Kuiu Yukon gear...got a little wet this weekend...HELP!

[Steeliedrew]

Just got back from a very wet few days on a solo SW WA Muzzleloader Elk trip. Got on bulls all three days but no shots fired. Even had a real good 6 raking a tree at 50 yards but it’s so thick I couldn’t even see his body. Just the little tree being whipped around by a giant set of Cascade Rosie antlers. I won’t go into detail on this thread about how I messed up that encounter.

Anyhow, I packed in Friday night in the pouring rain for a couple of hours. When I arrived at my camp spot I noticed that the face fabric of my Yukon gear was 100% saturated! And man that stuff gets heavy when it’s soaked. Saturday the weather wasn’t bad so it had a chance to dry. Other than getting wet busting through brush. But then a storm came in Sunday night and it didn’t let up all day today either. I was probably out in it for close to 10 hours today. By the time I got back to the truck my base layers were pretty dang wet. The face fabric of the Yukon layers is completely saturated and if you run your finger on the inside surface it’s definitely damp.

I had just washed it with the NikWax Tech wash and the Soft Shell Proof as recommended by Kuiu due to the fact that the Yukon layers are 4 way stretch. Although my gear definitely looked nice and clean after the treatment it seemed to do nothing for helping water to bead up and actually allow the membrane to work as designed. When I did the Nikwax treatment I washed it on a gentle cycle with the tech wash and then did another cycle with a full bottle of the Soft Shell Proof. I opted to hang dry also.

Any ideas? Is there a better DWR that will work with 4 way stretch? Or is my rain gear just worn out? I’ve only had the Yukon layers for a few seasons my maybe have worn them a total of 20-30 days in nasty weather. I’ll likely call Kuiu tomorrow but figured I’d ask on here also.

Funny side note...While staking out my Cimarron I went to put the pole up and realized I had staked it inside out so the whole time I was staking it out the inner surface was getting absolutely drenched before it even got a chance to condensate like a single wall shelter does anyhow. Lol. Lesson learned...even though it’s dumping rain and late at night, just keep your sh!t together while setting up camp. Haha.

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[Steeliedrew]

Unrelated to the question in the original post but just noticed the pics I attached are rather blurry. Let’s try this:

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[Shaun Ayers]

Steeliedrew,
Sounds like you did the right thing with the Nikwax, although drying on medium heat does help to recharge and set the DWR. I'd like to take a look at your raingear and evaluate for leakage and DWR quality. Definitely get ahold of warranty and we'll get you taken care of.
Shaun-KUIU

 

[Steeliedrew]

Steeliedrew,
Sounds like you did the right thing with the Nikwax, although drying on medium heat does help to recharge and set the DWR. I'd like to take a look at your raingear and evaluate for leakage and DWR quality. Definitely get ahold of warranty and we'll get you taken care of.
Shaun-KUIU

Thank you for your response Shaun. I have some hunts approaching so I can’t afford to be without rain gear at the moment up here in WA but I was advised to do the Nikwax tech wash and the soft shell proof again. And as an added step to go ahead and spray it down with the Nikwax TX direct spray. I got that completed last night and will report back next time I’m on a rainy hunt. I did tumble dry on low for just a few minutes to get the bulk of the saturation off before air drying the rest of the way but perhaps I should do a full dry cycle as well on low to medium heat? I would definitely send it down to you for evaluation if I had a backup set but I’ll have to wait on that.

I should mention that I did go into this last hunt having spent the two prior weekends hunting a burn and the dirt and soot on the Yukon gear could have played a role in soaking the face fabric.

Here’s a question. I typically roll the jacket and pants up and fit them inside a large Kifaru pullout which goes in my pack until needed if it’s not actively raining when the hunt starts. I don’t store them like that between hunts but could the act of rolling them up wear out the DWR more quickly?


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[Steeliedrew]

I feel I should clarify the sequence of events leading up to the original post. Did the Nikwax treatment prior to two weekends of hunting a burn. 1st weekend was moderately wet and involved A LOT of brush busting and blowdown hopping in the dirty old burn. On that trip I noticed the face fabric got very saturated even though I had just did the Nikwax treatment. But I took into account the amount of wet brush busting that was done.

Fast forward to my Elk Hunt this last weekend after those two weekends in the burn. I had not re-washed the Yukon gear before the hunt. Although visibly dirty I figured that I had just done the Nikwax and it should be fine. My guess is that the importance of keeping rain gear clean can’t be underrated and I should have washed it before the trip.

Going forward I will report back on how the next trip out in the rain goes now that I’ve re-washed in tech wash and soft shell proof and sprayed in the TX direct. Of course this weekend calls for sun around here but we’ll see. If performance still seems not up to par I will contact Kuiu Warranty. I’ve really enjoyed the Yukon gear the last few years up here in the NW and hope it will continue to serve me well for years to come.

Drew


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