Kuiu Proximity Review

[deltadukman]

I haven't had a chance to really test them, but I live in the Southeast and our cold is just different. This past weekend I had some mid 40's that were cold/wet/humid/windy and I was fine with just a base layer. I'm impressed with them. They aren't super bulky or heavy.

 

[iHunt*]

Great review and additional comments! How's the fit for those around the 5'9 range, I am concerned with the overall length of these?

 

[deltadukman]

Great review and additional comments! How's the fit for those around the 5'9 range, I am concerned with the overall length of these?

I'm about 5'10 and the pants aren't too long, but we hunt in a lot of mud and water and wear LaCrosse rubber boots and tuck our pants in down here. I am a fan of the set though.

 

[Dries]

Great review and additional comments! How's the fit for those around the 5'9 range, I am concerned with the overall length of these?

I am 5’6” and I wear lace up boots whitetail hunting. These are a really good fit for my 30 inch inseam. They seem a little shorter than their other pants in regular.


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[iHunt*]

Good to know, thank you for the info

 

[Rbattles]

So I received my Kuiu in the mail and have been looking it over. Here are my initial thoughts on things. I am 5 11” and 170 for reference. I hope some of the photos show in a little better detail some of the features. Here is a photo of the whole setup.
View attachment 455142
The hat is their Wind Pro Beanie, Wind Pro Neck Gaiter, the Proximity Jacket, the Proximity Pants, Axis Gloves.

Lets start with the beanie. I have a fat head and their XL is a nice going to stay on my head but not give me a headache fit. Including when I’ve got a bit longer hair. This reminds me of the Under Armor fleece beanies. It doesn’t let wind come through, we had some 40mph winds earlier today and I couldn’t feel it on my head. It is also thin enough that my hearing did not seem overly impaired. I think once it actually gets cold out, the trade off in warmth to my ears versus hearing will be worth it.

Working our way down, I love the neck gaiter. I think that the holes cut out to breathe through are awesome. I don’t have glasses but I imagine this might help with some of the lense fogging that occurs once the mercury dives. The cinch in the back is a little hard to loosen one handed but it seems like it’ll be set and forget, especially with the wire in the nose that you can form to the bridge of your nose. The gaiter fits nicely into the jacket and seems like it’ll go down over the neck if I want to wear paint instead. It is the same thickness as the beanie.
View attachment 455157
Moving down to the jacket, there is a lot to like. First and foremost, it doesn’t feel cheap like the Cabelas fleece that used to be a thing. It is thick and it really feels like there’s some heft to it. I think it is plenty quiet to pull a bow back and the sleeves are slim enough that there’s not a lot of excess. The jacket fits very very well. Not too baggy, I don’t feel there’s a need to size up unless I wanted to maybe double up on a sweatshirt and down.

I tend to get very cold quickly. A light sweatshirt outside below 60 can sometimes not be enough. I was able to fit s Super Down Ultra in the same size underneath which really turned this thing into a furnace. I will note that doing this made the jacket substantially louder than without it. The jacket is so quiet that I can hear the crinkling of the down jacket over whatever sound the proximity jacket is making. It’s about 50 and rainy out and I was getting quite warm in it. I think this piece will really come into play when things drop below 45 degrees.

Here are some of the features I like
View attachment 455158
Gear loop in both front chest pockets. These will get used quite a bit for a grunt call and a rangefinder. I can see using it in turkey season too for similar reasons.
View attachment 455159
The drop pockets are awesome, there is one on each side. I love to throw thinner gloves or handwarmers into these
The so I am happy to see it on this jacket.
View attachment 455160
The cuffs are pretty tight on this. Wearing a big watch might be difficult, but I was able to get the gloves slid between the fleece and the elastic sleeve. Itll really be nice once the snow flies for keeping melting snow out and off my arm.
View attachment 455161
It is a double zipper and I’m actually not a fan in this case. With the piece of cloth that folds over the bottom zipper it can be a real pain. I know it’s just nit picking at this point but perhaps I will learn to love it.

On the gloves, I have the Axis and they fit nicely with the rest of the stuff. I don’t really have much to say about them until I’m freezing in a tree with them. They might be a little bit too neoprene like to be my preferred gloves with the bow.

As others have stated, the Proximity pants are more like bibs. I love them. They are true to fit, very very warm and they sit a bit higher than my other pants and even cover up my back a little bit. The suspenders can be removed easily if needed but I don’t see myself doing that. If you wear a layer under the jacket, you will probably want to tuck it into the pants with the suspender of wear them over the straps. The real awesome part of these I think are the pockets. I no longer have to fight my regular pants pockets and hope my phone doesnt take a header off the ground below.View attachment 455164
The pockets also expand via magnet. Note that the vertical and horizontal pockets are two separate pockets, not two ways to get into the same compartment. These might be dangerous since I’ll just end up loading them up, I can also see handwarmers going into these.
View attachment 455172
The pants have a zipper up top and a zipper on the bottom where you can snap a flap over it. They advertise them as able to be worn over rubber boots. I can confirm that Muck Wetlands fit under these but I’m not sure how much girthier you would want of a boot to put the pants over. Also not sure I will do that because I think I would fall out of the tree in bulky boots, Ground blind though? No problem.

So all in all, I think this will be a pretty awesome setup. I will likely update this as I use them in an actual hunting scenario here. My plans for the year include hunting my home state here in WY once things cool down a bit, and I have some hunting planned in the Upper Peninsula in November where I really (don’t) hope to put them to the test in the wind and possibly a good amount of snow.

If anyone has any questions, let me know and I’ll take a look at my stuff and see if I can answer. I know I wish there was a little bit more info out on them but at this point I’m just happy to have them for the fall.

This was a great review. I’m looking at these myself after using them so far this season what are you thoughts now? Especially with the wind. These say resistant rather than wind proof which has me nervous

 

[fishslap]

Can anyone comment on how tight the proximity jacket forearms and cuffs are with layers?

 

[Ho5tile1]

Can anyone comment on how tight the proximity jacket forearms and cuffs are with layers?

I have the XL jacket and have had zero problems with that so far I have layered a FS wick ss shirt with a wick long sleeve and there 250 weight merino over that. Then the other day I had the Sitka midi over the 250 and the 150 wick I could tell that was about all I would want to put under it sleeve wise and still be comfortable you could for sure add another short sleeve no problem. I do have small wrists so that may help me some??


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[fishslap]

I have the XL jacket and have had zero problems with that so far I have layered a FS wick ss shirt with a wick long sleeve and there 250 weight merino over that. Then the other day I had the Sitka midi over the 250 and the 150 wick I could tell that was about all I would want to put under it sleeve wise and still be comfortable you could for sure add another short sleeve no problem. I do have small wrists so that may help me some??


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Thanks!

 

[PAPublic]

Thanks for reviews everyone. I’m been thinking about trying these for late season when the Sitka Stratus is getting a little cold even with a 3-4 layers. Didn’t want to go heavy Sitka Fanatic or FL Santuary because I usually pack in a couple miles. Will probably start with bibs to check them out

 

[connordude27]

Can anyone comment on how tight the proximity jacket forearms and cuffs are with layers?

Cuffs are definitely tight enough I cannot check my watch easily when wearing it. I have pretty average M/L sized hands.

As far as my end of season follow up. I used these in Wyoming and the Upper Peninsula. In the UP I had temps in the teens with winds in the 30s. I was able to sit still for about 5.5 hours before I had to go back and warm up. I had thermals and sweats layered under and the blind I was in wasn’t helping as I had the wind in my face. For the end of the archery season there I used the setup with a saddle. Any concerns about a saddle comfortably fitting over the pants are gone and I can even still use all the pockets even with the leg straps pulled tight.

In Wyoming I had a late season turkey sneak where I was sliding on ice to sneak up. It’s quiet enough that I had a hen at 10 yards staring at me that I had to slide on my back to get away from. It was exceptionally good at remaining frictionless on the ice. Also quiet. Didn’t end up spooking her but it was close. The wind this day was in the low 20mph and the temp was about 25. I was sweating a lot trying to actively hunt in these versus sit.

Overall I’m super pleased and will probably be picking up the lighter jacket before next bow season.

Side note too because I worry about these kind of things but I have washed the pants and the jacket and there was no shrinkage but I ran the dryer on low heat and made sure they were the only things in there.

Thanks everyone for the community review! It’s cool to see what others think since we all spend our hard earned cash on this stuff.

 

[jbwright]

I wear a 32 waist. If I want to run this late season with a light merino base bottom, with the Sitka Equinox Midi Pant - would y'all recommend I size up to a 34? Appreciate any insight.

 

[eltaco]

I wear a 32 waist. If I want to run this late season with a light merino base bottom, with the Sitka Equinox Midi Pant - would y'all recommend I size up to a 34? Appreciate any insight.

I’m a 32 waist as well and have worn mine with a merino base layer and Kuiu attack pant underneath without issue. I chose the 32 and has been a good fit with or without attack pants underneath

 

[elkman392989]

Definitely keeping an eye of kuiu for whitetail gear. I am looking to upgrade some clothing for late season

 

[tyrider427]

Does anyone have the Proximity and compare it First lite Solitude 2.0?

 

[bigmike23]

Does anyone have the Proximity and compare it First lite Solitude 2.0?

I think the solitude is much warmer. But the proximity is better designed. The solitude is 100% windproof and heavier. The Proximity is wind resistant. Not proof. I felt wind on my arms and shoulders last year. Makes a huge difference.
I don't like the collar or how think the arms were on the solitude.
IMO the Stratus is more versatile and better than both

 

[GAHunterJim]

Wore the pants opening day in KS last season, very comfortable and warm however not very durable. Mine lasted one hour before I ripped them on briars getting this buck out of cover into the field. KUIU did warranty them for me and sent a replacement pant without hassle, will be wearing them back in KS this December.

As much as I like the pants, I prefer other KUIU gear for upper body.

 

[LostArra]

I really like the Proximity pants. Fit, pockets, warmth, full zip. Everything works for me.

I kept the jacket about an hour and returned it. Fit and pockets are good but completely inadequate for cold windy Oklahoma days as an outer layer. I found the jacket to be a different build or materials than the pants.

 

[Bonesauce]

I was really excited about this jacket but I also sent it back, just couldn't justify the price for what it is. I needed a fleece outer layer for NNY late season to throw on over a puffy, ended up ordering one on sale at Eddie Bauer for 40 bucks.

If it had a truly wind proof membrane I probably would have kept it.

 

[hobolance]

The proximity set is also incredibly comfortable for wearing over long periods of time. Super cozy and warm.