Rain Jacket - Arcteryx vs "True" Hunting Brand

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

My Arcteryx gore shell now has officially kicked the bucket after 9 years of extensive usage. Shell still works great but the seams are falling apart all at once.

We had a good run.

Arcteryx stuff has always served me well, I am ok with spending the money if I get almost a decade worth of use out of it. However, I am now looking into other brands as well and am wondering if there are any advantages in going with the likes of ... say... Kiui Yukon or similar.

Any real advantages ("camo" doesn't count for me) over the "hiking" brands when it comes to hunting? I have never worn or even seen a Kiui rain jacket so looking for first-hand experiences.

Any advise appreciated.

[Weatherby Fan]

Arcteryx has a life time warranty , take it back and they will fix or replace

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

That is not what their website says. I emailed their support and am waiting to hear back, but the website states the warranty covers the "reasonable lifetime of the product" which is "not your lifetime". I am not hopefull 8 years constitute "reasonable lifetime" of a goretex jacket, but who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Question still stands, though

[David]

If you're in the lower mainland you can shop at the Artcteryx Outlet store and get a minimum of 20% off retail - it's just a question of whether what you want is there.

I have their RUSH jacket, which I quite like - in part because of the skirt (and it's flame orange).

I did have something attached to my belt, or was carrying an external frame pack and there were two spots that unknown to me rubbed on my hips and slowly wore away the inside of the goretex membrane on my jacket. This was replaced under warranty (brand new jacket). I haven't seen a jacket that would protect against this by itself, so I am now careful to wear a light layer between my belt, metal buttons, knife/leatherman or what-have-you and the jacket so there is nothing to give extra abrasion.

For hunting purposes, it is loud - but less loud than if you are wearing gore-text rain pants. I haven't compared it to "hunting rainwear" to see if it is noisier or just as noisy.

Personally, there are a few little items that I remember from gore-tex patrol jacket days that are missing that I like - thinks like a loop near your should to hold a mike / radio / whatever. Occassionaly the outlet store has items from their guide section (not the LEAF stuff, though they carry that too - I mean this stuff... https://pro.arcteryx.com/products/ )

Hope that helps.

[Pemby_mess]

That is not what their website says. I emailed their support and am waiting to hear back, but the website states the warranty covers the "reasonable lifetime of the product" which is "not your lifetime". I am not hopefull 8 years constitute "reasonable lifetime" of a goretex jacket, but who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Question still stands, though

Their warranty is the best in the business. "The life of the product" doesn't mean there is some expiry date on the product. You will state the reason for your claim, and if the defect is inconsistent with the garment's wear in other respects, they will honour the warranty. I've returned close to 3 dozen garments to Arcteryx without ever receiving a response that raised my eyebrows. Some of them had hundreds of days of "pro" use on them.

[whitlers]

That is not what their website says. I emailed their support and am waiting to hear back, but the website states the warranty covers the "reasonable lifetime of the product" which is "not your lifetime". I am not hopefull 8 years constitute "reasonable lifetime" of a goretex jacket, but who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Question still stands, though

You should be covered. My uncle just replaced his and he only had to pay a small difference of $200 or something to get into the new current gear. I would try and exercise that first before considering something else.

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Got a response, have to pay if repair is even possible. Not unexpected

[Weatherby Fan]

That is not what their website says. I emailed their support and am waiting to hear back, but the website states the warranty covers the "reasonable lifetime of the product" which is "not your lifetime". I am not hopefull 8 years constitute "reasonable lifetime" of a goretex jacket, but who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Question still stands, though

A girlfriend of mine worked at a fishing lodge had one seven years old and all the seams started leaking, she took it in and a week later mailed her a new jacket.

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Well, I am boxing the jacket now, just got a RMA number. Let's see what they say after having had a look. This all sounds more encouraging than the response I got from customer service. We shall see.

Thanks guys for all the responses so far. Still interested in a comparison to "hunting brands"....

[Grakyn]

I had an Alpha SV jacket for over 10 years. The cuff de laminated. Had a brief conversation with Arc'teryx and they told me to pick a colour for my replacement. Done deal. Best service in the industry, hands down.