Sitka vs Kuiu by the Numbers

Outwest

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Disclaimer- This whole comparison was the result of boredom, curiosity and coffee. Finals week has me over-caffeinated and wanting to get away from homework. This is only meant to be a fun way to measure the differences between some similar Kuiu and Sitka items that I would purchase, and not an official, in-depth report.

I think we all can agree that buying quality gear is an investment. “Buy Once, Cry Once” is the adage that rings true throughout most of the hunting gear industry, clothing being the only sort-of exception being that it will most likely have to be replaced sometime or another due to the nature of fabric.

The debate between Sitka and Kuiu has been a fierce one, or at least it has been for me. I have owned both, loved and hated pieces from both, and wanted to make an unbiased measurement between both in terms of price and weight.

I understand that the performance of each piece will differ due to material used, craftsmanship, and the most variable, personal preference. So, for this comparison I decided to only include the weight and price of similar kit items from both Sitka and Kuiu. I summarized the results in terms of dollars per oz and dollars per lb. As you can see in the crude excel sheet, Kuiu came up lighter in nearly every category, as well as overall and was significantly cheaper.

I know, it’s a cheesy and inaccurate way to measure value, but it works and it is fun to think about buying a pound of Sitka with a few ounces of Kuiu sprinkled on top.

It came out that you will spend on average; $14.23 per ounce or $227.75 per pound of Sitka gear, and $12.24 per ounce or $195.86 per pound of Kuiu gear. Break out the calculators... (Using this average ratio, you would pay about $45 for a Sitka ball cap ;))

So which is better? By the numbers, Kuiu would seem to win by overall lighter weight and lower price. With that being said, if I were to choose a full kit today, I would still be a loyal Kuitka wearer.

(I only had to fudge one weight on the Kuiu merino neck gaiter, I used 1.3 as a completely made up number, if you know the actual weight, post it up.)

 
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Steve O

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That's pretty interesting. Looks like cutting out the middle man and his typical 100% markup is extremely lucrative.
 
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I can't get your link to work. Pretty interesting. I own both and will continue to use both and will continue to make my decisions based on performance for my needs and hunting situations with weight being a possible tie breaker in the end along with price if all other parts of the comparison are equal. Thanks for the work you put in.
 
OP
Outwest

Outwest

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Ok, lets see if this works any better.
One more note to add, some may not be the most similar items from Sitka/Kuiu, but they are the ones I would purchase so they made the list.

 

LJ Buck

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You can get most of the Sitka stuff on sale for much cheaper.

I own more KUIU then Sitka but I alos own a lot of First Lite who makes better Base Layers and has a nice set of rain gear.
 
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That's a pretty cool work up, but in my opinion if you purchase sitka at full price your being foolish unless you have to have something that day. I just picked up a traverse too for like 85 bucks from black ovis the other day and saw the kelvin lite jacket up on camofire for like 120. Deals can be found if you look.
 
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Outwest

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That's a pretty cool work up, but in my opinion if you purchase sitka at full price your being foolish unless you have to have something that day. I just picked up a traverse too for like 85 bucks from black ovis the other day and saw the kelvin lite jacket up on camofire for like 120. Deals can be found if you look.

Very true. I did not pay full retail for my Sitka or Kuiu gear. I either found it on Camofire or waited for a holiday/clearance sale. This is obviously the way to go if you have the time to wait around for sales. You can get some really good deals if you are patient enough.
For the purposes of this comparison though, I thought it would only be fair to use the full prices from both companies.
 
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Im looking for light weight gear for hunting WA and ID i understand the price and weight comaprison but how is the durability?
 
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Very true. I did not pay full retail for my Sitka or Kuiu gear. I either found it on Camofire or waited for a holiday/clearance sale. This is obviously the way to go if you have the time to wait around for sales. You can get some really good deals if you are patient enough.
For the purposes of this comparison though, I thought it would only be fair to use the full prices from both companies.

Good point
 
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It's also important to note that the Sitka line is far more extensive than the Kuiu line with multiple products designed for a variety of hunting situations whereas Kuiu is tailored specifically to the mountaintop hunter chasing goats and sheep. And because you can purchase SG from multiple retailers finding sales is easy, especially on camofire. Plus you don't hafta wait for the mfr to get inventory and can return/exchange SG w/o a problem whereas there are posts about guys unable to return Kuiu items. Given the choices in a wider product line, more places to purchase from and the superior customer care, Sitka actually wins...at least IMHO.
 

LaHunter

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Aren't we paying for features / benefits / performance of our gear and clothing rather than basing our buying decisions on $/ounce? Lighter gear will cost more in many cases.
 

avodude

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Aren't we paying for features / benefits / performance of our gear and clothing rather than basing our buying decisions on $/ounce? Lighter gear will cost more in many cases.

You're right in that the dollar/oz comparison skews towards gear that is the heaviest and cheapest. If you spent $1791.86 on 1791.86 oz of gear you would get $1/oz, which sounds good for some things but is not good in this case. This does not really show what we are looking for. Preferably we would get the greatest, lightweight, quality gear for as low cost as possible. Other than the $/oz comparison, this is a good chart at linking similar gear from two different competitive manufacturers. It shows the difference in the manufacturer's "list" price, which is probably really important to a cost-conscious hunter. Way to go Outwest. I am also bored and dealing with finals too.
 
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MSRP is easier to beat when the mfr sells thru 3rd parties (unlike Kuiu) and there's one other very important difference. Say you are packing through an area with lots of water crossings. The chance of a fall and soaking is high. Do you wanna be the treated down guinea pig or know your synthetic mid-layer will keep you warm even wet? Again...advantage goes to Sitka on both points.

Customer service is the final deciding factor and a quick search will confirm Kuiu sucks and Sitka rocks (and I know this firsthand). I would not wanna be this guy:
https://www.facebook.com/KUIUultralight/posts/10153147120734951
 
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nsedillo

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So what was that guy from southern nm trying to return exactly? "500 dollar one don't fit right." What was 500 dollars, that didn't fit right, that wasn't approved to be returned? That was extensive some research done, by a solid source... He's got a whole bunch of kuiu for "sell". Plus, he would never recommend them to "eny body ever." ...at least provide something a bit more solid than that. Come on.
 
OP
Outwest

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MSRP is easier to beat when the mfr sells thru 3rd parties (unlike Kuiu) and there's one other very important difference. Say you are packing through an area with lots of water crossings. The chance of a fall and soaking is high. Do you wanna be the treated down guinea pig or know your synthetic mid-layer will keep you warm even wet? Again...advantage goes to Sitka on both points.

Customer service is the final deciding factor and a quick search will confirm Kuiu sucks and Sitka rocks (and I know this firsthand). I would not wanna be this guy:
https://www.facebook.com/KUIUultralight/posts/10153147120734951

For the sake of debate and since you seem intent on making this a Kuiu bash...

Kuiu is offering primaloft insulation layers in 2015. Which were listed in the comparison I posted originally if you looked at it.

I will say I have returned kuiu but never sitka. I will agree that kuiu customer service was not at the same level as sitka but they still took care of my problem. Again, this comparison only examined quantifiable values from each brand. "By the numbers" comparison.

Saying, this brand sucks and that brand rocks makes little more than a weakly supported and irrelevant claim. If you are going to say something sucks, tell me why it sucks! Opinion is one thing but at least tell us why you have that opinion, backed with some real world experience. That's what these forums are all about! Sharing your experiences and reviews with fellow gearheads!
 
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MSRP is easier to beat when the mfr sells thru 3rd parties (unlike Kuiu) and there's one other very important difference. Say you are packing through an area with lots of water crossings. The chance of a fall and soaking is high. Do you wanna be the treated down guinea pig or know your synthetic mid-layer will keep you warm even wet? Again...advantage goes to Sitka on both points.

Customer service is the final deciding factor and a quick search will confirm Kuiu sucks and Sitka rocks (and I know this firsthand). I would not wanna be this guy:
https://www.facebook.com/KUIUultralight/posts/10153147120734951

Sorry, I cannot go off a random facebook post that is barely readable do to lack of punctuation, spelling and sentence structure. I will go off my own experiences. Sitka wins in the CS for me. But not because someone told me on the Internet.
 
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idig4au

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MSRP is easier to beat when the mfr sells thru 3rd parties (unlike Kuiu) and there's one other very important difference. Say you are packing through an area with lots of water crossings. The chance of a fall and soaking is high. Do you wanna be the treated down guinea pig or know your synthetic mid-layer will keep you warm even wet? Again...advantage goes to Sitka on both points.

Customer service is the final deciding factor and a quick search will confirm Kuiu sucks and Sitka rocks (and I know this firsthand). I would not wanna be this guy:
https://www.facebook.com/KUIUultralight/posts/10153147120734951

If I'm packing, I typically don't have any insulation layer on and it's in my pack in a dry sack where the chances of getting soaked are nil. In that case, lightweight down, treated or not wins as its less weight to pack. If it's that cold outside where I have to hike wearing insulation lawyers, then things are frozen and i don't have to worry about getting soaked! Just sayin....
 

ckleeves

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Bruce your really reaching out far on your Kuiu hate these days. About every single thread on AT and here that so much as mentions Kuiu has you throwing in your .02 of nonsense. Like Kuiu is "High mountain specific" where do you even come up with this stuff? Have you owned and used their entire line of clothing and know from personal experience that Kuiu is only good for sheep and goat hunting?

You made a lot of comments on Sitka vs Kuiu before you ever owned a single piece of Kuiu. As far as the treated down Guinea pig comment I think your safe. About 10,000 people have Guinea pigged it before you it's not like the stuff is a week old at this point in time and now multiple companies are offering it.

I'm sure your going to come at me with a fanboy comment and that's fine. I am a "Fanboy" ( I have noticed you really like that word) for Kuiu's outerwear although I prefer other brands of wool, gloves, packs, sleeping bags and tents. It's not like I think Kuiu can do no wrong.

There are companies out there that I have had bad experiences with their gear but I don't feel the need to search out threads about them and constantly bash them even if it's irrelevant to the conversation.

If you really had a legitimate issue it would make you more believable but simply because you didn't get the times you wanted on sale and now it has turned into a personal vendetta against Kuiu is a bit childish IMO.
 

Kotaman

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I'm no fanboy...Own complete kits of Sitka, KUIU and Kryptek. Bruce's claims are starting to sound like Shrek's! Ludicrious, with no credibility what so ever. I've always had great service from Sitka and KUIU. Plain and simple KUIU has a different business model than the others. Once a person wraps their head around that concept, you realize, it isn't so bad.

The above spread sheet took some work. Thanks Outwest, pretty cool to see the numbers like that. Thanks again.
 
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