Hunting Apparel

[Dunelm]

I've been browsing some of the on-line suppliers of clothing and footwear for the hunting community and lots of it looks very appealing and readily usable in a "bushcraft" context...except for the astronomically high prices.

Does anyone have any experience of brands such as Harkila, Norsveda, Seeland, Bestard, Chevalier, Le Chameau etc and are the very high prices for this kit justified? Or is it, as I suspect, because by and large hunting is a rich mans game so these companies are charging what the market will support?

 

[Buckshot]

Does anyone have any experience of brands such as Harkila, Norsveda, Seeland, Bestard, Chevalier, Le Chameau etc and are the very high prices for this kit justified? Or is it, as I suspect, because by and large hunting is a rich mans game so these companies are charging what the market will support?

Hunting is definately not a rich mans game. The days of the Lords and Gentlemen of the day enjoying a 'day of sport' are long gone mate.
The prices are about the norm for decent kit I think.
And yes it's worth it most of the time.

 

[Dunelm]

Hunting is definately not a rich mans game. The days of the Lords and Gentlemen of the day enjoying a 'day of sport' are long gone mate.
The prices are about the norm for decent kit I think.
And yes it's worth it most of the time.

Well I'm not exactly on the breadline but I find £260 for a pair of trousers a wee bit salty for my tastes.

 

[dommyracer]

From what I can tell, hunting/shooting gear is as much about looking the part as it is function.
But then that's no different to a lot of sports / activities, look at snowsports or even mountaineering. And dare I say it, even bushcraft.

I'd love to see these £260 slacks.

 

[Buckshot]

Well I'm not exactly on the breadline but I find £260 for a pair of trousers a wee bit salty for my tastes.

It's like anything, you can pay hude prices for some kit and not much for others.
£260 I would struggle with as well. I suspect it's that price because there isn't much imported into the UK - because it's that price !!!
That's a rarity though, most kit I've seen is much better priced than that.

Mark

 

[Longstrider]

I don't know about trousers at £260, but I do know that I don't begrudge any of the money I spent on my Le Chameau boots.
Not all good kit is expensive. Not all expensive kit is good. It just takes a bit of savvy to work out whether you're getting value for money from the kit you buy.

 

[British Red]

I have a pair of Le Chameau boots and BB has a pair of the leather "wellies" for Xmas. Of course as all boots check for fit but material and construction quality is first rate

Red

 

[Dunelm]

I'd love to see these £260 slacks.

http://www.glasgowfieldsports.co.uk/product/HKKODKTR Sorry, they're only £239.99. I stand corrected...

 

[Longstrider]

I like the way they state that the pockets are waterproof. Is that so when the rain runs down your leg and into the pockets you end up carrying a couple of waterbags around with you ?
I can visualise Billy Connolly doing a joke (and the walk) about a similar predicament, and it still cracks me up.

 

[sharp88]

If i had a pair of £240 trousers id never wear them.

 

[Carcajou Garou]

I use woolens almost exclusively, don't need to spend a lot to be comfortable.

 

[Mike Harlos]

I use woolens almost exclusively, don't need to spend a lot to be comfortable.

Reminds me... when I did the one-week summer bushcraft course with Mors Kochanski, one of his regular students mentioned that Mors would buy used wool suit pants that were much too large, and wash/dry them to shrink them into dense wool slacks that would fit

He is definitely resourceful and frugal!

Mike

 

[Spacemonkey]

I thought that £250 for a pair of boots was a lot 15 years ago, but they'e still going strong and scrub up like new!
Fly fishing is the same- everything is bloody expensive, compared to normal fishing gear, but people believe that a £400 reel is 8x better than a £50 reel. The irony is that in flyfishing, the reel normally just holds line nothing more...

 

[sam_acw]

I find that hunting shops are the only ones who seem to offer long lasting wool clothing. All the normal outdoor shops try to spend hours explaining why you need to wear lots of brightly coloured plastic.
I remember a guy in Millets telling me how great all their fleeces were but he couldn't explain why people who actually work outdoors tend to wear something more traditional!