I am not backcountry hunting. I just get up before first light and hunt until I am successful or it gets dark. I am still using most of my issued gear (the CIF lost my records at one of my duty stations and I ended up carting around almost two full issues for most of my time on AD). I’ve also used it on a couple of camping trips (I don’t generally like camping, it’s too much like work). I supplement it with military surplus ponchos and similar things.
I think that it is probably heavier than top of the line civilian gear, but I also figure that I can use it until it no longer works and save money to spend on ammo. I also don’t mind using it hard (but not abusing it). It feels far more durable than the mid-priced gear I see in stores. I get horrible sticker shock whenever I look at a lot of the gear on Form’s list or that others on this forum discuss.
I have an old LBV covered in surplus utility pouches. Every time I lift it and put it on my shoulders, I know that I have too much weight on it and there has to be a better solution, but I haven’t seen it yet. I will have to evaluate what I don’t need before the next hunting trip.
I wear old cammies and old boots whenever I go hunting. I did have to semi-retire my mountain boots from 2010 because they started to feel very cramped in the toes. I replaced them with a pair of surplus cold weather Bellevilles. They are heavy and clunky, but they seem perfect for a day hike in the cold. And I picked up a pair of Army-issue cold weather boots with removable inserts. They are also heavy and clunky. But the two pairs of boots was less than $100 and should last me a long time as all-day cold weather boots in which I can still hunt for 6-10 hours or hike to a chokepoint to sit down for 3-4 hours without freezing.
Apart from the sticker shock, I just don’t have a lot of confidence that some of this expensive gear will actually hold up to field conditions. I tried looking for a pair of pants that could handle following a deer trail through blackberries or wait-a-minute bushes and became convinced that a lot of this stuff is “outdoor lifestyle clothing.” I don’t have stores nearby where I can see this stuff in person. And a lot of folks on here said things like, “why wouldn’t you just go around that stuff?,” which told me all I needed to know about their confidence in it. So, I got a pair of old-fashioned tin cloth chaps. I’ll try them out when they get here.
