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.
This is a pretty good take on everything. Where the big game "hunting lifestyle" brands excel over cheaper hunting stuff, quality tradesmen's clothing, or some of the military surplus stuff, seems to be in very niche situations, or in ways where you get pretty extreme diminishing returns over costs.
Mostly though, like in Britain, a lot of the hunting clothing decisions seem to be worn more as a tribal uniform or class statement than as the best option for a task. When I see a guy dressed head to toe
only in Kuiu, or
only in Sitka, etc, it's kind of a dead-giveaway that they're flying a flag of tribal affiliation more than dialing in on the best toolset for a given task. And that is entirely separate from just how suspect a lot of their "scientific" camo pattern claims are.
Some of the places where actual hunting brands seem to have worthwhile pieces, is with more technical stuff - or simply technical stuff similar to what "civilian" outdoor brands offer, but in camo. A good example in western big game is some of the stuff for being camo'd up and glassing or stalking in extreme heat and sun. Sun-shade hoodies, for one. Extremely lightweight, full arm sleeves and a hood, often with UV protection, meant to protect your skin from the sun but made of materials that won't bake you under the sun. There are a lot of fishing, beachwear, and hiking offerings for those, but not a lot that would be good colors or patterns to hunt mule deer in. So, that's a solid niche for a hunting brand to offer something in.
But Duluth pants or old .mil gear works just fine in brush-busting for quail, chukar, or sage hen.
One big exception to all this though is waterfowling gear. There's virtually nothing in the civilian world that will allow you to sit in driving wind and rain at 34F, in a marsh, be absolutely warm and comfy and dry, and still be camo enough for the birds to not see you.
