Offseason gear upgrades

[BackcountryBloodline]

Happy 2020, hope it's treated you all well so far.

This is the time of year when I start taking stock of what worked this season and what didn't, what stays in the pack and what gets an upgrade. Had always seen packable wood stoves as nothing but a luxury item, had some cold, wet hunts this season though and came to the realization that isn't necessarily the case in a high moisture environment like BC. Picked up a lite outdoors cylinder stove and their plateau tipi, going to put it through the ringer this spring and put together a review once I have some more experience with it...haven't seen many reviews on that tent but all the first hand reports I got were solid.

My big ol' bulky yukon gear jacket was warm as hell but packed like a bear cape, that got replaced with an uncompahgre. Think I'll replace my boxy polartec fleece with a klamath this month as well. Buck knife paklite set and sharpener were traded in for a lighter havalon. Disposable cheese cloth game bags traded in for reusable tag bags. Always been a synthetic sleeping bag guy but going to bite the bullet trying hydrophobic down this season and see how it works in the PNW, another report on that will be incoming eventually. Was planning on trying to get a duplex frame to run this spring but tried my buddies on and wasn't overly impressed so the sjk bounty 2.0 will ride out another season with a few small modifications. Curious what other people are upgrading, what's getting left behind in 2020 and what game changers you picked up last offseason that definitely earned their place in your pack for next season.

 

[jkdrgn]

Good Post,
I'm really not happy with the Outdoorsmans pack, it hurts my hips while packing meat, will definitely be looking at a Stone Glacier, or Exo Pack this year.

Used gaiters for the first time, Outdoor Vision. Very happy with the concept and execution. Will be using them much more often in the future.

Super Sniper 10x42 scope, worked very well for a few new hunters to lay up and make good precise shots on deer. Didn't fare well with the sun in our face, terrible glare, might be looking to upgrade to one of the HD line for this particular rifle.

Hornady 140 grain hpbt match bullets, worked well on a coues buck, failed to open on a bull elk. Found the bullet under the far hide, banana shape, unopened. Have used the 105 Hornady match hpbt in a 243 with very good success, but will probably look at something more like a 140 grain Speer Gold dot for my uses.

Gerry brand down puffy from Costco. First of this type of jacket for me, extremely happy with the concept and this particular jacket for the money. In fact I bought a few items of clothing from Costco that I'm happy with, pants, a heavier jacket, and a synthetic insulated vest. I bought it all for the price of one item from one of the cool brands. I'm not sure I'll be pursuing the other brands like I intended to.

Darn tough merino socks, they get a lot of press, but I definitely preferred them to the comparable smart wool socks.

Vans high top tennis shoes, I got these as a sneaker to use archery hunting. Caught lots of flak from brothers and brother in law, but I liked hunting in them. Quiet and nimble.

Manfrotto aluminum tripod, with camlocks. I love the steadiness, but would like to upgrade to a lighter carbon option with the twist locks. Quieter and lighter would be nice.

 

[mmeyer214]

This is the jacket you used?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I love field testing new gear from Christmas in the winter.

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

I love field testing new gear from Christmas in the winter.

What was under the tree this year? I got a wireless meat thermometer, still waiting for a clear day to break out the smoker...nothing for the mountains though

 

[LK2HNT]

I picked up a New Athlon Spotter and some Crispi SF Birksdahl boots!

 

[Where's Bruce?]

-10* EE Conundrum quilt with 6oz Hoodlum and mittens, a pair of Merrill Moab 2 waterproof hiking shoes, various 10mm hard cast ammo, Axis & merino gloves with a cap, knit cap, shirt & jacket from KUIU, Leupold DeltaPoint Pro 2.5 MOA optic for my Glock 40, Darn Tough socks, emergency back-up battery, Outzone traction straps and 2 fire extinguishers with mounting brackets for truck, a few other things I can't remember right now...cool stuff.

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

-10* EE Conundrum quilt with 6oz Hoodlum, a pair of Merrill Moab 2 waterproof hiking shoes, various 10mm hard cast ammo, Axis & merino gloves with a cap, knit cap, shirt & jacket from KUIU, Leupold DeltaPoint Pro 2.5 MOA optic for my Glock 40, Darn Tough socks, emergency back-up battery, Outzone traction straps and 2 fire extinguishers with mounting brackets for truck, a few other things I can't remember right now...cool stuff.

Dang Bruce, that's a serious haul, lots of testing to do this winter for sure! I had always heard the older you get, the more giving and less receiving you end up doing around the holidays. I've found that to be more and more true as the years go on but seems like this season all the hunters either married defense lawyers or put all the gear they bought themselves for the year under the tree and marked it "from santa" ...hmmm I may just have to pull that one next year.

 

[mmeyer214]

What are some of the thoughts on Kings Camo stuff I was looking at their XKG Transition Jacket.

 

[OldRussian]

I went on a little upgrade spree over the holidays.

Picked up a Sirui 1204 ET (?) Carbon fiber tripod to save some serious weight over the manfroto aluminum pod. I'm going to drill and tap a lightweight handle onto the included ball head to make it more useable. I can see the head being replaced with an Outdoorsman in the near future.

I also picked up the Ironwill Outfitters knife. This will be a replacement for my Buck skeleton knife. I wanted to upgrade to a blade with better edge retention.

Six Moon Design had a sale so I purchased their Gatewood cape. I've had my eye on it for a while. Can be used as a poncho, single person shelter and pack cover. Its super light too. I'm worried it won't hold up too good bush bashing, so my Arc'teryx shell might ride in the pack with it too.

I plan to get my EL's shipped to outdoorsman to have their stud pressed in. Anyone have a negative experience with this?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Dang Bruce, that's a serious haul, lots of testing to do this winter for sure! I had always heard the older you get, the more giving and less receiving you end up doing around the holidays. I've found that to be more and more true as the years go on but seems like this season all the hunters either married defense lawyers or put all the gear they bought themselves for the year under the tree and marked it "from santa" ...hmmm I may just have to pull that one next year.

In our family everyone creates a wish list...then it's tit for tat. Result? Everyone gets everything they want. LOL

Ho Ho Ho

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Nothing major for me, most of my recent purchases have been towards re loading components, thats what I'm really into at the moment but theres a few other small things I've gotten after a lot of thought, I got a titanium cooking pot to replace my older one, I got a patagonia nano puff pullover which is awesome.

The 2 things I plan to get are a nice bipod to replace my harris, I want to get an atlas with the quick release plate so I an throw a rail on several of my rifles and easily use the bipod on all of them. I also plan on gettting new waders since float hunting is going to be my main focus this year..

Other than that, theres a few small things I'll do here and there, I want to throw timney triggers in a few rifles of mine and I need to get a scope/mount set up for one of my rifles that is currently scopeless but Thats not a rush and I'll buy when the right deal comes along. I also lost one of my headlamps so I'll probably get one of those zebra lights to replace it.

One of my resolutions for the year was to buy less gear and work on beating up the stuff I already have, I get sucked into the game all the time and end up replacing or upgrading gear that is doing just fine, this year I said I'd shoot more (thus the reloading) and spend money on hunts and gas for my boat.

 

[NomadHunter603]

Sold a SG Krux evo frame with 40/56 bag and went with a Kifaru fulcrum and tactical frame. Just picked up a Kimber Montana, not sure what I’m going to top it with. I’ll be upgrading game bags, knife, hopefully spotter, water filter, and rain gear.


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[Coopsdaddy]

Want to upgrade from my climber to a lone wolf assault or saddle for bow hunting.
Fhf bino harness if they ever get back in stock.

 

[twall13]

I plan on picking up a Bergara Ridge in either 30-06 or 300 Win Mag and adding a muzzle brake and a Maven RS.2. This will replace my old savage that I'll either sell or pass down to my son in a few years. Other than that I don't have any plans to buy any other gear though I'm sure I'll pick up some other stuff throughout the year regardless.

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[Jcopemorris]

Got a ton of stuff for my western kit now let's just see if I can get out there this year

 

[S.Clancy]

I'm going to pick up some 15x56 binos, thats about it.

 

[Silvereagle50]

Nothing even close to what Bruce got. Actually nothing for hunting at all under the tree.
Going on my first multi day pack hunt in 21, so have several things to pick up and make sure they work this year.

 

[np307]

Biggest gear upgrade will be my pack. Looking at a sawtooth 45 currently.

I'm also going to hang up the bdus I've hunted in and get some actual hunting pants. I'm trying out the wrangler hiking pants right now.

Will probably upgrade my base layer.

The most important upgrade though will be to my shooting. Definitely bumping up range time to increase my consistency.

 

[OldRussian]

Biggest gear upgrade will be my pack. Looking at a sawtooth 45 currently.

I'm also going to hang up the bdus I've hunted in and get some actual hunting pants. I'm trying out the wrangler hiking pants right now.

Will probably upgrade my base layer.

The most important upgrade though will be to my shooting. Definitely bumping up range time to increase my consistency.

Prana Zion pants are great for hiking in. If your push alot of prickly shit they are a little thin.

Blood washes out of them nicely. Quick drying.

They are a hippie company, so I just ordered online.