Clothing suggestions

[sjdb243]

Hey guys - excuse the dumb question - my excuse is I'm new to Canada!

So what do you guys suggest for high quality hunting clothing? Planning on some backpack hunting, probably will get cold and snowy. What works for you guys? I want something that will keep the water out, the warm in.

Where is a good place to try on some gear and buy locally in Vancouver?

Thanks in advance ya good blokes!

[whitlers]

Sitka, Kuiu, First Lite, Arc'teryx to name a few. I have a mixture of Sitka and Kuiu that I am happy with however I have yet to drop the money on good rain gear.

You can try some Sitka gear on at Cabelas and First Lite at Bass Pro but both in limited supply.

Use the search function and you will find some great info on gear.

Best of luck!

[twoSevenO]

Vancouver actually sucks for high end gear. I haven't been to Italian sporting goods lately, but none of the stores in vancouver carry a decent selection of Leica glass. Maybe 2 stores carry Meindl boots. I dont think that ANY carry high end hunting knives at all.

You pretty much have Bass Pro and Cabelas for Sitka clothing. That's the only high end hunting clothing brand you're gonna get locally since Kuiu only sells online. And even then good luck .... cables either wont have the model you want in stock or wont have your size .... it's like O brother where art though .... two weeks for anything pretty much.

Hell I couldnt even find a left handed Tikka T3 ANYWHERE locally in a fairly common 243Win. Same with my rem 700 ... Had to order out of Alberta. Like, why cant you just have shit in Stock like the Alberta guys? .... Shopping in vancouver sucks :)

[Wentrot]

Sitka, Kuiu, First Lite, Arc'teryx to name a few. I have a mixture of Sitka and Kuiu that I am happy with however I have yet to drop the money on good rain gear.

You can try some Sitka gear on at Cabelas and First Lite at Bass Pro but both in limited supply.

Use the search function and you will find some great info on gear.

Best of luck!

Firstlite only sells direct now.

[kootenaihunter]

Figure out your sizes locally then shop online. Canada is a pain for anything high end, hunting clothes or otherwise.

I always like to shop locally, but when selection, service, and prices suck, I go elsewhere.

If you're in the lower mainland and can't find what you want in Canada, you can get stuff shipped to a border town in the US and pick it up. The busy border crossing usually doesn't make folks pay duty/taxes unless you're bring across a fortune.


And Badlands makes excellent rain gear, with lifetime warranty.

[whitlers]

Firstlite only sells direct now.

No way. That sucks didnt know that. Thanks!

[David]

IMO...

The most important question you have to ask yourself is do you need your clothes to be silent or not? If the answer is yes then you pretty much have to stick with "hunting" brands (there are some exceptions which I'm sure other people will point out) which means you're either looking at hunting stores or online.

On the other hand, if silent is not important there is a wide variety of outdoor clothing that is better made and a better value than the hunting brands. Depending on your needs and price point you can look at Eddie Bauer First Ascent or Sport Shop gear, the Arc-teryx Outlet in North Van, Fjallraven on West Broadway, Fillson's in gastown, Helly Hansen downtown, and even MEC has some OK stuff.

You can also head across the line to the USA and check out American Cabela's (better selection), Helly Hansen outlet, and REI (IMO better than MEC). For warmth there's an Icebreaker outlet store at the Airport (I think).

Personally for my goretex I use a lot of Arc-teryx gear I got on discount (the jack is LOUD though) and then tend to mix Eddie Bauer, Fjallraven, Icebreaker for pants, down, etc. - believe it or not Uniqlo has some really warm stuff too.

[sjdb243]

Thanks all for the info and advice.

I bit the bullet and ordered kuiu pants and jacket, I'll build on that with some cheaper stuff but figured good gear should last and be worth the investment.