Radical thought on cheap clothing

[AlaskaHunter]

None of my hunting partners or I wear expensive hunting brands made in Asia like Kuiu, Sitka, First Lite, etc.

Yet we are successful and happy with the performance of cheaper hunting clothes..Carhartt, Helly Hanson, Walmart brands, etc.
As an example, the T-shirt in the photo I bought for $1 on clearance and it last over 20 years hunting, while the pants
were wool dress pants I bought for $5 and the hat was a $5 gortex hat on clearance they also lasted many years hunting.


Is there really that much difference in wicking in a $60 Sitka Core Lightweight Crew SS T-shirt versus a $5 Walmart Dristar T-shirt?
Is there really that much difference in performance in a $5 ball cap versus a $30 Sitka ESW Hat a $10 sun hat versus a $50 SITKA Sun Hat ?

I seem to get along just fine with a $25 Swiss Gear puffy from Walmart a polarfleece shirt, polarfleece hoody from Amazon and a Carhartt shell on daily below zero hikes in interior Alaska.

Sure Walmart clothing is from China, but all the expensive hunting clothing from Skitka, Kuiu, First Lite is also from Asia.
Paying for top quality boots, sleeping gear, rain gear makes sense to me but not for shirts, pants, hoodys, ball caps, etc....

 

[MTGomer]

The nice clothes from the hunting brands are nice but if a person is on a budget they should spend that money on tags or gas to go hunting.

Just don’t take cotton/jeans to wet places. Wool and synthetics are cheaper than Levi jeans anyways.

 

[rwc101]

I mix cheap clothing with some of the name brands depending on what I like and how well I think it gets the job done.

 

[Jason73]

Of all things the merino wool base layers to me is the most valuable component. Keeps you pretty dry from perspiration and dries and can be worn multiple days without getting disgusting. I've hunted with Walmart gear in the past. I never found lasting quality like the gear I buy now. That being said, no you don't need the top tier names but it works well for me.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

None of my hunting partners or I wear expensive hunting brands made in Asia like Kuiu, Sitka, First Lite, etc.

Yet we are successful and happy with the performance of cheaper hunting clothes..Carhartt, Helly Hanson, Walmart brands, etc.
As an example, the T-shirt in the photo I bought for $1 on clearance and it last over 20 years hunting, while the pants
were wool dress pants I bought for $5 and the hat was a $5 gortex hat on clearance they also lasted many years hunting.
View attachment 211131

Is there really that much difference in wicking in a $60 Sitka Core Lightweight Crew SS T-shirt versus a $5 Walmart Dristar T-shirt?
Is there really that much difference in performance in a $5 ball cap versus a $30 Sitka ESW Hat a $10 sun hat versus a $50 SITKA Sun Hat ?

I seem to get along just fine with a $25 Swiss Gear puffy from Walmart a polarfleece shirt, polarfleece hoody from Amazon and a Carhartt shell on daily below zero hikes in interior Alaska.

Sure Walmart clothing is from China, but all the expensive hunting clothing from Skitka, Kuiu, First Lite is also from Asia.
Paying for top quality boots, sleeping gear, rain gear makes sense to me but not for shirts, pants, hoodys, ball caps, etc....

I agree. I’ve spent money on camo (ASAT), but that is all cheap compared to the brands you mention. Further, since moving west where hunting from a backpack or miles from vehicle I’ve discovered merino wool. Specifically I’ve purchased quite a bit of it off Camofire on sale. Haven’t found a shirt for $1 though. I also purchased a merino wool sweater from ll bean this year that I really like, I think it was $55 or so and it should last many years. Is also nice enough and not camo to wear to church. I bought it to replace a 20+ year old (what I though was wool but actually found out it was acrylic) turtle neck sweater that I got for free from one of my dads friends growing up.

A lot of the camo clothing you mention is polyester (plastic). It is very difficult for me to understand/accept a polyester piece of clothing made in Asia is worth the insane prices they are asking.

I know the guy above said to avoid cotton, but I will add to your post and his. Does it really matter when you are day hunting? I’ve hunted up to 5 miles from the truck with my fleece lined Carhartts. Ok, if something terrible happened where I broke a leg and couldn’t hike out that’s one thing, but even in that instance I’m going to be making a fire so not sure it’s as big of deal as they try to sell it to be. I’ve gotten them damp (usually just the knees from kneeling) from melting snow and I’ve always made it back and never really gotten cold. Camping or long trips on end I don’t take cotton (except my underwear, which you didn’t mention).

My buddy and I have joked about making a hunting show where we just wear cotton / run of the mill clothing and use “the fabric of our lives” as marketing in it.

My first bull. 5 miles from truck. Fleece lined Carhartts, $10 polyester base layer from wal-mart and the free acrylic turtleneck sweater. The most expensive piece of clothing is probably the gaiters I had. I cut the front of the turtle neck to give some relief on my neck under the chin, always kept my neck very warm and comfortable.

 

[MTGomer]

I know the guy above said to avoid cotton, but I will add to your post and his. Does it really matter when you are day hunting?

Over 7 billion people on the planet and there isn’t a single one alive that has ever died of hypothermia after getting soaked to the bone in cotton.

 

[BackofBeyond]

I grew up tromping around the woods of North Idaho in cotton long underwear, boots from Payless, and jeans.

It was also a complete and total suffer fest when it was wet. And it’s wet a lot in that neck of the woods.

Could I still hunt in those, yup. Do I have to? Nope. Long story short, when it comes to hunting clothes wear what creams your Twinkie. Hooray. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

 

[shrapnel]

Over 7 billion people on the planet and there isn’t a single one alive that has ever died of hypothermia after getting soaked to the bone in cotton.

You don’t have to die to wish you wore something else when you are miserable.

 

[mtnkid85]

I grew up hunting, hiking, climbing in pass me downs. Army/navy store wools, polypropylene, and what ever snow boots mom could afford. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them. Of course as I grew up I purchased my own gear, mostly used stuff off of forums or 2nd hand stores, a lot of which I wore on every single trip I did for YEAARS! I wore the same Patagonia R1 fleece for like 12 years before it finally became too shredded to bother with.

Because Im a gear nerd and enjoy gear for no other reason than playing with it, I do still occasionally purchase new stuff to try, but I really do feel people put way too much emphasis on gear in general.

I have found the foundational truths to still be worth following though. Don't wear cotton and get boots that fit.

 

[MTLabrador]

I killed my first elk wearing some Cabela’s microtex pants and a heavy fleece jacket that weighed a ton and took up my entire day pack. Packed him out with an old Cabela’s Alaskan frame too. Spotted him with some older cheap Vortex binos.

The stuff I use now is a whole lot more expensive, but it makes being out hunting a lot more fun and less miserable. My newest favorite discovery is the Stone Glacier Dehavilland lite pants, they’re pretty great.

 

[Hem]

I killed my first elk wearing some Cabela’s microtex pants and a heavy fleece jacket that weighed a ton and took up my entire day pack. Packed him out with an old Cabela’s Alaskan frame too. Spotted him with some older cheap Vortex binos.

The stuff I use now is a whole lot more expensive, but it makes being out hunting a lot more fun and less miserable. My newest favorite discovery is the Stone Glacier Dehavilland lite pants, they’re pretty great.

Yes to ^^^
I bought the heavier Dehavilland pant this Fall....just for hunting. Now I am wearing those pants to ski, hike, hunt, leisure.
Side zipper is killer.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Yes to ^^^
I bought the heavier Dehavilland pant this Fall....just for hunting. Now I am wearing those pants to ski, hike, hunt, leisure.
Side zipper is killer.

Have you tried the rest of their leisureware... little pricey but definitely worth it.

 

[Irrelevant]

I too rocked old wool slacks for many years. I don't anymore. And I won't go back. I've also hunted in cheap fleece, and plasticy rain gear, again I don't anymore and I won't anymore.

There are plenty of threads about being cheap with gear. And if the issue is either nice gear or tags/licenses then buy the tags and go hunt. But nice great is, well, nice.

 

[MTLabrador]

Have you tried the rest of their leisureware... little pricey but definitely worth it.
View attachment 211134

I tried these for my training hikes, but it ended up being too distracting for the women of Montana.

 

[44hunter45]

Funny story - My wife is a jr/sr high librarian and para-pro. The 7th grade boys in the Digital Arts class she moderated last semester were quite a handful, as you would expect. Everything changed when she went to watch them play football and wore my Sitka WS Kelvin jacket. Suddenly she became the coolest grandma aged teacher in school. Now they come to see her at lunch even though they are no longer her students.

 

[BigHornRam]

I tried these for my training hikes, but it ended up being too distracting for the women of Montana.

"Women of Montana " aka sheep.

 

[Hem]

I tried these for my training hikes, but it ended up being too distracting for the women of Montana.

Not certain chicken legs with minor love handles and counter weight in the front would do that outfit justice.
I'll pass on the puffer pants.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Over 7 billion people on the planet and there isn’t a single one alive that has ever died of hypothermia after getting soaked to the bone in cotton.

How many of these people would have died had they not been wearing cotton?

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

"Women of Montana " aka sheep.

@MTLabrador I'd delete that post... wouldn't want to get busted for baiting sheep.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

There are some values to be had out there, no doubt. I'm not sure being proud of cheap gear is morally superior to being proud of expensive gear though. Nothing wrong with liking what works and saying so either way.