Overpriced outdoor gear

[JV842]

And what is this?
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Look closely at the black wildebeest photo. You don't see any double chin or beer gut on that guy. Hunting kudu CAN be just about as arduous as elk hunting in Western Montana. I have plenty of experience with both.

These two bull elk and eleven others were shot in the thirteen years before I moved to Canada and still I'm damn near as fit now as I was then. Still wear the same size pants. There's a reason for that. I still hunt just as hard. I'm tough enough to drive 24 hrs straight to get back there to hunt and fish ... often more than twice a year.
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This moose was shot in 1991. Bought that wool shirt at Sportsman Ski Haus in Kalispell Christmas of 1979. It still hunts deer and elk (I quit moose hunting here several years ago), although the elbows are now worn through.
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Haven't done it for more than twenty years because I got rid of my livestock but I'm betting at age sixty-eight I could still put shoes on a horse. We'll see if you can say the same at my age. At age fifty-seven, my last year with the Park Service, I passed the firefighting physical test for US govt: three miles wearing 48 lb pack in under 45 minutes and NO running allowed. Not only did I pass, but I blew the doors off several rock climber kids in their late twenties. Last time I was at the gymn, which has been about a year and a half due to pandemic and surgeries, I could still do three miles on the treadmill under 35 minutes with no running.

Sorry, but I take offence at some keyboard hunter blowing me off as unfit to hunt elk just because I hunt Africa. Pffft! Obviously, if I can fly half way around the world to hunt a couple of times, I can afford Sitka, Kentreck, etc. I'm just too smart to buy into their elitist better-than-everything-because-it-costs-more marketing bullshit. Maybe W.C. Fields is right and one is born every minute, but my mom didn't send a sucker down the chute back in 1952.

Love It!!!
“Technical” what the hell?
Good gear is as good as the man or woman wearing it or using it
If u can afford it or justify it, good for u, my buddy just spend “God Knows” on a shiny new truck, I’m happy he’s able to do that, I still drive n hunt w my ‘94 Toyota n would be up in Colorado w her rt now if I hadn’t have had surgery.
Gear doesn’t make u a better hunter or better man or woman

 

[JLS]

Apparently this thread is quickly morphing into an autobiography explaining how one can be the perfect blend of cheap and amazing physical prowess at the same time.

 

[shrapnel]

This Columbia brand fleece jacket is older than that. Less than thirty bucks when I mail-ordered it. It's been all over North America and the world. Still killing stuff and keeps me just as warm today as it did when new. The fleece vest underneath is also a Goodwill Store special. Top quality item with some unknown company's embroidered logo on the front. So what? It'll last me the rest of my life. And it's the right color for hunting. Five bucks.
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Being frugal is rewarding and paying too much for the same results is a consideration, but the price for the Sitka and Kuiu is for performance of the product. You have made your point and many have followed your footsteps, but there is a reason people do use the expensive gear and it’s obviously not for you.

However, your field experience is somewhat dubious when you do broadcast the use of a scope to identify game. With the money you saved buying cheap gear, you should get a pair of binoculars...

The way I hunted elk in the mountains, binocs were pretty much dead weight. Not needed when tracking in snow. And it's just not worth the hassle digging them out and fiddling with pulling off my eyeglasses to make them work. I made due with the optics of an old 3X Weaver scope and shot a helluva pile of animals. Now I have a decent 3X9 which really makes binoculars redundant.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I have a pair of compactish Steiner binocs. Bought them for the first African trip, essentially because the lodge required it. I have a bad left eye due to retina surgeries and it's difficult to find binocs that will work without double vision. Few monoculars would be much of an improvement over my 3x9 scope. The Steiners were in a holster on my hip or in my jacket pocket when in Africa. I seldom used them. Even with glass I can't spot game like my PH and tracker can with naked eye. They are incredible. In Montana I'm stalking/tracking elk and deer on the move in cold weather. Fighting with binocs that fog up when I'm heated up is just an exercise in frustration. Excess weight.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Apparently this thread is quickly morphing into an autobiography explaining how one can be the perfect blend of cheap and amazing physical prowess at the same time.

*wllm1313 has entered the chat*

There's an 06' corolla with 265k miles on it how you like them apples @OntarioHunter

 

[JLS]

*wllm1313 has entered the chat*

I’m quite certain you’ll have an Excel spreadsheet with gear purchase price and times worn, complete with amortization and depreciation graphs. Don’t let me down bro.

 

[Irrelevant]

I both agree and disagree with that as well. The Sitka stuff I have has been far and away the most durable technical clothing I’ve used. I have some of the cheaper stuff, Kirkland, etc. too, but it’s not the same quality.

I don’t know that hunters necessarily pay more for the same stuff. If you look apples to apples, as in Sitka to top end Outdoor Research or Arc’Teryx, there isn’t much of a price difference.

Sure kirkland doesn't equal sitka, but let's get real, which is going to keep you warmer:

Blizzard Aerolite Parka | SITKA Gear

Our warmest GORE-TEX big game gear, this waterproof insulated jacket is built for late season hunts that have you sitting on exposed glassing points or riding into howling wind and snow. Synthetic PrimaLoft® Gold Insulation with Cross Core™ technology replicates the performance of down...

www.sitkagear.com

or

Permafrost Down Parka Men's

For those days when you've just had enough of the wind and the cold, slip on the redesigned...

www.montbell.us

There a 50% price difference for some camo.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Best $8 you'll ever spend.

https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/558609-hunters-specialties-butt-out-2-field-dressing-tool.html?blaintm_source=google&blaintm_medium=lia&setstore=42&gclid=CjwKCAjw7fuJBhBdEiwA2lLMYSVhUHIXhigaJJii5vRCLUFi6u0H5j1SudpkuR4Os6RHwqrxLU0KuhoC3jgQAvD_BwE

 

[tjones]

Some guys carry a change of cloths and different rifles just for photo ops.

Truly apocalypse is now.

 

[MNElkNut]

Well I certainly hope you are not still using your scope to look around!

I have used it all. Cheap gear is not ideal for how I like to hunt. Feel free to wear the cheapest boots you can find on one of those archery elk hunts or African hunts! I don't feel cherry picking one or two pieces that have lasted a long time is a testament to the general longevity of cheap gear. I have bought cheap gear many times only to replace it soon thereafter. Rocky boots. Danner Pronghorns. Bushnell Scopes. Columbia rain suits to name a few that have let me down. Kirkland has some solid general gear that I have used. I loved a puffy vest I had from there, but it wore out after a couple years.

I love the Sitka that I have! No problems with zippers (I hope I didn't just jinx it!). Cheap pants do not include knee pads which I can walk in comfortably and which I have come to appreciate greatly. As many days as I put in, I want to have long lasting gear that is super comfy and keeps my dry. If you can find that at Walmart, go for it.

I have also seen people with cheap gear have to go home because their gear failed them. I would just say buy what suits you and let others buy what suits them without chastising anyone in the process.

 

[Bigjay73]

If we're talking price vs cost of production, most anything marketed towards outdoors activities falls into that category. Value is another can of worms

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Some guys carry a change of cloths and different rifles bow hunt just for photo ops.

Truly apocalypse is now.

FIFY

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Sure kirkland doesn't equal sitka, but let's get real, which is going to keep you warmer:

Blizzard Aerolite Parka | SITKA Gear

Our warmest GORE-TEX big game gear, this waterproof insulated jacket is built for late season hunts that have you sitting on exposed glassing points or riding into howling wind and snow. Synthetic PrimaLoft® Gold Insulation with Cross Core™ technology replicates the performance of down...

www.sitkagear.com

or

Permafrost Down Parka Men's

For those days when you've just had enough of the wind and the cold, slip on the redesigned...

www.montbell.us

There a 50% price difference for some camo.

One of the issues you run into with Sitka is that they use the old retail method distribution (compared with say kuiu that does direct to consumer) this drives up price because the retailer needs to make money, then they are niche so they don't have the volume of "REI" style companies.

Pretty much every piece of sitka I've purchased has been awesome... but yeah expensive.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

The more expensive and flamboyant the better! I don't even hunt anymore I just sit in my yard and look down my nose at the world.

 

[MarvB]

I’m quite certain you’ll have an Excel spreadsheet with gear purchase price and times worn, complete with amortization and depreciation graphs. Don’t let me down bro.

The day I’ve gotta dollar cost average and inflationary adjust for a pair of socks is the day I quit hunting …whom I kidding, no it won’t

 

[shrapnel]

I have a pair of compactish Steiner binocs. Bought them for the first African trip, essentially because the lodge required it. I have a bad left eye due to retina surgeries and it's difficult to find binocs that will work without double vision. Few monoculars would be much of an improvement over my 3x9 scope. The Steiners were in a holster on my hip or in my jacket pocket when in Africa. I seldom used them. Even with glass I can't spot game like my PH and tracker can with naked eye. They are incredible. In Montana I'm stalking/tracking elk and deer on the move in cold weather. Fighting with binocs that fog up when I'm heated up is just an exercise in frustration. Excess weight.

There is always a reason, but when you are out stalking elk/deer in Montana, you may want to tell everyone here, where and when you will be out so that no one is in the same area. My guess is that when someone sees you looking at them through your scope, a detached retina will be the least of your physical impairments.

 

[brockel]

I’m still wearing some Sitka gear that is about 12-13 years old now. Amortized out, I wouldn’t consider it expensive at all.

I’ve got an 11 year old Sitka coat that gets worn every year from about mid October until March. It has survived 11 hunting seasons and 11 trapping seasons walking through buffalo berry bushes checking snares. It’s starting to show it’s age but I’ll get another year out of it. I’d say it was worth the money.

 

[Irrelevant]

One of the issues you run into with Sitka is that they use the old retail method distribution (compared with say kuiu that does direct to consumer) this drives up price because the retailer needs to make money, then they are niche so they don't have the volume of "REI" style companies.

Pretty much every piece of sitka I've purchased has been awesome... but yeah expensive.

Yes my Sitka stuff is great too. But new it's grossly over priced, to the point it stands out as such in an industry of over priced merch.

 

[Ben Lamb]

The day I’ve gotta dollar cost average and inflationary adjust for a pair of socks is the day I quit hunting …whom I kidding, no it won’t

I got a set of Kirkland wool socks that are going on 3 years old now.

I got a Patagonia rain coat that only lasted 15 years. Sad.