Sitka Gear Worth it

Ok, Christmas is coming up and every year I think about how I wish I had higher quality camo clothing. Some that fit better and were better material that would last through washings and lots of use, but were conferrable and not overly bulky. The Sitka gear really looks sharp and high quality. anyone have any experience, is it worth the extra money?

Sitka gear is really awesome. Family friend of mine who is much wealthier than me and lives in Montana is fully decked out in Sitka. I personally have not worn it in the field, only in his house. It is extremely comfy and very easy to move in. Worth the money? I absolutely believe so.

I would also take a look at First Lite camo, that stuff is awesome. Their new fusion camo pattern is the real deal too.

man that first lite looks awesome! still spend but man where did they come from

I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I bought Sitka's Delta wading jacket. I like it a lot so far. It kept me 100% dry in the rain today. It fits well, all the pockets make sense, I really like the magnetic clasps. Great pattern. etc. Eventually I'll buy the Duck Oven.

Cabelas has a good bit of sitka stuff on sale right now, actually. I went ahead and bought the Downpour jacket as well. I assume it will be a lot like the wading jacket, just longer and different pattern / configuration.

I'll buy it again.

My brother has the Fanatic jacket and loves it when it gets chilly / cold.

Oh, I also bought the Sitka Delta Decoy gloves. The kept my hands completely dry dealing with decoys. I used them on a deer hunt as well, to see how they would keep my hands warm/cold. They were not hot/warm, but they did keep my fingers from getting frigid cold, and I can live with that.

Yes and no.

It's great gear..especially if you are an active hunter.

With that said I think Kuiu and Firstlite offer an as good or in some cases better product at a much better price point.

Call me tonight and I can go over my likes and dislikes of all three

I agree with Bobo 100% and will give you my thoughts of it. I own approximately 20+ different pieces and can honestly say it is amazing. One big question you need to ask yourself to justify it is are you strictly hunting from enclosed blinds? If so, you don't need any camo, period. If you are an active hunter, spot and stalk or sitting in naturally made blinds then it's a game changer as far as performance wear goes. Yes, this is "performance hunting gear", and is what it is intended for. It's essentially the same quality as Mountain Hardwear, ArcTeryx, Patagonia, North Face, etc. etc. but with a camo pattern. Kuiu is just as nice IMO, however you can't try it on before buying it since they don't sell to retailers and they are always out of stock and on backorder which isn't always convenient. It is a little cheaper, price wise, which always helps. I wear the First Lite wool base layer because I think they perform better but everything else is Sitka. Sitka customer service is top notch. A strap broke on my backpack and they mailed about 10 extras priority mail for free. I also wrote a marginal review on one of the hats I bought because I didn't feel like it lived up to their description. They emailed me the next day to enquire more about what I didn't like about it and how they could make it better. To top it all off they sent me a free new hat ($60+) that they had just developed as a gift which I tried refusing because that was not my intention but they sent it anyways. Two negatives about Sitka gear. One is the fit. It is intended for the fit/athletic type person and therefore runs on the small side mainly in the shirts and jackets. Two, they sell many overlapping pieces of clothing that do or are intended for the exact same elements so you need to do your research on what you truly are wanting/needing. MidwayUSA has a lot of Sitka gear on sale now as well as does Cabelas. However, Cabelas does not carry all items Sitka makes. Midway usually stocks it all so you might check both. Feel free to pm me if you have more specific questions. I don't mind chatting on the phone either.

Good info there.

The "overlap" you speak of is very confusing. Pretty sure Sitka has figured out there is a pretty big segment of guys who feel like every new piece they make is "must have" and are taking advantage of that.

It's good gear though by and large. As is Kuiu. As is Arcteryx. As is Mountain Hardwear. As are several others.....

The overlap isn't really overlap for say. Total system weight vs amount of use.

Kind of like weather of CO vs OR

I will agree Sitka has great CS. Yes kuiu go to market strategy is way different then Sitka hence in stock issues, but you can buy 2x as much kuiu for the price of stika. I'm not a fan of gore as a company in general though.

Y'all know more about it than me as far as current stuff. I have some of all of the high end gear I have acquired over many years after a good bit of research/reviews. If I never bought another piece I am still "over-geared".

One thing I will never understand is the emphasis on customer service. Yes, most of the companies mentioned have great CS I'm sure-but that doesn't mean squat if a piece of gear fails in the field. The best thing that can be said about a company's CS is that you will never need it.

Over geared is a desired quality unless you have to pack it all up a mountain

Every thing fails, its a given. Use it long enough or hard enough it will fail. When you buy premium gear or toys you buying a lesser likely hood and a CS guarantee if it does. At least that's way I look at it.

Oh crap Bobo I could never pack all that stuff up a mountain.

By "over-geared" I mean I have too many pieces of each layer (base, mid, outer, rain). Usually because some company built a better (usually means lighter) mousetrap. I sorta kinda keep up with it and my general feeling is that there have not been sea-change improvements in hard-core gear in several years. Tweaks, yes.

I did get Kuiu's new highly water-resistant down jacket at your suggestion which I'm anxious to try.

I think the ultra-lightweight packs are the exception. Personally, though, I just can't get used to their "feel"-so I am sacrificing a pound or two by staying with my Kifaru and Eberlestock J107 (primarily because I love the rifle scabbard).

I differently get what your saying. I have an issue with multi weight base layer options

Seem to have a little to many choices..lol

The pack thing is always I weak point. I have yet find the perfect do all. Thought my EXO was but I found I really need a 1800 sack option for it. Tend to over pack the 3500 and to carry junk when carrying climbing stand.

I actually have the bag off it now and only running the beaver tail to carrier my climber. But no place to put my other junk.

I love Sitka. Im slowly buying pieces here and there to replace all my cheap Academy camo. It really is good stuff.

Ive been looking for high end pants, I'm not a camo guy but Im very hard on hunting clothes between briars and rocks and a lot of use I havent found much that will last more than one hard season but I can't find anything my size. Seems all the size are for short people or square people. My blues jeans are 34x36 and that's as short as I can go but these high end pants sizes don't come in anything like that.

Any of you guys tall find these pants to fit?

I buy all the good quality under layers. I have a lot of Sitka. My hunting outer layer pants/tops are government issue BDU's. You just can't destroy them very easily.

i have an old army style gore tex coat. Loud as hell. But it keeps me warm and dry as hell. Hard to do away with it because it works. But finally decided to go another direction with Sitka.

I have two sets of sitka and like them both very much. 1 is the darker green for early season whitetail and the other is the open country, which is a little browner. Stuff so far has been top notch and held up very well. Also, I have to say I was impressed as hell on a recent spot and stalk as a deer saw me and was totally confused which gave me a little more time to get a look and get closer.

The only negative I do have with the gear are the gloves. I didn't buy the heaviest duty ones, only the wind stoppers that are still fairly heavy duty and didn't think they performed all that great.