Kakadu Bush Shirt £38 or two for £65

[littlebiglane]

I have just taken delivery of a Kakadu Shirt. Their roots are working class workwear and (I believe) the Boxing Kangaroo brand is well known down under. They were established 36 years ago. The shirt is made in Australia. I opted for the no frills middle-weight 8oz canvas Claybourne (8MS13) in sage with brass buttons throughout and brass reinforcement rivets at the side of the pockets. It is double stitched throughout and the canvas is as tightly woven as any shirt I have seen. It looks and feels well-made and whilst I will not compare it a Ray Mears shirt it is, on initial use, a very good quality mid-point alternative between this and your budget army issue stuff. At £38 (inc postage) it inhabits a similar price point as 5.11 Tactical shirts. I have both and I prefer this one.

http://www.kakaduaustralia.co.uk/acatalog/Shirts.html

If you click on the shirt images and enlarge the window you can see the range of colours for that shirt.

Whilst I recognise that this one is a no frills shirt without the bells and whistles of sleeve tabs and back vents, mesh panels, choice of concealed pockets or attachment points I think it serves its purpose very well. I suppose if you place high value on a shirt that has these 'bells' then this is not the shirt for you. But to me it is simple, rugged, well-made, well-designed and of a suitable colour. I like the detailing (little leather bits, hanging loop etc) and I like the brass 'furniture'. There are other shirts in the range with zips, stacked pockets, map pockets and various other features should you want them. They also offer a range of heavyweight 10oz canvas for a couple of pounds more. These, like other shirts they sell (they also do lightweight 5oz safari/hot climate shirts) they are offered in a range of colours - including cigar, tobacco, sage (my preference) and loden green - a useful range of colours for us bushcrafters.

There is an autumn deal of two shirts (heavyweight) for £65 (including postage). I would be interested to see what these are like but for me the 8oz provides the right balance with robustness and all year round overshirt/undershirt appeal. These are still heavier weight than the 5.11 Tactical shirt that is 5.4oz per sq yard. The weight of the shirt is similar to the material on the 5.11 Tactical trousers which, I believe is 8.5oz.

I think these are worth looking at. I took the liberty (on behalf of other members) of dropping Sarah Noble an email (a member of staff who deals with the online orders) and asked her about extending the offer of the two shirts for £65 to the medium weight shirts for BCUK members. She agreed to do this on the Claybourne shirt I bought (Sku 8MS13). If you enter 'bushcraft' as a coupon code at the checkout it should give you the discount on this shirt. I don't think this works for the other medium weight shirts though.

As far as sizing I am a 43" chest and the large was quite big enough to serve as an under and an over shirt. My middle age is making me spread around the middle but would need to bloat quite a bit more for it to be tight around the belly. I reckon I would get a more fitted feel with the medium and just use as an undershirt. But I would check with them - I am sure that Sarah could give you more accurate measurements of the actual shirts. It also has enough length to tuck in well if that is your preference.

Once again I plan to do a more considered review of the shirt when I can get round to wearing it in anger. But I thought I would share my first impressions with you. Which are good.

As usual - no connection with them, never bought from them before now and not getting any back-handers either!

LBL

p.s I notice they do oiled leather hats on the site aswell.

 

[Singeblister]

some nice shirts on that site thanks for heads up

 

[rik_uk3]

The name, gives me the giggles, "Kakadu"

Sorry, its just such a great name

I'm 53 but promise to grow up one day, "Kakadu"

"What shirt you wearing, it looks kak,,,,,,,adu"

Sorry, no offence, its just the name, I like one of the jackets, just could not wear one because of the name

 

[littlebiglane]

The name, gives me the giggles, "Kakadu"

Sorry, its just such a great name

I'm 53 but promise to grow up one day, "Kakadu"

"What shirt you wearing, it looks kak,,,,,,,adu"

Sorry, no offence, its just the name, I like one of the jackets, just could not wear one because of the name

Yes...that's the first thing my wife said. Children....really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though. Its a good bit of kit. It not ubiquitous like some other shirts. At least the name will give you something to talk about around the campfire!

 

[littlebiglane]

Oh yes...just found out that Kakadu is a National Park !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakadu_National_Park

 

[Mountainwalker]

Oh yes...just found out that Kakadu is a National Park !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakadu_National_Park

Never thought of Kakadu as a funny sounding name? But I guess I grew up with it. The national park by the same name is world heritage listed, and has some truely awesome wilderness.

As for the clothes, I think they are ok, I know some motorcyclists like the oilskin jackets.

I was under the impression that it was all made in china (could be wrong)?

You tend to find this brand in tourist shops, and some disposal stores.

 

[littlebiglane]

Never thought of Kakadu as a funny sounding name? But I guess I grew up with it. The national park by the same name is world heritage listed, and has some truely awesome wilderness.

As for the clothes, I think they are ok, I know some motorcyclists like the oilskin jackets.

I was under the impression that it was all made in china (could be wrong)?

You tend to find this brand in tourist shops, and some disposal stores.

Oh - mine says made in Australia on the label. Gosh. You have tourist shops that sell these? I wish we had tourist and surplus stores over here that did! Tourist shops over here (like the ones on Oxford Street in London sell plastic Big Ben's! Not nice shirts!)

Anyway, I think they are nicer than 5.11's as they have ickle brass reinforcements and buttons and don't have that ghastly velcro to close the pockets. However, they are relatively simple, heavy/midweight shirts that fill a gap between real cheapies and the bling versions by Bison and Ray.

I have worn it several times and it does the job. My only criticism is that the seams on the shoulders are not as flat as they could be and rub quite a bit when wearing a heavy bergen. Of course, as cotton canvas they do take an age to dry.

LBL

 

[Mountainwalker]

Oh - mine says made in Australia on the label. Gosh. You have tourist shops that sell these? I wish we had tourist and surplus stores over here that did! Tourist shops over here (like the ones on Oxford Street in London sell plastic Big Ben's! Not nice shirts!)

Anyway, I think they are nicer than 5.11's as they have ickle brass reinforcements and buttons and don't have that ghastly velcro to close the pockets. However, they are relatively simple, heavy/midweight shirts that fill a gap between real cheapies and the bling versions by Bison and Ray.

I have worn it several times and it does the job. My only criticism is that the seams on the shoulders are not as flat as they could be and rub quite a bit when wearing a heavy bergen. Of course, as cotton canvas they do take an age to dry.

LBL

Well the tourists seem to like oilskin coats (stockman coats, the whole outback mythos of the bushie droving cattle etc), so you often see the kakadhu coats in the tourist shops, and also the hats. Our tourist shops also sell crap things like stuffed kangaroos, and sydney opera house snow domes, next to the oil skin jackets and cheap didgeridoos.

The Shirts are probably more the domain of the disposal/camp shops.

I had a look at the motorcycle thread that discussed the kakadu jackets and the suggestion is that a lot of their stuff is made in china. Would appear the shirts are the exception. I guess it doesn't matter where they are made; it's the quality control in the factory that counts.