Fellow husky hunter here. 6’3”. 260#

you are gonna be above the size range for most hunting brands. Everything kuiu fits like a size too small (3x = 2x). Offerings from others are gonna top out at 40-42 inch waist and XXL tops. Kings and cabelas may be your best shot.

be careful on your hunt. Take your time and rest as needed. Feet, knees, back are all potential issues but altitude/exertion/lack of conditioning combined with a lot of weight can be killers in more than one sense of the word. Be smart and have fun.
 

nobody

WKR
Joined
Sep 15, 2020
Messages
2,095
Agreed on the comments on king’s, they cannot be beat for price to performance ratio. They’re cut to fit the “average guy,” not super athletes or string bean lurps, just average dudes. I love their stuff because of that.

That said, I’ll also echo what Denim said above. You could even stay with king’s, but just go to their cheaper stuff, especially since you’re day tripping and not backpacking. You can always find their entry level cotton stuff on sale this time of year at the big box stores, and although it’s not as high-speed low-drag as their XKG line, but I hunted for a lot of years in that stuff before I was backpacking and never felt disadvantaged.

Congrats on the progress, keep it up and when you’re done reward yourself with all new gear!
 
OP
allstajacket
Joined
Dec 2, 2022
Messages
366
Location
Southest Michigan
Agreed on the comments on king’s, they cannot be beat for price to performance ratio. They’re cut to fit the “average guy,” not super athletes or string bean lurps, just average dudes. I love their stuff because of that.

That said, I’ll also echo what Denim said above. You could even stay with king’s, but just go to their cheaper stuff, especially since you’re day tripping and not backpacking. You can always find their entry level cotton stuff on sale this time of year at the big box stores, and although it’s not as high-speed low-drag as their XKG line, but I hunted for a lot of years in that stuff before I was backpacking and never felt disadvantaged.

Congrats on the progress, keep it up and when you’re done reward yourself with all new gear!

Thanks. Im planning on trying to stick with the XKG stuff, and might just try to utilize it for whitetail season here in MI. I don’t care about the camo pattern so much as the layering system. I currently have all super heavy gear for deer hunting as I sit in a stand, but I generally hike a mile or more from the truck and am sweaty by the time I get there. I love the idea of keeping the layers in a pack and then putting them on when I get to my stand. I’ll add a warmer base layer to make up for the lightly lower temps if needed!


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ForlohFamily

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Mar 16, 2022
Messages
449
Hey guys!

I’m a bigger guy, currently 6’2, 300lbs. On a calorie deficiency diet that has me dropping weight fast, (~10lb in the last week) and also have some good workout/activity going on. Hoping to lose at least an additional 20lbs before my upcoming hunting trip.

I leave on October 20th to head to Montana for my first Western hunt, to try to bag an Elk. (Rifle, general Tag.) Hunt is from the 23rd-27th.

I will be using a day pack (Mystery Ranch Sawtooth 45) and hunting in South/West Montana, with family that owns and has access to private and public land. Day hunt, leaving in the dark of morning and staying out all day. Spot and stalk.

Buying clothing has always been an anxiety-filled activity with me, always having a hard time finding clothes that fit. Additionally, I tend to favor loose, slightly baggier clothing.

My typical attire for work is Lee Extreme Motion khaki pants/shorts size 44, though these are now quite large on me and I will need to go down a size (maybe more than one size down after this cut before the trip.) For tops I typically wear Under Armour Polos in the 3X Tall size. These currently fit me well, ever slightly on the baggy side.

After doing some research online, I ordered a mid-season elk kit from Kings Camo. They seemed to have the largest sizes, and I was stressed the largest sizes from the main brands would be too small. (Bonus, my rifle is in Kings XK7 Camo.)

I had the hopes that the clothing would arrive slightly too tight and I’d be able to work my way into them over the coming two months. I ordered the following:

e0f740db00609c0bced3bbfc2f21d3b6.png



That wasn’t the case. The hoodie was the only item offered in 4x and online reviews on the 3X all said it was small. It’s way too big. All of the other items are also slightly too big/baggy, sleeves too long, and on the pants the reinforced knee area falls below where my knee actually is.

My first thought is to contact Kings, and to try out everything one size down. (There’s a $9 return fee I think.)

At this point, I’m wondering if I’m better off sending it all back and starting off with another brand with better knowledge?

I love the idea of First Lite, however they only go up to 2X, and I have a hard time understanding/matching the sizing charts. When I measure myself, and order accordingly, things never seem to match!

My order with Kings was around $850, so I’d like to keep the total kit below that. I’m also a fan of companies that offer “kits” catered towards your hunt. I’m new to this style of hunt, so I have no knowledge or experience in layering systems, and light-weight clothing.

I know this is a lot but any help is greatly appreciated!


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Check out FORLOH - Montana based company, 100% sourced and made in America. Free returns, Lifetime Warranty.

 

S-3 ranch

WKR
Joined
Jan 18, 2022
Messages
1,116
Location
Texas / Hillcounrty
I don’t like those kits the design is terrible for size and some of them are noisy as hell
I suggest going with wool , and a set of wind rain gear
merino or alpaca socks & beanie

 

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