Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Safai hunting clothes?

...and for heaven's sake guys, stay away from the whites! No white shirt, no white pants or hats... If you dont bring along any camos, any dark colours will do.

Yeah, even the lighter allegedly "british tan" crap some try to sell as hunting clothes is TOO light in color. Go dark young man, go dark.....
Olive drab, medium to dark browns, black are all good and a mixture of the above on the same garment is as good as camo, really. Medium brown shirt with OD and black pockets etc is good stuff.

Yes, 100% safariman, and to give you guys a good idea of a midpoint or base to work from ,like safariman said, the olive green is as good as it gets....and of course a good PH

I bought all that Cabelas safari stuff and when I got there, the PH's were wearing camo like I use to hunt in Georgia. I looked like a janitor in a khaki uniform and they looked like hunters. Take your camo deer hunting stuff and don't worry about it. If you go in August, you won't need shorts but you will need a warm jacket.....

Did you hunt in RSA? I've never seen anybody use camo in Zim

Dark colors can increase misery when walking after elephant or other game in the heat and the sun. Tans and Khakis much less so.

+ on the darker colours. Dark green and blue work well. Grey is my preferred colour. Stay away from Khaki as it is too light. If you don't beleive that, get some one in a khaki shirt to stand 400 yards away on a bare hill. It looks white. Don't wear cammo or safari clothes in an airport or in town. You will attract the con men and prices will go up for basic goods and services.

I only take old cotton work clothes to Africa and give them to the farm workers and camp staff before I leave, making room for momentos and curios. Pure cotton can get very cold when wet so have a dry jacket handy if the air temperature drops at sunset and your still walking back to the hunt car. The tracker can carry this for you.

yes, my hunt was in Limpopo, RSA......

And that's exactly what I'm taking to Zim, next August.


maddog

Have used Cabela's BDUs and soft canvas trail shirts. Soft, quiet, good neutral colors, rugged, and reasonably priced.

+1 on Cabelas and +1 on darker colors...
Ive used a LOT of Cabelas "Serengeti" shirts...its the right weave to keep thorns out at a good price..lotsa pockets, though I never figured out what they were for..
Basic blue jeans and light leather gloves for the heavier thorn...



Lighter, looser weave shirts like this Columbia Bird shooter were in tatters by the end of the trip...



Fleece is nice for lounging, but for those cold morning rides in the back of the truck nothing beats a lined carrhart coat for both warmth and thorn deflection...

If you need to sneak up quietly or sit in a leopard blind, fleece is REAL nice...




Ingwewife wears the same...



Except when hunting in the heat, then its your favorite T-shirt...which doesnt do well in the thorn...

Ingwe , thanks for the great pics. Looked like a great time you had with some great trophies.

I hunted with the same folks AFTERRUM did, and yes, some of the PHs wore camo. I just wore blue jeans and normal, everyday cloths. My hoodies did get shred up, but I never felt handicapped by wearing normal stuff (as far as being detected by sight and noise). White is about the only enemy I have been able to identify. A sample of 1 in Africa, but I would wear the same thing again if the occassion arose.

I have Cabela's hunting pants that have a zipper to convert them to shorts when if and when you desire. I also use long sleeve Cabela's shirts that can be rolled up and buttoned into "short sleeves." They have lots of pockets and are quite quiet.

The best hunting boots I've found are from a company called Echo. More of a heavy duty, ankle high shoe than a boot.
They are very comfortable, quiet and made with quality leather and some Gortex where needed I believe.

The whole package is very comfortable and practical. I have not tested them in Africa yet, so take my suggestion with a grain of salt until I get back!

I defer to others who have far more experience than me...

I wore zip-off pants from Marks Work Wearhouse. My only complaint about then was that they were a tad heavy and a tad long to the zipper (just to the back of my knee). I would have preferred something that zipped off mid thigh. Now this was on a trip in the Zambezi Valley in July, but I'm from the great frozen so I needed the shorts even though it was comparatively mild (doesn't need to be October in the Valley for me to be sweating my bag off). I was surprised that I didn't suffer from the thorns but truth be told they were few and far between in Chewore South. Now had I been back in RSA I imagine my legs would have looked like I had been attacked by a herd of leopards on crack. Shorts is the only way to go. Plus with zip-offs you can wear them on the plane adn have pants for when the AC gets chilly but zip them off as soon as you land at your destination. Particularly nice if your baggage goes on a different vacation than you do!

And spend some time in bare feet before you go. Makes those early morning sneaks into the hyena blind so much better. Toughened feet make the occasional chunk of gravel far less excruciating.

I love my Cabela's Serengeti II shirts. I like the inside pockets for carrying money, passport, etc. I really liked the shell loops in one of the pockets.

I brought a couple pair of gusseted pants. Allows for "freedom" in the crotch area. No chaffing, etc. Wore a pair during the flight as well; no more "pinched" gonads, etc.

Explain "gusseted" pants, please?

Gusseted pants have extra material (typically a "v" shape) in the crotch area that prevents binding and chaffing. Lets the family jewels relax in more of a natural position.