I just received my Kuiu Chinook pants in the mail today and although I haven’t had time (nor is the weather chinook friendly) to wear them around outside I have had them on all night going up and down our spiral staircase to the loft looking at mounts on the walls and grabbing Christmas decorations, as well as just getting a feel of the general fit of the pants. I have seen 1 review of the Jacket on YouTube but nothing on the pant so I thought I would post one up.
First off the quality, like everything I have ever bought from Kuiu is first class. The zippers have nice features such as tiny pockets that protect them when closed and the material itself seems pretty rugged while being light.
The Chinook is advertised as being Kuiu’s lightest softshell pant, to me it feels like a slightly heavier Attack pant more so then a lighter weight Guide pant. I will have to see how it does in the Texas hill and AZ Mountains in the next few weeks on a couple of hunts I have planned. The material does breath extremely well and I think with a nice merino base layer (depending on weight) you could be comfortable down into the upper 30’s if you were moving and stopping, like an elk or mulie spot and stalk after the rut. If you glassing for longer than that, especially in the morning as the sun came up I think you would want the guide pants more. I believe they will block the wind a bit better and are better suited to when there is some frost around. In the warmer temps I believe these will completely replace my attack pants. I think they are close enough in weight, with the additional features such as the knee pads and additional zippers that they will do everything the attack will do and then sum. The attack might have a very slight edge on comfort but it is close and I will give up that very slight difference for the additional pockets and pads.
To the knee pads; I wasn’t sure how I would like them as I usually prefer to strap on kneed pads when needed and not have them rubbing against my legs all day, every day when I don’t. After wearing these around for a bit I don’t seem to mind, and hardly notice at all, that there is knee pads in these pants. They sit a bit lower on the leg then I thought they would, but they rid up to cover the knee perfectly when kneeling down. Overall I think they are really well designed into the pant.
On sizing; I am right at 6 foot and bounce around 195-210 depending on my conditioning and time of year. I tend to stay in decent shape for work and life in general and lift 3-4 days a week hard and do cardio and light lifting another 3-4 days. While no one will confuse me with an NFL linebacker I try to stay in better than average hunting shape, especially for here in Iowa. I wear a 36 jean. I bought these in 38 thinking about layering under them. After wearing them around I think a 36 would have been just fine, even with a wool base layer. These are not too big and I will be keeping them and tightening the belt a bit but they will work. I would say though if you wear a size 32/34/36 jean then get the Chinook in that size as well. When I get my cardio back to where it should be then maybe a second pair in 34 or 36 will be on order.
Over all I think that the Chinook series is a hit for KUIU. I like the features better than the attack pant and since I bowhunt only (or maybe until I draw an Ibex tag) then these are perfect for those earlier seasons. I think that if you do more late season hunting then the guide series might be a better choice but I will layer the chinook pant and jacket with the new Kenai hoodie and pant and think these will work awesome.
I have attached some pics of the pants here so you can see for yourself some of the features.
First off the quality, like everything I have ever bought from Kuiu is first class. The zippers have nice features such as tiny pockets that protect them when closed and the material itself seems pretty rugged while being light.
The Chinook is advertised as being Kuiu’s lightest softshell pant, to me it feels like a slightly heavier Attack pant more so then a lighter weight Guide pant. I will have to see how it does in the Texas hill and AZ Mountains in the next few weeks on a couple of hunts I have planned. The material does breath extremely well and I think with a nice merino base layer (depending on weight) you could be comfortable down into the upper 30’s if you were moving and stopping, like an elk or mulie spot and stalk after the rut. If you glassing for longer than that, especially in the morning as the sun came up I think you would want the guide pants more. I believe they will block the wind a bit better and are better suited to when there is some frost around. In the warmer temps I believe these will completely replace my attack pants. I think they are close enough in weight, with the additional features such as the knee pads and additional zippers that they will do everything the attack will do and then sum. The attack might have a very slight edge on comfort but it is close and I will give up that very slight difference for the additional pockets and pads.
To the knee pads; I wasn’t sure how I would like them as I usually prefer to strap on kneed pads when needed and not have them rubbing against my legs all day, every day when I don’t. After wearing these around for a bit I don’t seem to mind, and hardly notice at all, that there is knee pads in these pants. They sit a bit lower on the leg then I thought they would, but they rid up to cover the knee perfectly when kneeling down. Overall I think they are really well designed into the pant.
On sizing; I am right at 6 foot and bounce around 195-210 depending on my conditioning and time of year. I tend to stay in decent shape for work and life in general and lift 3-4 days a week hard and do cardio and light lifting another 3-4 days. While no one will confuse me with an NFL linebacker I try to stay in better than average hunting shape, especially for here in Iowa. I wear a 36 jean. I bought these in 38 thinking about layering under them. After wearing them around I think a 36 would have been just fine, even with a wool base layer. These are not too big and I will be keeping them and tightening the belt a bit but they will work. I would say though if you wear a size 32/34/36 jean then get the Chinook in that size as well. When I get my cardio back to where it should be then maybe a second pair in 34 or 36 will be on order.
Over all I think that the Chinook series is a hit for KUIU. I like the features better than the attack pant and since I bowhunt only (or maybe until I draw an Ibex tag) then these are perfect for those earlier seasons. I think that if you do more late season hunting then the guide series might be a better choice but I will layer the chinook pant and jacket with the new Kenai hoodie and pant and think these will work awesome.
I have attached some pics of the pants here so you can see for yourself some of the features.
