Car7x
WKR
Hi All - A little gear rotation in progress, stocking up on run and gun clothing. Took advantage of the last VIAS sale, got the order right over the 300 mark and copped the 25% off.
As a MN bow and upland hunter with a cabin at Ennis MT I have a lot of outerwear for different purposes. I tele ski, am a 'retired' technical climber and lifelong outdoors person. I really pay attention to cross utility, comfort and quality. In the general market, I consider Patagonia and Arcteryx to represent the top range. They can feature some goofy sizing as well!
I thought I'd report on fit and sizing on KUIU; being a primarily mail - order deal, it can be challenging to determine how these athletically cut pieces are going to fit. I basically sold or gave to young relatives most of my first batch a couple years ago, as they were outlet buys and I could not return.
Sizes: I'm typically a large; 180, 5'9.5" (shrinking & sinking a little; I'm 63..) 34/37 waist, depending on season and where I measure. 30" inseam, 41" chest. Kind of top heavy, thick and wide. Medium build chest down.
DCS Guide Jacket - Bought the XL. Just fine for run and gun. Once stationary, a fat puffy will fit. (Large was too small to layer over anything but a mid weight fleece). This size makes the sleeves a bit long, but outdoors that is a good thing. Smart of them to use small cord pulls and locks. Obvious build quality. Only issue for me - I hate a free swinging, open, hood.
Back when, I called Sitka on the same idea and they weren't too interested in this topic. It would be a simple and cheap mod to offer stowage capability at time of build; the separate collar / hood setup is more comfortable and flexible in use than a 'stuff in the collar design'. but it bugs me that they didn't take it one step further and offer a tidy 'roll and stow' design here. Hopefully some of you will weigh in below on this, I'll get it started.
Gone - Teton Softshell - gave to nephew, large was too small. Plus, candidly, I have about a million softshells, and needed the hood.
Peloton (Weight?? Probably lighter than the max) zip-off bottoms - XL. Great fit, no sliding down, super versatile outdoor piece for heat management
Hunting, I like my next-to-skin to be thin, scent containment (might work, right??) because they will stay on all day. Over that, I am getting very spoiled by the 'stop, drop, and roll' functionality of side zips, even on the mid base layer!
I like merino as a fabric, and use it in socks. However, having come to the age of reason while climbing and seeing the advantages of synthetics over the (admittedly, old school) wool of the day, I will cede any slight advantages of merino to the ease of care and predictable long term durability and fit of synthetics. I may have been too early an adopter of modern merino, but have had shrinkage, wear and odor drawbacks after use. Buy and cry, because problems don't show up while the item is in the wrapper.
Gone - Kenai Zip-off Bottoms - Granted, I was slightly heavier, but the combination of the slick material and (very) limited tightening offered by the velcro side tabs had me feeling they wanted to ride too low on the hips. Lucky nephew loves them, however..
(I have and love my Patagonia zip-off puffy pants, and while they are not 'Capri' length, they easily terminate at boot tops and stay there. They are very warm, good for treestands here, and as a bivy piece everywhere. 10 - 15 years of use and counting).
Attack pants - 36" - seem fine; just arrived and fit well. I haven't worn but they will be perfect with just the slinky base layer, and manageable, barely, with the Peloton mid-ish weight zip offs. I would call this waist dead on, and fit and cut very dialed for light and fast outdoors. Seems like a 32" stock length, so my tailor will hem up for about 8 bucks. I guess I would have considered making those hip vents into functional pockets for a very negligible weight penalty... ya got the zip, got the mesh bag, maybe make it a bit deeper so you could stash something there??
Teton Insulated Jacket - Large - fits great. Why not have full zip capability and lighter weight over a fleece? I usually have it under a shell or another puffy (MN whitetails..) or in the pack, so, no durability issues. Basically replaces the wool shirt of yore.
Guide Beanie - Large enough to fit over a ball cap and base balaclava. Good wind cutting and heat retention properties. Fit to size would be a bit large without underlayers, as I believe is intentional.
Tiburon snap shirt - XL - Fits like a snug large or roomy med. Collar, however, is an XL plus. Truly goofy.
Will have to wear more in this mode, but the sleeve zips actually fight the 'rolling up the sleeves' process, so far here in the house. They do sort of 'fold' up, the entire length of the zip, but I don't know if they'd stay up thru an entire turkey or pronghorn cleaning session. May return...but super comfy and light weight, will apparently be very breathable.
Hood Stowage Mod
I hope to see some ideas here. The stand-up collar independent of the hood is a good design. The problem is that when unnecessary, 80% of the time, the hood collects wind, debris, leaves/pine needles and moisture. Why not give us a little 1/4" wide, 3-4" long strip of webbing or other creative anchor on the outer shell at the middle/top of collar? Then the shock cord could be jerry rigged to tidy the rolled up, dry and clean, hood in to the collar's back until needed. Or what if they had a simple 'T' toggle on a short cord? One could capture the toggle with the cord lock - done. $.25 and a design step in the build.
I've also seen Patagonia be thoughtful here and the hang loop inside could be captured by a hood wrap outside to make a collar from an otherwise free swinging hood.
Here's a pic of the DIY fix on the two sides of the hood:
It's quick and dirty, and I suppose could be knocked off with bad luck. I just made a loop with the excess cord around the fabric ends, and used the tag end of the shock cord woven thru the cord lock cordage to cinch it in. Play with that if you like, it's about a 5 second per side process once you decide how you want to do it.
I've done this simple fix for the center that doesn't mess with the integrity of the outershell: Use a good tarp repair grade adhesive to affix some strong, narrow webbing (like Kuiu uses on the pant waist buttons, for example). Maybe strung with a plastic 'T' button for a toggle. Or figure out if one could weave the cord lock assembly and the webbing together to cinch up the center. And, of course, my tailor could sew something in.
What do you think? Anybody care? Happy Trails -
As a MN bow and upland hunter with a cabin at Ennis MT I have a lot of outerwear for different purposes. I tele ski, am a 'retired' technical climber and lifelong outdoors person. I really pay attention to cross utility, comfort and quality. In the general market, I consider Patagonia and Arcteryx to represent the top range. They can feature some goofy sizing as well!
I thought I'd report on fit and sizing on KUIU; being a primarily mail - order deal, it can be challenging to determine how these athletically cut pieces are going to fit. I basically sold or gave to young relatives most of my first batch a couple years ago, as they were outlet buys and I could not return.
Sizes: I'm typically a large; 180, 5'9.5" (shrinking & sinking a little; I'm 63..) 34/37 waist, depending on season and where I measure. 30" inseam, 41" chest. Kind of top heavy, thick and wide. Medium build chest down.
DCS Guide Jacket - Bought the XL. Just fine for run and gun. Once stationary, a fat puffy will fit. (Large was too small to layer over anything but a mid weight fleece). This size makes the sleeves a bit long, but outdoors that is a good thing. Smart of them to use small cord pulls and locks. Obvious build quality. Only issue for me - I hate a free swinging, open, hood.
Back when, I called Sitka on the same idea and they weren't too interested in this topic. It would be a simple and cheap mod to offer stowage capability at time of build; the separate collar / hood setup is more comfortable and flexible in use than a 'stuff in the collar design'. but it bugs me that they didn't take it one step further and offer a tidy 'roll and stow' design here. Hopefully some of you will weigh in below on this, I'll get it started.
Gone - Teton Softshell - gave to nephew, large was too small. Plus, candidly, I have about a million softshells, and needed the hood.
Peloton (Weight?? Probably lighter than the max) zip-off bottoms - XL. Great fit, no sliding down, super versatile outdoor piece for heat management
Hunting, I like my next-to-skin to be thin, scent containment (might work, right??) because they will stay on all day. Over that, I am getting very spoiled by the 'stop, drop, and roll' functionality of side zips, even on the mid base layer!
I like merino as a fabric, and use it in socks. However, having come to the age of reason while climbing and seeing the advantages of synthetics over the (admittedly, old school) wool of the day, I will cede any slight advantages of merino to the ease of care and predictable long term durability and fit of synthetics. I may have been too early an adopter of modern merino, but have had shrinkage, wear and odor drawbacks after use. Buy and cry, because problems don't show up while the item is in the wrapper.
Gone - Kenai Zip-off Bottoms - Granted, I was slightly heavier, but the combination of the slick material and (very) limited tightening offered by the velcro side tabs had me feeling they wanted to ride too low on the hips. Lucky nephew loves them, however..
(I have and love my Patagonia zip-off puffy pants, and while they are not 'Capri' length, they easily terminate at boot tops and stay there. They are very warm, good for treestands here, and as a bivy piece everywhere. 10 - 15 years of use and counting).
Attack pants - 36" - seem fine; just arrived and fit well. I haven't worn but they will be perfect with just the slinky base layer, and manageable, barely, with the Peloton mid-ish weight zip offs. I would call this waist dead on, and fit and cut very dialed for light and fast outdoors. Seems like a 32" stock length, so my tailor will hem up for about 8 bucks. I guess I would have considered making those hip vents into functional pockets for a very negligible weight penalty... ya got the zip, got the mesh bag, maybe make it a bit deeper so you could stash something there??
Teton Insulated Jacket - Large - fits great. Why not have full zip capability and lighter weight over a fleece? I usually have it under a shell or another puffy (MN whitetails..) or in the pack, so, no durability issues. Basically replaces the wool shirt of yore.
Guide Beanie - Large enough to fit over a ball cap and base balaclava. Good wind cutting and heat retention properties. Fit to size would be a bit large without underlayers, as I believe is intentional.
Tiburon snap shirt - XL - Fits like a snug large or roomy med. Collar, however, is an XL plus. Truly goofy.
Will have to wear more in this mode, but the sleeve zips actually fight the 'rolling up the sleeves' process, so far here in the house. They do sort of 'fold' up, the entire length of the zip, but I don't know if they'd stay up thru an entire turkey or pronghorn cleaning session. May return...but super comfy and light weight, will apparently be very breathable.
Hood Stowage Mod
I hope to see some ideas here. The stand-up collar independent of the hood is a good design. The problem is that when unnecessary, 80% of the time, the hood collects wind, debris, leaves/pine needles and moisture. Why not give us a little 1/4" wide, 3-4" long strip of webbing or other creative anchor on the outer shell at the middle/top of collar? Then the shock cord could be jerry rigged to tidy the rolled up, dry and clean, hood in to the collar's back until needed. Or what if they had a simple 'T' toggle on a short cord? One could capture the toggle with the cord lock - done. $.25 and a design step in the build.
I've also seen Patagonia be thoughtful here and the hang loop inside could be captured by a hood wrap outside to make a collar from an otherwise free swinging hood.
Here's a pic of the DIY fix on the two sides of the hood:
It's quick and dirty, and I suppose could be knocked off with bad luck. I just made a loop with the excess cord around the fabric ends, and used the tag end of the shock cord woven thru the cord lock cordage to cinch it in. Play with that if you like, it's about a 5 second per side process once you decide how you want to do it.
I've done this simple fix for the center that doesn't mess with the integrity of the outershell: Use a good tarp repair grade adhesive to affix some strong, narrow webbing (like Kuiu uses on the pant waist buttons, for example). Maybe strung with a plastic 'T' button for a toggle. Or figure out if one could weave the cord lock assembly and the webbing together to cinch up the center. And, of course, my tailor could sew something in.
What do you think? Anybody care? Happy Trails -
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