I wanted to follow up after some more field time. Archery elk, mostly in burned timber (read: far less deadfall gymnastics than normal). My overall feedback is the performance, weight and fit (I’d also throw colors in there, and pricing) is leading, while durability is so so. I’ll take those tradeoffs, personally.
Midlayer: the hood is one of the best I’ve ever had. Durability is similar to Sitka ambient face fabric - rubbing from chest rig will pill. Not a shocker. Seems best to just rub SS baselayer under it, LS is tough.
Pants: given their use and performance I the think the durability is acceptable. They move so well with you that you hardly feel any resistance in use. Fit/features are simple and dialed. Have not had to pull them up or adjust them once under a pack belt. They are quite thin and wind loved through them easily - a baselayer will extend them into mid season, but late season likely not? My only negative is the fabric shows wear both inside and outside. That said, interestingly I got stabbed in the knee while moving through timber and the pants held, impressively. There’s a start of a hole but I expected a full on tear. So while they may “wear” and pull/pill easy, they aren’t fragile either.
Inside of legs against boots (not a big deal to me given they are an ultralight pant -but not as tough as “typical” hunting pants like a kuiu attack are)
Knee stab point (impressive resistance to puncture)
