Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What makes a better small game/upland jace

Goretex or waxed cotton?

jace?

jacket?

Filson... waxed cotton...

Waxed cotton or cotton canvas.

Cordura nylon. I raise beagles and run them year round so I am in upland/brush clothing nine to ten months a year. I wear either a upland hunting vest or jacket when hunting, or a briar resistant coat made of the same material the rest of the year. I have had Carhart and Filson cotton/canvass jackets before the Cordura become widely available and they are much heavier, soak up and hold water, and take forever to dry. They also wear out faster and they stink alot more after they are dirty.

I currently have a Beretta jacket and vest. It puts the cotton/canvass jackets I had to shame. Much lighter, more water resistant, drys much faster, and doesn't stink near as bad. Anything made out of the 330 denier cordura is much nicer than the canvass stuff.

I have several waxed canvas item, jackets, bibs, for birds, waterfowl, etc. I find it a lot more comfortable than plastic stuff. (I know all about how, in theory, gortex breathes but it still feels clammy to me.)

In order of awesomeness:

1) cordura-type nylon
2) waxed-cotton canvas
3) cotton canvas treated with DWR
4) Goretex
5) Cabelas Dry-Plus


For everyday normal upland use, the #3 option is the most useful, comfortable, and affordable.

Okay, help a fellow out. Is the cotton canvas you guys are talking about any different than my Carhart cotton duck jacket.

Because that stuff nearly killed me and my hunting partner a few years ago.

I was wearing the brown duck thinsulate jacket and bibs. I sprayed each with a can of camp dry water repellant.

The temps were in the sigle digits at night and midteens during the day and it snowed all day for each of the four days we were in camp.

The silicone spray was good for the first day of horse packing in and setting up camp. But by the end of the second day, I could hardly move. My jacket and bibs must have absorbed 20 pounds of water. My buddy in his Carhart one piece coveralls was in the same condition. All we could do was stand near the fire and watch the steam cook out of our covies.

A good sized bull did walk out within 400 yds of camp, so we did not get skunked.

How good is this durable water resistance? Will it wash out in the laundry?

I wear vintage Duxbak upland jackets. They are hands down the best performers. I've collected quite a few of them. My favorites are from the 20s and 30s. They are super tough, cut for movement, breathe and tolerate weather well. It's a shame this design and fabric is no longer available.

Those jackets were certainly the ticket.

Idaho Shooter for what you were doing wool would have been a much better option! Big difference packing and hunting in the wilderness, than kicking around the briars, and going home to a warm house at the end of the day. Remember cotton kills in those conditions you subjected your self too!

Bingo! Cotton canvas is "carhartt" and it will absorb water over time. You've got to be able to dry it out overnight.

Otherwise, do wool for a natural fabric, or else GoreTex with Thinsulate (but that will need to dry a bit every night also).

It depends. Do you always hunt in the rain? Is it always cold when you hunt? I'd say the best bet would be to dress according to conditions and use a lightweight vest over the top.

I use a Wing-Works vest for upland hunting and I'm sure it would be fine for small game....

No, there was not much drying done overnight. We had one single mantle propane lantern in a 12x12 tent as the sole source of heat.

Even my gore-tex boots were frozen solid in the morning, as the snow had entered from the top.

I see the cowboys still riding in waxed cotton dusters, but hell they are darned heavy for any walking.

My son in law swears by the new US Army winter gear they use in Alaska! I'm not sure what the system consists of, but he uses it on his trap line! I've ask that he purchase a complete system for me to try! Until I get it I will use wool with, poly underlayer!

Raincoat

If you plan to live like that, then merino wool undergarments with wicking fleece insulation and wool outer garments with a raincoat on top is the only thing that would keep going indefinitely.