Gentlemen,

What are your opinions of the various waterproof hunting camouflage pattern garments out there?

The conditions I am thinking of are Scotland in Late Autumn - so wet, wet and boggy and wet!

The background colouration would be similar, my guess, to that in parts of Alaska and other hilly wet country: light brown, light green, darker green and brown depending upon how much grass and heather were present.

Apart from blending in / breaking up the human silhouette, the fabric needs to be robust for belly busting long crawls across fairly open / undulating ground and quiet.

Some exampes of clothing I am considering are the Predator camo pattern bucksuede and fleece jackets and pullovers, Cabela wool and fleece anoraks.

Some of the patterns appear to be a bit light or 'busy', and would turn into dark blobs at any distance.

I am not sure about the Cabela's Outfitter pattern - looks a bit light to me.

The Predator Deception Brown and Predator Evolution look ok, particularly the former. Then there are the Sleeping Indian / King of the Mountain brown patterns. Pricey but look interesting.

I don't think really good wet weather hunting clothing has been invented yet. Ideally, it would be breathable, completely waterproof, lightweight and reasonably tough. And quiet. I have yet to find anything that fits all criteria. Saddlecloth if very good until temps get cold. then it becoes very stiff and noisy when you move. Cabela's packable waterproof gear is great, except that it is pretty noisy as well. Gortex is often noisy and it really is not completely waterproof. If anyone out there has found something that completely fits the bill, please speak up because I haven't yet found it.

quote:

Originally posted by robthom:
Gentlemen,

What are your opinions of the various waterproof hunting camouflage pattern garments out there?

The conditions I am thinking of are Scotland in Late Autumn - so wet, wet and boggy and wet!

The background colouration would be similar, my guess, to that in parts of Alaska and other hilly wet country: light brown, light green, darker green and brown depending upon how much grass and heather were present.

Apart from blending in / breaking up the human silhouette, the fabric needs to be robust for belly busting long crawls across fairly open / undulating ground and quiet.

Some exampes of clothing I am considering are the Predator camo pattern bucksuede and fleece jackets and pullovers, Cabela wool and fleece anoraks.

Some of the patterns appear to be a bit light or 'busy', and would turn into dark blobs at any distance.

I am not sure about the Cabela's Outfitter pattern - looks a bit light to me.

The Predator Deception Brown and Predator Evolution look ok, particularly the former. Then there are the Sleeping Indian / King of the Mountain brown patterns. Pricey but look interesting.

robthom Your stalker will probably wear Harris Tweed Anyway we usually have Indian Summers at that time of year, Must be the North of England your thinking of. jc

Wool or fleece on the outside, maybe some light Goretex on the inside then the usual synthetic under layers. Bring extra wool or fleece, so you can dry one set while your wearing the other.

Sitka Gear - Expensive, but worth it. If it can survive 10 days of hunting in the wet in southeast Alaska and keep a hunter dry, I suspect it can survive Scotland.

Thank you gentlemen for your responses.

I have no experience with "Saddle cloth", so wondered what it's properties were like: waterproffness, particularly when belly crwaling and quietness when doing same. then there is it's ruggedness - how easily it wears through.

In this respect, I am having some doubts about fllece. I ahve a Nomad UK smock. For waterproofness and silence, I rate very highly and pretty good. But a few hair thinning type patches are starting to appear where rifle slip slings rub, and from crawling & sitting. They are not at all obvious, but I know where to find them.

My biggest problem with the otherwise very good Nomad smocks is the khaki ones are too light, this is the version I have, and teh Loden Green ones are too dark for the open hill. The area I hunt now has more heather and is darker. I think this would not be so great a problem if there was some pattern to break up the human outline.

I would rather be a little light in colour compared to the background than too dark. the old Briotish Army DPM is very bad in this respect, especially when it gets wet; it just black blobs out from a distance.

So, with robustness in mind, I was thinking a combination of wool and fllece would be good. however, I agree that wool can be the devil to dry out when wet / gets soaked).

For this reason, I have not seen many professional stalkers using it apart from traditional stalking experience stag stalking estates. For the hinds in late autumn / winter, waterproof clothing is the norm. I have often seen seal flex waterproof suits worn over plus fours etc.

The Deer hunter jackets were quite popular a few years ago. But these jackets had so many zips and pockets they were not completely waterproof. Additionally, I have found the Advantage timber pattern trousers wears quite quickly on the knees.

I will probably go with some waterproof over jacket and trousers in one of the military patterns. in the areas I stalk, the French & Swedish patterns would be good. The Belgian pattern could be good, after it weathers down a bit. When brand new, it is a bit harsh / bright.

I am also thinking of looking at the Cabela waterproof fleece pullover jackets in something like the brown Oak or max-1 pattern. If I could find a darker pattern version of the outfitter camo, it would be very good but most tend to be too light.

In this respect, the King of the Mountain type wool jacket in Blowdown would be good - medium grey with dark brown stripes - splodges. But this jacket is more for very cold and dry conditions and not crawling about on the soaking ground. It would absorb too much water, become very heavy and is, in anycase, to hot for my use.

Some of the Predator Deception patterns and colours look good but I am finding it difficult to find the pattern I like in the jacket style and material suitable for our Scottish Highland conditions.

In summary, I agre with the posters who wrote really good wet weather hunting gear probably does not exist.

BTW, I also have one of those Goretex anoraks made by a New Zealand company. I think the style name is Tahr or Thar.

It is a really good jacket - waterproof etc but it is a bit noisy when crawling - scratchy sounds. Additionally, I am always woried when crawling over rocks and stones, sharp, old heather stems about tearing or puncturing the mateial.

Again, it is a bit too light in colour for the area I now stalk over.