KUIU vs Sitka vs First Lite

[Valumpessa]

I need some quality rain gear.... as members stated won't use it much, but I hate getting wet so pony up the $$$$. Since I went the Sitka route am considering the Sitka Downpour jacket and pants (20% off right now)..... that is unless someone want's to steer me into looking at something else. I'm not brand loyal, I just don't want to get wet on those rare occasions I do hunt in the rain.

Kuiu has been my go to for rain gear. Ran chugach for 8 years and just got a new set of kutana. I'm sold.

For pretty much everything else I wear first lite. Merino underwear and upper/lower base layer, sawtooth vest, brooks puffy, corrugate guide jacket/pant, catalyst if its cold, kiln beanie, talus fingerless gloves and alpine cold weather gloves. Next purchase will be the corrugate foundry pant because they sound awesome, and some zip of merino bottoms.

My one and only piece from sitka is their kelvin down lite puffy I snagged during the black Friday sale last year. Very impressed with the quality so far and I'll likely try more sitka in the future... like the ambient I keep hearing about.

 

[Dougie Fresh]

I’ve used the Sitka dew point jacket and pants a lot and I highly recommend. Very durable for how light it is and fairly breathable.

Lots of people saying how good FL merino is, personally I like Duckworth base layers. The comet hoody is perfection.

Will need to check the Dew Point out then.... When I saw the Downpour, just thought that was the way to go. I don't hunt or do much of anything in a hard sustained rain. Seems the Dew Point may be better suited for me.

 

[Dougie Fresh]

There’s not one company that makes all the best gear. I have found things I like from each company and incorporate them into my system. If you’re into solids, I would recommend looking outside of just hunting brands as they make as good or better gear and have better pricing at times.

 

[Dougie Fresh]

Learning this "There’s not one company that makes all the best gear. I have found things I like from each company "... good feedback I definitely have some brands new to me to check out. Learning process at the moment.... guess I should have known about Duckworth now I do. Maybe they can solve my cold feet problems..

 

[Daulton Kielbiski]

Sitka all the way I found their pants dont fit properly

 

[MojaveJim]

For Merino base layers I've found Sarma from Varusteleka.com (in Finland) to be the best , most comfortable & durable for the cost. Even have an outer wear hoody sweater I've put though the ringer & is still like new. One of my favorites but thick Merino gets heavy & euros zipper pulls are backwards.
BTW never had fl base but have some Kuiu & it's not comfortable or durable.

 

[StraightTucky]

Just to add on, the FL pro program is amazing! As Active Duty Military, LEO and similar occupations you qualify. I know kuiu does a discount via GOVX, but it's not near as good as FL. All things being equal, with the MIL discount my set is almost all FL. I have random Kuiu and Outdoor Research peices that I do really like. I never even consider Sitka for how they did Jason Hairston.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Just to add on, the FL pro program is amazing! As Active Duty Military, LEO and similar occupations you qualify. I know kuiu does a discount via GOVX, but it's not near as good as FL. All things being equal, with the MIL discount my set is almost all FL.

As a member of the pro program i couldn't agree more. If this every goes away ill be gone with it though, i just don't think a majority of their gear stacks up against the competitors.

 

[Spread5150]

I have a few of all three. I buy what’s on sale.

 

[Codychapman93]

No complaints with my kuiu or Sitka, don’t own any FL though.


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[Buckhead]

I own all three brands, kind of a camo junkie. Most of my hunting is for whitetails in the Southeast, so my gear is oriented towards that. I own mostly Sitka because I started with that brand and wanted matching camo patterns. That said, I also like my Kuiu stuff (peleton quarter zip, guide vest) and my solitude jacket and bibs from First Lite. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the 3. In my experience, First Lite is a little cheaper. Prefer the Sitka camo patterns over the others.

 

[Honyock]

I'm a mix and match/whatever I can find the best deal on guy. Use Sitka and Kuiu pretty much exclusively. Kuiu more in the mountains and Sitka whitetail and turkey hunting. Europtics has some really good Sitka closeout deals right now if you can find your size.

 

[patrick90]

Are there any blogs out there that summarize this comparison?

 

[RM_Bowhunter]

I'm a mix and match/whatever I can find the best deal on guy. Use Sitka and Kuiu pretty much exclusively. Kuiu more in the mountains and Sitka whitetail and turkey hunting. Europtics has some really good Sitka closeout deals right now if you can find your size.

Sitka seems to always be on "sale", which leads me to question how much their margins really are if they can consistently promote 25%, 30%, or 35% off their products. Plus, they're in every major sporting goods big box store which leads me to believe they have to be skimping at least a little bit on quality to be profitable. This is just speculation though.

 

[RM_Bowhunter]

Are there any blogs out there that summarize this comparison?

I've never seen a full on comparison of all product lines, but I have seen certain components of each system compared. There's one on YouTube that compares all three brands' high end puffy jackets.

 

[jolasure]

FL base layers
Sitka everything else
Kuiu I wanna try some pieceslike midlyers string fleece etc.

 

[ChrisS]

Kuiu's peloton 97 is amazing. I bought one and then went back and bought four more with different colors and with/without the hood. The fit and finish on all Kuiu stuff has, in my experience, been flawless. FL has been all over the place. Those obsidian pants are borderline pajama bottoms and it doesn't take much to run through them. I've had three pairs over 8 years and all three have been mended, patched, and I even had reinforcement panels added to high wear areas. I'm an active hunter and generally cover 70-100 miles per season. Kuiu attacks are cheaper and much more durable, comfortable, and adaptable. I've added more and more pieces from Kuiu over the last 3-4 seasons and I'm sticking with them for the forseeable future.

As a military vet, no longer active duty, the FL discount has decreased significantly since I first started buying and is basically non-existent at this point (I think it's gone from 35% to 10-15%) and the sales they run are about the same price. The cost combined with the quality control and durability issues has had me transition to Kuiu.

Sitka never appealed to me much because of the cost and I couldn't access a discount. No opinion on their stuff.

 

[SloppyJ]

Most of my hunts aren't extremely active being in the south. However, I've transitioned from all First Lite to only wearing their bases and going to all Sitka outerwear with their gortex windstopper. I did not like wearing as many layers as I was required to with FL. However, the Kiln is my absolute all time favorite. I actually wore out my solid color one and need to get a new one for around town. It's so comfy.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

As a military vet, no longer active duty, the FL discount has decreased significantly since I first started buying and is basically non-existent at this point (I think it's gone from 35% to 10-15%)

not true at all. As a member of the pro program i can %100 verify it is still 30% site wide (not including sale items) year round. I just signed into my account to double check and even the new items they just released are 30% off.
For example :
The new Uncompahgre foundry jacket is $340 for the general public and my price is $238

Although If Kuiu, sitka or pnuma offered anything remotely close to that sort of discount for militarily, law enforcement or first responders I'd jump ship immediately.

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

not true at all. As a member of the pro program i can %100 verify it is still 30% site wide (not including sale items) year round. I just signed into my account to double check and even the new items they just released are 30% off.
For example :
The new Uncompahgre foundry jacket is $340 for the general public and my price is $238

Although If Kuiu, sitka or pnuma offered anything remotely close to that sort of discount for militarily, law enforcement or first responders I'd jump ship immediately.

They do. Sitka is 40% for vet or military. KUIU is only 10%.