DavidAk
New member
Here are some notes I made about some of the gear I used over the past couple weeks of hunting...
Bibler Tripod Bivy Tent- This is a pretty impressive tent. It’s light, packs easy, sets up easy, and is fairly roomy inside (for a bivy style tent). It withstood wind and rain like a champ, with very little condensation inside. I left the zipper open a touch at the top for ventilation. If my life is ever on the line, and I have to hunker down in the weather, this is the tent I want.
Cons: It’s easy to feel a little claustrophobic inside after a few nights, though no more than with any other bivy style tent I suppose. Getting in and out in serious rain, it’s tough to get your wet clothes off and get inside without bringing some water in with you.
Danner Boots- Not sure which model, these have all leather uppers and 400grams Thinsulate, also Gore-Tex liner. They are tall, at least 10” uppers I believe. I bees-waxed them before I left, a tip from SitkaDeer. They worked pretty well. Waterproof, not much sweat problem even though they are insulated and it was warm out. My feet are pretty tolerant of hot/cold, otherwise the boots might be a touch warm for early September. Fairly light, quite comfortable, good support on uneven tundra.
Cons: Can be stiff on cold mornings until your feet warm them up and walking flexes them again.
Alpen Compact 8x25 Binocs- Inexpensive, lightweight, very clear. I thought they were great for the money, until both pair fogged all the way through. Useless. I guess it’s true, inexpensive and optics don’t mix.
Katahdyn MicroPur Water Tablets- These little gems were great. No more foul iodine taste. They use chlorine dioxide I believe. The package has instructions for 30-minute, 2-hour (I believe) and 4-hour treatments. I just chucked the pellets in and shook it, 4 hours later had crystal clear water that tasted great. No more iodine for me. For what it’s worth, these will treat for Giardia and cryptosporidium.
Bushnell Yardage Pro Rangefinder- Not sure which model, camo colored and just said Yardage Pro on the side. I borrowed them from a friend. It’s easy to see I need more practice at range estimation. Since I don’t have much experience with rangefinders, can’t comment too much although I will say the LED was easy to read and the battery power was good. I could range out to around 500 yards with what seemed to be pretty good accuracy (hard to dispute, guess I have to trust it).
Cons: When ranging two objects near each other at around 300yds and further, the lased ranges for each object would be different by up to 20yds, even though they were equi-distant from me. I suppose that has to do with how reflective the surfaces are.
Helly Hansen Impertech Raingear- Lightweight, packable, comfortable. We had serious rain, and they worked pretty well. Some condensation inside, though if you take advantage of the back vent periodically, it helps. Everything was so wet after days of rain that it’s hard to complain about a little water inside the raingear. Didn’t bother me anyway, as the fleece I wore underneath kept the water from my skin.
Cons: Feels like this stuff will tear easy if you wear it into the brush. I wore the deluxe jacket, would recommend the guide model instead, as it is a longer cut jacket.
Wiggy’s Lightweight Waders- Pretty handy and quite packable. Seemed durable. Unfortunately, on both pairs we took with us, the little plastic clasp on the drawstrings had broken springs on one boot. Hard to keep them up with the broken clasp, and even the boots with good clasps had some troubles falling down periodically. These worked well for crossing streams, but I would have to come up with a better system for holding them up if I was going to wear them for any length of time..for instance, when shuttling gear to and from the float plane and beach.
Bibler Tripod Bivy Tent- This is a pretty impressive tent. It’s light, packs easy, sets up easy, and is fairly roomy inside (for a bivy style tent). It withstood wind and rain like a champ, with very little condensation inside. I left the zipper open a touch at the top for ventilation. If my life is ever on the line, and I have to hunker down in the weather, this is the tent I want.
Cons: It’s easy to feel a little claustrophobic inside after a few nights, though no more than with any other bivy style tent I suppose. Getting in and out in serious rain, it’s tough to get your wet clothes off and get inside without bringing some water in with you.
Danner Boots- Not sure which model, these have all leather uppers and 400grams Thinsulate, also Gore-Tex liner. They are tall, at least 10” uppers I believe. I bees-waxed them before I left, a tip from SitkaDeer. They worked pretty well. Waterproof, not much sweat problem even though they are insulated and it was warm out. My feet are pretty tolerant of hot/cold, otherwise the boots might be a touch warm for early September. Fairly light, quite comfortable, good support on uneven tundra.
Cons: Can be stiff on cold mornings until your feet warm them up and walking flexes them again.
Alpen Compact 8x25 Binocs- Inexpensive, lightweight, very clear. I thought they were great for the money, until both pair fogged all the way through. Useless. I guess it’s true, inexpensive and optics don’t mix.
Katahdyn MicroPur Water Tablets- These little gems were great. No more foul iodine taste. They use chlorine dioxide I believe. The package has instructions for 30-minute, 2-hour (I believe) and 4-hour treatments. I just chucked the pellets in and shook it, 4 hours later had crystal clear water that tasted great. No more iodine for me. For what it’s worth, these will treat for Giardia and cryptosporidium.
Bushnell Yardage Pro Rangefinder- Not sure which model, camo colored and just said Yardage Pro on the side. I borrowed them from a friend. It’s easy to see I need more practice at range estimation. Since I don’t have much experience with rangefinders, can’t comment too much although I will say the LED was easy to read and the battery power was good. I could range out to around 500 yards with what seemed to be pretty good accuracy (hard to dispute, guess I have to trust it).
Cons: When ranging two objects near each other at around 300yds and further, the lased ranges for each object would be different by up to 20yds, even though they were equi-distant from me. I suppose that has to do with how reflective the surfaces are.
Helly Hansen Impertech Raingear- Lightweight, packable, comfortable. We had serious rain, and they worked pretty well. Some condensation inside, though if you take advantage of the back vent periodically, it helps. Everything was so wet after days of rain that it’s hard to complain about a little water inside the raingear. Didn’t bother me anyway, as the fleece I wore underneath kept the water from my skin.
Cons: Feels like this stuff will tear easy if you wear it into the brush. I wore the deluxe jacket, would recommend the guide model instead, as it is a longer cut jacket.
Wiggy’s Lightweight Waders- Pretty handy and quite packable. Seemed durable. Unfortunately, on both pairs we took with us, the little plastic clasp on the drawstrings had broken springs on one boot. Hard to keep them up with the broken clasp, and even the boots with good clasps had some troubles falling down periodically. These worked well for crossing streams, but I would have to come up with a better system for holding them up if I was going to wear them for any length of time..for instance, when shuttling gear to and from the float plane and beach.
