Is anyone familiar with this gear?

http://www.arcteryx.com/

It is ultra-cool and mega-trendy among the "in' crowd, but, I think it is over-priced and over-rated. All of their designs are intended for snug fit on "toned" bods, or "buff" bods or some bullshit like that and they are not my idea of hunting gear.

My partner has lots of it and loves it, he wore some today on our training hike. I prefer a pant like the 5:11 "tactical" in o.d. nylon canvas from Brigade QM, a new find that is just awesome for warmer weather and Filson's "whipcord" pants for colder weather. I also prefer Smartwool ziptops, MEC merino longies over synthetic gonch and layers of thin merino wool on my torso, thickness dependent on temperature, to anything Arc'teryx makes.

I wouldn't own one of their over-hyped packs as a gift and generally don't think much of their entire line. They are urban hikers, not wilderness backpack hunters.

They make fairly decent clothing but it is pricey. I've found and think that North Face and REI's house brand is the equivalent. And REI's brand is about 1/3 to 1/2 the price. I will take Arc'teryx over the current offerings from Marmot though.

Alot of the trendy performance wear like this is, in my opinion useless for hunting as the material makes unnatural noise when you move and rub against objects. Wool and fleece excels for hunting. But one of my current favorite all around jackets is the REI One softshell jacket.

I can tell you they make well built climbing gear!

I have used the hell our of a pants/parka set for the past 8 years. Most of the use has been skiing, and most of that has been skiing trees and backcountry skiing. The rest of the time, backpacking. Yes it's expensive, but it is also as good as this type of mountaineering gear gets, IMO. My shell has several years left on it, and I replaced the pants this year because I finally wore a hole in the fabric from the repetitious movement of hundreds of miles of backcountry touring/skiing. The stuff is bomber. I plan to replace my Marmot Precip summer rain gear with Arc Teryx light weight gear. I think it's the best of it's genre.

Some great info and opinions. For my application, I am leaning towards the Columia Selkirk Mountain parka ( 3 in 1),

I also have been using their gear for about 5 years mainly for backcounty skiing. It is extremely tough and and very dry. I disagree with the trendy comments as the manufacture seems to prefer function over form.

I do agree that is not very functional for hunting unless keeping dry is your only concern.

I don't use it for fair weather backpacking as there are lighter options out there.

What are you looking to use this type of gear for (conditions, terrian, etc)?

Granted, Arteryx clothing is a bit overpriced but much of it is still actually made in Canada, not China. Arcteryx has been a phenomenal leader and inovator in gear design and construction. IMO, the Bora line of packs have almost no peer... they're simply amongst the finest made today.

"Heavens to Murgatroyd" as Sylvester was wont to say!!!! Can it be???? Brad praising a pack OTHER than a Mystery Ranch or Osprey????

Must be that "Moose Drool"..... !!!

Seriously, their packs are just too light and lack the ruggedness of Mystery Ranch or Gregory's "Pro" series. I hate the zippers, both placement and design and they don't seem to handle real weight as well as MR or Kifaru does. BUT, they have some new ones coming out called NAOS (?) that look rather interesting; I just found the Backpacker Gear Guide, the first one I have had since I retired from boot/pack/sleeping bag fitting/sales in 2001 and notice this new technology...interesting.

BTW, they are sewn here in Vancouver, a good friend of mine is in their hierarchy, a person whom I gave some training in gear fitting while on the job I mentioned and I have had quite a lot of "hands-on" experience with them. Each to his own, but, they are sewn by Asians here, so, there is not likely to be much quality difference between them and the better "off-shore' units like Osprey.

I guess I just think that there is better gear for the price they charge, i.e., I compared their mid-weight merino wool tops with both Smartwool (the best) and MEC (very good for the price) and found that the MEC I bought is better sewn and 2/3 the price, while the SW is far superior and a bit pricier.

My partner has just scads of gear of the best type and has hunted and climbed all over the Globe, he wears Arc'terxy everyday, but, he doesn't much care for the packs, either. I would be really interested in details as to why you, Brad, are so high on the Bora series.

Kute, gotta say Moose Drool could have something to do with it :grin:

The truth of the matter is they fit me better than any pack around including the MR and, when it's all said and done, fit is almost everything!

Brad if they fit you better than anyother pack then I would say wear that one no matter what everybody else likes. LOL. You all probably know way more about this than me but as a confirmed gear junky who spent a pretty good chunk of time outside the last while, i will say that they make very good stuff the thing to keep in mind is that they started off as a climbing company. big difference between rock climbing and hunting. Now I will admit i am not a fan of the whole "snug fit for toned bods" look but I climb some and have a couple buddies who do so on a competative basis, and it works heck you should see all the spandex. Now it may not float your boat or be the best suited for hunting but it is good stuff for what it is intended to be used for however I will say it is getting more and more fashion/trendy oriented. Kind of like pretty much every other succesfull outdoor clothing company.

Hmm,
Lots of bright trendy colour combinations with flashy names....

I'm sure it's great, but my favourite colour is green

"Men in tights" or Sacré Robin des bois is now reallity

Cheers
/JOHAN

I have 3 pieces of Arcteryx gear:

Theta SL pacliteGTX jacket- a great 3/4length lightweight travel jacket.
BetaAR XCRpant-frontfly WP zip is very handy!...and i say very much the same about these pants as I do of the description of the AR jacket below....
BetaAR XCRjacket, love this jacket,its black and looks so formal in its cut and design,yet is a true sporting piece of apparel.Their is no excess material(baggyness) in the jacket that does not need to be there,yet it is not restrictive at all.Just Great.

Their fit/ergonomics are superb(for me)and superior to anything I have found.
Their manufacture techniques;lamination, welding, stiching,laser cutting,attention to detail/refinement is second to none, of the highest quality and the latest innovative technology.
When you sinch down the hoods they hug/follow your head so well,and unrestricting.
This gear is truelly engineered,Please do make an effort to try some on.

I have YKK watertight zips on all of them, but have found that the zip on the BetaAR jacket is showing signs of premature wear.(A thin shaved strip of plastic is comming of the two leading edges of the zipper flaps, leaving a gap between the two faces when the zip is closed, water now gets in rather easily) This is more an issue of YKK quality control rather than that of Arcteryx. I should email both companies with my concern.

Maxxx,

It is pricey but is considered by many mountaineers, backcountry guides etc to be possibly the best quality and best designed stuff on the market (that is opinion, many other brands are superb too).

But, there is, or was, a factory outlet in Vancouver. You can see it from highway 1 (on the N side). If memory serves me right, as you pass the highway offramp for Canada Way, its next to the hwy...I think!
Buts if think its still there and apprently they sell factory deals at good prices.

The factory outlet has just been moved to North Vancouver from that location on the Grandview Highway; they sell their "seconds" in this store and it is a good place to buy gear that, to my eyes, looks as good as the regular line sold at retail mountain shops here in B.C. and all over.

I want one of their Merino wool "hoodies" in dark green, lined with grey fleece and my partner has one, BUT, they make very few items in XXL, so, I have yet to buy one of these. I have wornout topend mountain parkas from several of the world's finest makers and the Arc'teryx jackets just don't turn me on. I prefer my current Jack Wolfskin G-T parka and really want a Montane eVENT jacket such as my partner also has, this works better here on the "wet coast" than anything else I have ever seen.