The hunting market is full of clothing brands — each one offering many types and styles of clothing layers, and often different camouflage patterns. And that is just the hunting market. If you’re open to using solid colors for hunting, you can begin to shop for technical apparel from brands outside of the hunting space and have never-ending options on what to buy and wear.
It is hard to understand what clothing you actually need, and to know where to invest your hard-earned money.
In addition to watching the video (above, or on YouTube), listen to the podcast below as Steve & Mark discuss their clothing systems and strategies. Scroll down to see the timestamps to skip to specific podcast sections, if you don’t want to listen to the entire conversation.
- (00:00:00) Introduction
- (00:03:20) Socks
- (00:15:05) Baselayer Bottoms
- (00:20:29) Camouflage vs Solid Colors for Hunting
- (00:26:30) Is Budget Clothing Good Enough?
- (00:32:03) Hunting Pants
- (00:34:35) Our Work on Apparrel Design with Outdoor Vitals
- (00:36:58) Belts
- (00:38:17) Clothing Weight for Backpack Hunting
- (00:40:24) Underwear
- (00:44:45) Versatility of a Layering “System”
- (00:46:12) Puffy Pants
- (00:51:45) Recapping Bottom Layers
- (00:52:45) Overview of Top Layers
- (00:55:11) Next-to-Skin Top
- (01:03:04) Mid-layer Top
- (01:06:50) Hike Cool
- (01:11:59) Puffy Jackets
- (01:18:34) Rain Gear
- (01:29:42) Gloves
- (01:33:36) Headwear
- (01:34:33) Gaiters
- (01:37:21) Conclusion
Header Photo: Mark glasses for Dall Sheep from a windy, chilly ridge in Alaska.
Rain Gear Overview
As part of The Experience Project, we are taking 4 sets of high-end rain gear and putting them to the test on 3 Alaska hunts (Caribou in August, Moose in September, and Mountain Goat in October) and will be sharing the results of our testing after all sets of rain gear have been used on all hunts, having each set worn by 4-7 hunters throughout those hunts.
In this introductory video, Steve discusses some of his previous experiences (good and bad) with high-end rain gear, outlines what he looks for in rain gear, and then discusses the specific rain gear and testing that will take place on the upcoming hunts.
Additional Links
Here are some links to additional resources, as well as gear mentioned in the video and podcast. Again, everything at The Experience Project is 100% free from advertising or sponsorships…
- The Best (and Budget) Clothes for Backpack Hunting
- How Rain Gear Works. (And why, sometimes, it doesn’t.)
- Going Deep on Technical Apparel with John Barklow
- Darn Tough Socks
- XO Skin Boxers
- Adidas Boxers
- Brynje Base Layer Bottoms
- Senchi Designs Alpha Leggings
- AirKUHL Hoody
- Outdoor Research Echo Hoodie
- Canis Grid Fleece
- Condor Grid Fleece (budget item)
- Arcade Belt
- Mechanix FastFit Gloves
- Showa 282-02 Waterproof Gloves
- KUIU Chugach Rain Gear
- Sitka Dewpoint Rain Gear
- Canis Rain Gear
- RAB Namche Paclite Rain Gear
Have Questions?
We will be doing Q&A in future podcasts and videos, so let us know if you have a question that we should consider discussing.
