A year in review with KUIU

[StoneChaser]

Figured I'd take this opportunity since it's -40 C here right now and review the KUIU gear I used this past season.

It so happend this year I was in dire need of some new gear (I'd been cobbling togther stuff for the past few seasons and had the wife sewing over stitches and patches on my mountain pants and shirts...was time to upgrade).

I decided to give the KUIU lineup a sampling, and ended up picking up a good chunk of the lineup over the season.

Was able to use it starting with Spring bear in may, followed by Stone's sheep in August, some deer and elk hunting throughout Sept, followed by moose in Oct, and finally late season mulies and a trip to the QCI for Sitkas.

Gear used:

Merino 185 and Merino 250 shirt:

First time with Merino wool, and wondering how I lived without it. Cool in the heat, warm in the cold, and after 10 days of hiking still doesn't stink up (I always seem to smell like a hobo after 1 hour in Poly Pro)

Attack Pants:

Very durable and offer great mobility....still using the original pair (they breath well, and offer decent protection from the brush as well).

Chugach Pants & Jacket:

My first time with high dollar rain gear, and worth EVERY penny. The combo was excellent, and the leg zips and pit zips made ventilation possible and on/off with the pants over boots a breeze.

Merino 185 Beanie:

For such a small item (I laughed when I first looked at the little clump of wool in my hand), it was worth it's weight in gold. I wore it under a ball cap, or on it's own in cold and wet and it kept my melon toasty.

Overall:

The gear held up very well, and offers a mimimalist design, is athletic cut, but still fits generously enough for full mobility (all the materials stretch with movement as well).

A bonus, it's very well priced for what you get, and is Canadian made (built in Vancouver by the folks that used to stich Arcteryx).

Throughout the year I ordered up the Primaloft Jacket (a little narrow in the shoulders w/XL) and the Guide Jacket (a little tight in the pits w/pit zips) and sent them back.

The camo pattern is very versatile, at home in the mountains, timber and marshland, and I eagerly await the gaitors and will be adding an Attack Jacket to the mix should the cut be changed just a little to allow more mobility in the arm pits.

Here are a few photos from the season:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/2010Hunting118.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/2010Hunting124.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/2011HuntingCrop5.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/2011HuntingCrop3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/2011Hunting034.jpg

[StoneChaser]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/CIMG0966.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/CIMG0994.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/StoneChaser/CIMG0969.jpg

[Buck]

Yea i really like the gear.I have the guide jacket , primaloft insulator and the vest.quality is great as well as the price.

[Grains]

Nice review StoneChaser - thanks! Sure looks like you had a great season. How do you find the Chugach jacket fits compared to the Guide jacket? I have the Guide, and with the athletic fit find it to just fit right - if the Chugach fits the same, I think I would want to upsize to allow a little bit of layering room. What are your thoughts?

[dana]

Looks like one heck of a season. Congrats to ya!

[Rattler]

Thanks for this write up. These tried and tested field reviews are most beneficial when researching hunting products.

Congrats on your hunting season as well.

[Jelvis]

Nice photos also Stone, you had a fantastic year. The cammo looks real good. Excellent write-up.
Jp .. Awesome

[StoneChaser]

Nice review StoneChaser - thanks! Sure looks like you had a great season. How do you find the Chugach jacket fits compared to the Guide jacket? I have the Guide, and with the athletic fit find it to just fit right - if the Chugach fits the same, I think I would want to upsize to allow a little bit of layering room. What are your thoughts?

The XL guide jacket was a tad snug in the pits for me, and I contacted KUIU about it....seems I wasn't alone, and Jason mentioned possibly tweaking the cut in the 2012 Guide Jacket (here's hoping).

However, the XL Chugach jacket is perfect for layering...I wore it over the 2 merino shirts and could easily wear a down vest under it as well and offered great mobility for archery hunting.

Basically, if you're an XL in the Guide Jacket, you'll easily fit an XL in the Chugach w/layers (I wear a Large Chugach pant, as the XL is 38"+ waist).

[BCrams]

Great review SC. Straight up short and simple. I have the attack pants enroute as of Monday. The schoeller pants I wore all these years packed it in as far as zippers and stiching goes. See how they compare. I had been wondering about the Chugach rainwear and being that its worth every penny to you .... looks like I may have to get the pants to try out and then jacket when the Arc Teryx packs it in.

x2 on Merino - amazing stuff although I picked up mine from the ski shop in neutral colours

Great season too!! Congrats!

[91Jason91]

nice pic the last 2 bucks look insane small bodied

[cuervosail]

Thanks for the review. Can you provide some contact info on who sells this gear?

[StoneChaser]

nice pic the last 2 bucks look insane small bodied

They're Sitka's, and believe it or not, are actually mature bucks.

[StoneChaser]

Thanks for the review. Can you provide some contact info on who sells this gear?

http://kuiu.com/

They're sold right from head office (California), and they don't use distributors (stores) in order to keep the prices down (I'm sure they make a little more, and we certainly pay a little less...win/win).

Compare the prices of their products to similar products in other lines, and you'll soon see the effect markup has on what the consumer pays for textiles.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Good timing for this review as my mtn hunting clothing is in pretty rough shape after 12 seasons. Pants will be the first thing I replace.
Great season!

SSS

[kootenayelkslayer]

Great season you had. Love those two rams! Glad you liked the Kuiu gear as much as I did.

[Wrayzer]

Nice review, I've been looking into some new gear, I've been following Kuius blogs and product lines and am impressed with the approach Jason has taken with his business and products, really gives us as consumers a hands on approach to helping "create" one of the best products in the market.

[2x4x16]

I too have purchased this line of clothing. In fact I have every piece except the vest. I have pre-ordered more gear and have just been notified that it is now available. The next lot clothing will go very fast. I would highly advise those that are interested to join the blog so that you are aware of the products before the open public. I believe that they will sell out of everything very soon. Part of a smart marketing strategy.
I was very reluctant to purchase at first, in fact this was the first time I purchased anything with out physically trying it out first.

[325]

Anybody able to compare Kuiu with Sitka??

[hunter1947]

Very nice animals you got in 2011 the sheep is very ,very nice ,congrats..

[swampthing]

Being a gear junkie I look forward to reviews. I havent looked into this stuff much but do have it on my radar. I didnt know it was made at the coast. Maybe we will start seeing it in stores more. Merino wool rocks. I like my sitka gear but the base layer sucks. It stinks right away and gives you a clammy feel when you are wet. I use it as pajamas now.

[303Brit]

Thanks SC for the reviews

303

[markt308]

Wicked season. thanks posting the photos, some beauties there. and great job with the bow too.

[The Hermit]

I too have some of the Kuiu gear. The Cachuga set it awesome but I did get a small scrubbing and hole in the ass this week when I fell on a steep decent and went for a twenty foot slide down the snowy rocky sticky slope. Great clothes for sure.

I had a problem with the ICON pack frame ... Jason replaced it without question but it did cost me $100 in shipping... this link will take you to a Kuiu review I wrote after my early season elk hunt. Scroll down through the thread... http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?72205-Kuiu-Gear&p=988362#post988362

[Tuffcity]

Pretty happy with the Kuiu gear. Have the attack pants (non-camo), gloves, heavier merino top and the Chugach rain jacket. Wife has the chugach jacket, gloves, merino top and Icon 6000. Word on the icon: at just under 5'7" this pack just fits her. The pack has some adjustability and this is on the smallest setting. Like Hermit's problem, her pack started to squeak but instead of torquing the crap out of it :) I took the bolt out and waxed the contact areas with bow string wax. No issue after that. For such a large pack it collapses nicely that it's a not a pain to carry as a day pack once you've dropped your camp.

The pack now fits her quite well (after about an hour of adjusting) and she packed better than 85 pounds of gear and deer 11 km off the mountain this past September. Her only complaint was that the straps slipped with that big of a load and had to be cinched frequently. Kuiu is aware of this issue and suggested adding another slide to the strap- that fixed it. Hopefully it's a "growing pains" issue with the new gear.

It would be nice if they had a Canadian distributer to cut down on shipping costs and delays at the border. At least being sewn in BC you don't get dinged import fees but you do end up paying the HST and a Customs "handling" fee (they charge you a fee to charge you the HST!) and it can be a bit of a wait.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tuffcity/8c468fec.jpg

( 9 pounds of it being the muzzle loading cannon she prefers to hunt with :) )

RC

[cuervosail]

Hermit ... checked out your website with an eye towards getting some comparisons of Merino Wool products. FYI, the link on the First Lite page (" ... and the First Lite System in pdf format HERE") does not work.

[shaydog65]

How is the noise factor of the Chugach Gear. Particularly the pants. I just received the Sitka Stormfront Lite pants and can't believe how noisy they are (paclite goretex).

[Tuffcity]

How is the noise factor of the Chugach Gear

They're not bow hunting quiet but you don't sound like your wearing cheap snow pants either...

If you're hiking/glassing/out of arrow range and it's pissing down they are great.

RC

[luckynuts]

Thanks Stonechaser for taking the time to write the review have been looking and waiting for reviews like yours. How did the attack pants stand up in the shale and buck brush? Any tears. I have heard nothing but good things so far other than fit though like anything we all can lose some weight lol.

W

[harbinger]

Nice rams Dood!!

[Duk Dog]

The XL guide jacket was a tad snug in the pits for me, and I contacted KUIU about it....seems I wasn't alone, and Jason mentioned possibly tweaking the cut in the 2012 Guide Jacket (here's hoping).

However, the XL Chugach jacket is perfect for layering...I wore it over the 2 merino shirts and could easily wear a down vest under it as well and offered great mobility for archery hunting.

Basically, if you're an XL in the Guide Jacket, you'll easily fit an XL in the Chugach w/layers (I wear a Large Chugach pant, as the XL is 38"+ waist).

Interesting about the fit in the pits with the Guide jacket. I got the Chugach last year and just recently picked up the Guide jacket. It was not enough of an issue for me to return the Guide jacket but also noticed with the pit zips/seam that it fits a bit different. Something for people to be aware of I guess.

[lawlu]

Just got my Guide and Attack today. Ditto on the snuggness in the pit area of the jacket. Not a deal breaker for me, but a bit more room would be nice. Did anyone else find that the waist in the pants are slightly small, again not a deal breaker, but definitely accentuates the muffin top ;). Just an incentive to get in shape again...