Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Some Alaska pics and gear thoughts....

Copy and pasted from ARAIG so forgive me if you've seen it already.

Still just a greenie but I learned a few things about what worked well for me in some different conditions than what I'm used to. Hope somebody benefits from it, I know I asked a lot of guys a lot of questions and sure am grateful for the intel I got. Not my critters, just a few of the ones I packed out and worked on.











Clothes.... I pretty much wore Cabelas Micro-Tex pants and a Marmot Fleece 1/4 zip or a Icebreaker Merino 1/4 zip as a go-to hiking and hunting outfit every single day. Absolutely no complaints there.

Rain Gear- I used a Westcomb Spectre LT shell with eVent... this may be one of the best pieces of gear that I've bought. Beat the hell out of any Gore-Tex that I've worn and breathes way better.
I wore the Kuiu Chugach (Canadian make) pants, and they worked fine too. Kept me dry but took a bit longer to dry out than I'd like.

Insulation- I bought a First-Lite Uncompahgre before the season started and was grateful that I did. That thing kicks ass.

Boots- I wore exclusively Lowa Civettas and wouldn't use another boot out there. They simply kick ass for the terrain and hold my weak ankles together really well. Coupled with Darn Tough socks they made a great combo.

Sleeping bag- Mountain Hardwear Ultra Lamina 15.... great bag and I didn't wish for anything else the entire time. Even when it got wet it kept me warm as anything. I used a Thermarest Z-Lite and Thermarest Neo-Air and couldn't have been happier.

We used a variety of tents, mainly MSR Hoop 2's, Hilleberg Jannu, Kaitum 3 and 4, and a Hille Tarp UL-10. The Hille's are the bomb for this country IMO, but overkill for Colorado....

I used a Barney's Pinnacle and SG 7400 the whole time, mainly using the Barney's. Carrying a lot of stuff for clients just called for the use of the Pinnacle, even though I found the Stone Glacier to be way more comfortable and definitely the pack I'd prefer to use every day.

Optics- I ran my Cabela's/Meopta Euro 10x42s every day and loved 'em... great glass for the money. Spotters used were a Nikon ED-50 and Leupold Gold Ring HD 12-40x60. I will be investing in some bigger glass, but was very impressed with the Leupold.

What didn't work....

Sitka Rain gear (Downpour I believe?) my boss used this stuff and it simply sucked heavy ass. It wetted through even in light rain and the zippers busted everywhere, leaving him wet from shoulders to feet.

Gore-Tex- I am convinced that the VAST majority of Gore-Tex is completely useless, mainly the stuff used in boots. I saw more of this crap fail this year than I could believe.


That covers most of it, I'm sure I'll think of more gear that I liked and didn't like here soon...