Gear Review! Sitka Gear Mountain Pants.

I'm a huge fan of Sitka gear and love the stuff.  Before investing in their performance clothing, I will admit I was a little skeptical.  I had a hard time paying the price they wanted for their clothing.  After wearing the stuff I can tell you that it is worth the investment.  I was fortunate enough that Leah was able to get me my system at a discounted rate.  I also made the decision to off load all of my other camo so in the end it ended up costing me right around $100.00 by the time my other camo and hunting items were sold.  If you are wondering why I call it a system, go to their site at sitkagear.com and read about how to put a system together.  They make it easy on you with their system builder.

Since I have owned my Sitka Gear I can honestly say it will be one of the best decisions you can make if you can afford to do so.  I know not everyone is willing to fork out upwards of $1,000.00 for a set of clothing.  If you are looking for a go to set of hunting clothing that will last you a long time Sitka Gear is the stuff for you in my opinion.

My system consists of the following, all in Optifade Open Country Camo:

• 90% Jacket
• Mountain Pants
• Core Zip T
• Traverse Zip T
• Jetstream Vest
• Traverse Gloves
• Traverse Beanie
• Traverse Balaclava
• Shooter Gloves

This system allows me to hunt comfortably from heat in excess of 90 degrees, to cold temperatures as low as 15 degrees.  There are items that will allow you to hunt in more extreme cold, but most of my hunting is done in the temp. ranges above. 

The piece of gear I will touch on today is the Mountain Pants.  They are one of my favorite pieces of the system.  When I first looked at getting my system set up I was torn between the Mountain Pant and Timberline Pant.  In the end I chose the Mountain Pant as it fit most of the hunting I would be doing from hot to cold weather.  Here are some of the pros and cons to these pants.  Later I will try to touch on all of the Sitka Gear I use as a system.

Pros:

• Material - The material really makes the pants the best I have ever used.  It is made of a polyester weave, which makes them very comfortable and will not irritate your skin.  They are also very lightweight.
  
• Quick Drying -  If you get them wet they dry very quickly which makes it nice if you are hunting in a slight rain or get sweated up.
• Quiet - From material to pockets, zippers, and snaps they are all around quiet.  If the material rubs against itself it doesn't make a sound.
  
• Knee Pads - They come with removable knee pads, which are great for spot and stalk hunting.  I usually use them without during early season at times as they can be hot when worn.  It also depends on what I'm hunting. If I'm hunting antelope, I usually always have them in as I am crawling around a lot trying to close the gap.
  
• Built In Belt - Nice low profile belt that you don't even notice is there.
• Pockets - As with most hunting pants there are lots of pockets.  The pockets and zippers on the pants are great because they are super quiet and easy to access.  The snaps are also very quiet.  They are higher on the the thigh which makes the access easier.
• Very Well Thought Out - As with all Sitka Gear their items are very well thought out a head of time.  Every pocket, zipper, and other addition the pants have really get used and is made very simple.

Cons:

• There are no real cons to these pants other than I had some stitching come out, which was taken care of by their customer service.  The only other real con I guess I can say is that they can be hot during very hot days, but it is tough to find a pant that will keep you cool on those days.  For a pant to look at to keep you cooler is the ascent pant.
  

The camo pattern that is used is Gore Optifade.  Gore has came out with three patterns that Sitka Gear uses.  The optifade patterns are hunting specific.  They are not made as a mimicry pattern as most camo is, but made to conceal you by how an animal sees.  There is open country, forest, and waterfowl patterns.  Open country is for the hunter who is on the ground doing spot and stalk, or ambush hunting.  The forest pattern is for someone who is in a tree stand, and of course the waterfowl patter is for the hunter going after waterfowl of course.  To learn more about the camo patterns, sitkagear.com has information on their site for that as well.

I am very pleased with these pants over all.  I haven't used any of the other pants Sitka Gear offers, but if you are looking for that all around pant the Mountain Pants are the way to go.  Like I had stated before they provide me with comfort during cold temperatures as well as hot temps.  If you need to be out in extreme cold all that you need to do is add a base layer underneath and you are good to go.  I have not tried the pants with the traverse bottoms, core bottoms, or Merino wool bottoms, but any of those would be a great layer to add for that extra warmth.  If you are like me and on the move a lot they are plenty warm.  If you are looking for a little more durable pant as well I would look into the Timberline Pant.  The Timberline Pant would be the way to go if you are in very rocky terrain as they have added features to help them last in the tougher terrain.

If you have any questions on these pants, or any other Sitka Gear items I use, feel free to email me on the contact form.

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