Maybe it was bad luck on my part but I ordered a pair of HH Impertec rain pants based on reviews for my upcoming Dall hunt and when they arrived today the waist band wasn't stitched to the pants about 1/3 of the way around. Pure JUNK!!!! I have an HH jacket I bought back in the mid 90s that is still going strong but I can't believe the positive comments for this rain-gear. Again--might have been bad luck.

OK--I need some quality rain pants. I'm hoping to bungee these down to my gaiters for quick shallow stream crossings so waterproof and durable are key. Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Don

Kuiu

Marmot Precip. Used it extensively in Alaska on a Goat Hunt and endured 10 hours of rain and slogging through the underbrush.

It's a part of my standard loadout now. Great stuff.

I've heard good thing about both brads mentioned here. I need to hurry up and pull the trigger on something.

Don

I did a brown bear hunt in SE Alaska last fall where it rains quite often plus you are either crossing or wading in the river and the guide advised to get rubberized rain gear, the gortex stuff wouldn't cut it. I bought the HH gear but all the guides I saw both Bear and Fishing in the area wore Grundens of Sweden. The HH held up well and after 10 days only ended up with a couple of small punctures. Now knowing what I know now I would buy the grundens which I now own mainly because certain coats they make have inside cuffs which is great since water doesn't run down your arms and the material is slighly heavier. Now I wore gortex under the suit figuring it would deal with condensation but I fell in the rivers 4 times and when you submerge with gortex garments it acts like a ballon and it held so much water in between the layers that I needed help to get back to my feet. The rubber gear doesn't hold water plus it was cool enough that condensation was not an issue

I would call that bad luck as the HH is bomber. I have used it and the AK condom on two hunts with out fail. Breathable materials will fail and won't usually breathe in AK anyway. Grundens brand is a commercial fishing slicker and i would say unnecessarily HD for a visiting hunter. The AK condom by the way is a water proof jacket and fishing waders beneath.

Goretex can and will fail in heavy constant rain. I have used both it and HH in Alaska. The HH is a the way to go. Once goretex is soaked it takes a long time to dry out. That can be dangerous.

get the HH bibs

HH is go to stuff.

Everybody is right in that goretex alone wont cut it. I fish in Grundens and it is great stuff but to heavy to hunt in. I like both the Swazi Gear and Sitka gear and use both and have had good luck.

Westcomb, made in Canada & expensive but worth it. Quality through and through !

I wore Sitka stuff for four days in constant rain and had no issues with rain soaking through.

I have Swazi and Marmot goretex but when it is raining for days on end HH or Grundens is the only gear that works. In a spike camp situation goretex gear just NEVER gets dry and weighs about 20lbs per item. This is the voice of 100+ days guideing for 35 years!

Any specific model of HH rain gear for Alaska? Basically I'm just looking for something to act as an outer shell.

Impertech!

quote:

Originally posted by waterrat:
Impertech!

Yup

Here is what I am doing for my next hunt, which starts Friday:

1. Hike in Sitka with dry hydrophilic underwear and HH in the daypack
2. Put on the dry clothes and HH when I sit and glass.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
Here is what I am doing for my next hunt, which starts Friday:

1. Hike in Sitka with dry hydrophilic underwear and HH in the daypack
2. Put on the dry clothes and HH when I sit and glass.

This sounds like it would work great too,, i can't afford Sitka gear though!

KUIU and never look back.

Gore Tex has been over hyped every since it came out. it's fine for intermittent moderate rain. but IT WILL LEAK IN SUSTAINED HEAVY DOWNPOURS! HH or Grunden if staying dry in heavy weather is important. there is a good reason why commercial fishermen wear the stuff.

Did a 10-day BB hunt an hour east of Cordova in 2012--the year everyone was rained out. Wore heavy rubber hip waders, with long HH raincoat and hood. Never got wet that wasn't my fault(failing to drain water from creases, for example). Basic, but it worked.

Dave Manson

HH makes great stuff for AK Pen, Kodiak, moose brown bear, halibut fishing, dip netting, ext, but for sheep hunting I would look at either Marmot or Mountain Hardwear for a super light weight non gortex rain pant and coat. They will be light weight, tough enough for what you need, water proof enough for what you need, much more breathable than HH, and much less expensive than multi layer gortex rain gear. The Kuiu gear as Jim mentioned is good and a great choice for all around Alaskan hunting rain gear, but for specialized sheep hunting rain gear I would follow my advice.

Brett

Brett,

Can you give an example of which Marmot or MH coat and pants you prefer (they have quite selection).. I'm doing Mountain Goat in BC this Sept and need to update my entire set of gear from underwear to rain gear...

My HHS pants were not sewn all the way around too. Called HH sent new set right out. But still !!
Great customer service at least.

I used the Marmot Precip rain gear on my Brooks Range sheep hunt. Lightweight/packable, worked great for that application.

I just returned from a hunt on the Alaskan Peninsula. We had everything from a drizzle to heavy wind blown rain for eight straight days. It was a great test for rain gear.

I purchased a Kuiu Yukon jacket specifically for this hunt. The jacket was a dismal failure. My bush pilot chuckled when he asked, "Is that your rain jacket?".
"Nope" I replied, "just a jacket I wear in the rain."

The jacket had a seam leak between my shoulder blades and leaked heavily there. That is fixable. The worst part was the fabric just soaked through and my liner jackets were wet in no time. The sleeves were the worst as rain was caught at my elbows as I glassed.

If it had been colder, there could have been a serious safety issue. I'll be returning this jacket to Kuiu. At $350, it's a complete ripoff. I would have been just as dry (or just as wet) in a $100 soft shell jacket.

To be fair, I also took a Kuiu Icon 1850 pack and it worked great for me. It's well made with a great frame and suspension. It's a keeper for me.

I hope some others may gain from my dismal experience.

I ended up with Kryptek rain gear for my hunt and was very happy with it. Expensive and a touch heavy but zero leaks. It will be in the pack again next year.

I brought a wiggy's cagoule and Sitka lightweight raingear for my BB hunt. I like when you sat down or were in rain the 3/4 length cagoule really covers you up. Had more snow than rain but bot worked good.

We've been trying out some Stoney Creek rain wear this year and I'm very impressed. We just got back from a wet 10-day goat hunt and it performed flawlessly. My rain pants were the only ones that didn't end up with holes in them from walking through all the shintangle and the longer style rain jacket was perfect with a backpack on.

Interesting on the Kuiu failures... I just bought the whole Yukon getup, pants and jacket, for guiding on the north coast. Just got back from wearing HH and the Kuiu box had landed, was excited to wear it on the next hunt. Head out in a week and a half again, it was to replace my HH rubber as something more breathable. Sounds like the HH will be packed after all, we get more rain than anywhere on the north coast BC (think Ketchikan) so this Kuiu stuff will get a serious review, report back by Nov. I hate carrying two of things, at least the HH is somewhat light and I know it works. Everybody always seems to go back to HH in the end, too- and it's good for skinning.

The new impertex is light and breathes well. We use it at work and are in the elements all day. It is relatively cheap and packs well. You can use it for work fishing hunting and if cleans up easy. It comes in olive and seams to blend well. The older imermiable rain gear was tribe and did not breathe but this stuff is so light it billows as you walk so I find that it doesn't make me sweat

I have normally been a fan of HH Impertech, but lately seem to get leaks at the seams and stich lines.

I just picked up a Patagonia Torrentshell Jacket in green almost new at a second-hand shop in Anchorage for a potential sheep hunt in a couple of years. Side benefit is that it can be reversed to white if needed for a stalk. Very light, but I haven't tested it thoroughly yet.

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:
We've been trying out some Stoney Creek rain wear this year and I'm very impressed. We just got back from a wet 10-day goat hunt and it performed flawlessly. My rain pants were the only ones that didn't end up with holes in them from walking through all the shintangle and the longer style rain jacket was perfect with a backpack on.

Stoney Creek is ok, I bought quite a bit of in Australia.

The best Kiwi gear is made by Swazi. I would venture to say that Swazi makes some of the best outdoor wet weather gear in the world. Priced accordingly though. Some of the wp stuff is over $700.

quote:

Stoney Creek is ok,

What issues did you have with it? We've just been using their lighter weight mountain gear.

They were using a cheap fleece and not Polartec, it sucked, kind of like your typical walmart-costco $39.95 fleet jacket but at Aussie prices.

I haven't lived in Australia in 2 years next month, so they might have updated their suppliers.

Swazi, North Face, Patagonia, REI and LL Bean all use legitimate Polartec fleece that has certain properties of warmth, water repellency and strength.

This had none of that. I never saw "light weight mountain gear" made by them.

Are you sure your not thinking of Swazi?

Back on the Kuiu stuff, taking the Yukon suit out tomorrow for a week in the mountains a hundred miles south of Ketchikan. Wettest month of the year, will be a litmus test.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful I never saw "light weight mountain gear" made by them.

I was actually talking rain gear but I've been wearing some of their fleece too and quite like it. They have quite an extensive light weight mountain gear line.

Interesting, there was no such line 3 years ago that I knew of. Is it Gore fabric or something else?