What to wear for hunting?
What to wear for hunting Now a number of companies have appeared on
the domestic market, which positions themselves as manufacturer of clothing for hunters.
However, having walked through the last exhibition in order to get an idea of the assortment,
I had to state that the answer to the question posed in the title of the article is no easier to give than it was 20 years ago.
However, importers come to the rescue – their assortment is more diverse and better thought out. But the prices are unapproachable…
And what about the native producers?
Yes, there are clothes for hunters, but its assortment is very narrow: there are only suits made of American cotton fabrics of camouflage colors, with synthetic insulation,
water-repellent impregnation of the upper and a Gore-Tech membrane insert.
These are very good clothes. But all materials are imported, and therefore, despite domestic tailoring, the price is unaffordable.
The range of application of such clothing is narrow – such a costume is ideal for the autumn migration in the
Volga delta in early November or for spring hunting for geese with profiles or with a circular duck, it is also suitable for round-up hunting in winter.
Such a suit is not suitable for running hunting. After half an hour of walking uphill or through a swamp,
you will get wet, because no membrane can cope with the evacuation of moisture in heavy traffic.
Clothing for running hunting
Hunting clothing should be durable, light, soft and thin, it should have a cut that does not restrict movement and does not interfere with shooting.
At the same time, the fabric should retain heat, be windproof,
but allow air to pass through and quickly evacuate the moisture evaporated by the body, the properties of the fabric should not change from dampness or frost.
The cut of the suit should provide for the possibility of increasing ventilation or, on the contrary,
heat saving by fastening and unbuttoning the jacket, wristbands, the bottom of the trousers and, possibly, even additional ventilation “windows”.
The hunter’s clothes should not unmask him, which means that they should have a protective color and at the same time not rustle, rattle, or shine, including when wet.
Do you need hunting camouflage clothing?
In recent years, everyone has become interested in camouflage, but it just doesn’t have to be. As I understood from the conversations at the stands of domestic manufacturers, they believe that camouflage colors are the main feature and advantage of clothing for hunters. Like, “if you don’t need camouflage, you can buy everything you need in a regular ready-to-wear store.”
Alas, I can’t! Clothes that meet the above requirements are not sold in a regular store.
As for camouflage, I will try to explain my “heresy”. First of all, when hunting on the move, it is most often necessary not to hide, but, on the contrary, to make the game take off, for example, when hunting with a pointing dog, spaniel, “self-top” or chain.
In the latter case, as in any collective mobile hunting, it is generally recommended to wear a signal orange vest (by the way, they are also not available in stores).
Camouflage when hunting such game is still ineffective, since a bird or hare sitting on
the ground sees the hunter against the background of a light sky and no pattern of leaves and stems of a human silhouette in this case will hide.
Secondly, the pattern is effective only against a specific background, and it is constantly changing on the move;
Now the hunter wanders through the gray arable land, then through the yellow stubble,
then through the emerald grass on the meadows, then he goes deeper into the brown mass of nekosi.
The signature “oak” pattern unmasks you against the background of withered reeds much more than a banal storm jacket made of faded tent fabric.
When you need to camouflage, you need to learn how to use the surrounding vegetation by adding a few tufts of grass and branches to the costume to change the silhouette and tie it to the terrain – this is more reliable,
for this it is desirable to have attachment points on clothes and hats.
As for camouflage colors, it is more rational to get a camouflage coat selected for a specific season and place in which you usually arrange an ambush.
It will cost much less than a branded camouflage suit, and will last much longer, because it is worn over clothes directly in the ambush and immediately taken off after the hunt.
It should also be remembered that the bird and the beast react mainly to movement, not to color.
A hare can jump up to a hunter standing motionless against the background of a bush in neutral-colored clothes, but it will run a mile away from the hunter shifting from foot to foot, even if he is dressed in camouflage that is well suited to the conditions.
And one more important detail: birds, as well as animals with night vision, are sensitive to the invisible ultraviolet part of the spectrum.
Therefore, it is much more important than the pattern that the surface of the fabric does not reflect ultraviolet rays, does not tend to shine at all, even when wet.
So camouflage fabrics are exclusively cotton or synthetic.
Therefore, it is much more profitable for the hunter to use fabrics with a matte fleecy surface, which tends not to reflect, but to absorb and scatter rays, that is, corduroy, velvet, suede, flannel, cloth, felt. Such materials do not come in camouflage colors anywhere in the world. Traditional hunting suits from reputable manufacturers such as Kettner, for example, are always in a protective color, but without camouflage colors. There is also an aesthetic point in this: camouflage bears the imprint of the “military” style.
When we go hunting, we ride a train, we fly by plane, we go to crowded places, and camouflage immediately attracts attention and
becomes a target for witticisms, while khaki clothes are neutral and elegant.
Summer
At the opening of the season in summer, there is no alternative to cotton fabric: wool at temperatures above 20 degrees creates discomfort.
Corduroy or cotton flannel in a protective color will work well. The cost of these fabrics is cheap, but, alas, no domestic manufacturer makes hunting suits from them.
So the vast majority of hunters will wear quite conveniently tailored army camouflage for a long time, despising an order of magnitude more expensive,
but in fact not giving the slightest gain suits made of American camouflage cotton fabrics.
And those who want to avoid the “military” style have to look for their armor in the clothing market, since khaki summer clothes are now in fashion.
And one more note: in areas infected with encephalitis ticks,
If you stumble into a pit of water, the boot will not scoop up the water, and it will drip from the trouser leg onto the boots, not into them.
From the end of September, you can’t think of a more comfortable outerwear than a jacket made of cloth in a protective color.
Previously, there were masters of re-lining such jackets from army overcoats.
Mid-thigh length to sit on the edge of the jacket rather than on the hunting pants. Loose cut with straight sleeves.
The jacket should have a secure pocket for documents, a pair of roomy side welt pockets with flaps against rain and debris, and, traditionally,
two oblique pockets on the stomach to keep your hands warm.
This detail is appropriate only on special anti-encephalitis clothing.
Treated with water-repellent impregnation, the cloth is practically waterproof. You can walk in it for hours in the autumn rain while staying dry;
The water does not wet the wool fibers but rolls down them.
Only heavy rain in large drops can pierce such clothes,
but even when soaked through, they continue to warm, allow air to pass to the body and evacuate the moisture evaporated by it. Unlined cloth dries quickly.
With modern thermal underwear and a fleece jacket tucked under the jacket, such a suit will allow you to engage in mobile hunting even in rather severe frosts.
I wore a jacket made of an officer’s overcoat throughout the 1980s, spending annual October-November in the forests of Arkhangelsk and Karelia.
Now I’m wearing the second one, though not domestic,
but Kettner’s, made of traditional Alpine Loden wool. It is lighter and softer than overcoat cloth, but its essence is the same.
These are fleece and polartec. Clothes made of these materials are very light, and comfortable, even on a naked body they do not cause irritation.
It actively evacuates moisture from the body, stores heat very well and does not blow out.
It creates comfort in a wider range of temperatures: when you are already freezing in the wool, it is warm in the fleece sweater.
Delicate to the touch, these materials are durable and have a very high wear resistance.
But one circumstance significantly narrows the possibilities of using fleece and polartec suits: any spark punches a hole in them.
A sheaf of sparks thrown from the fire in your direction by a gust of wind will turn your wonderful jacket into a sieve.
So, alas, this is hunting clothing on a day off,
when you are not going to sleep by the fire, or cook on it.
For field conditions, there is still no alternative to natural wool fabrics, especially cloth.
Raincoat
In summer and early autumn, it is impossible to walk in cloth clothes, and cotton will not protect you from the rain.
I always put a disposable cape made of thin polyethylene in my pocket or jagdtash, just in case. The cost of such a raincoat is cheap, it weighs nothing and takes up space like a handkerchief.
But it protects 100% from the rain.
Therefore, it is only a safety option in case of unexpected and short-term rain.
In those cases, when you go hunting in obviously rainy weather, you need some more thorough solution.
If you have money, you shouldn’t spare it: you won’t find a better option.
Raincoats made of lavsan and other domestic synthetics differ little from rubber in terms of hygiene,
but they protect poorly from the rain and only while the thing is completely new.
A storm jacket made of tent fabric is hygienic,
but it will not provide any protection from the rain:
efforts to treat it with a water-repellent compound will be in vain.
Tarpaulin jackets are not much better: they also leak, especially frayed,
and at the same time have the unpleasant property of tanning a lot,
becoming a box from dampness and rattling like plywood when branches whip over them.
Rain clothes made of “waxed” poplin densely impregnated with a special composition continue to be in steady demand.
A number of firms specialize in such hunting clothing, and they are thriving. Domestic producers, as far as
I understood, believe that its popularity in Europe is a tribute to traditions. And in vain.
it protects from rain much more reliably than rubberized fabric and even more so synthetics,
and at the same time it breathes,
allowing air and vapors to pass through – condensation does not form on such a raincoat from the inside.
In warm summer weather, I used to pick mushrooms in the rain for 4-5 hours,
wearing a raincoat over one shirt, and I stayed dry.
The “waxed” raincoat has another important advantage for the hunter:
raindrops roll down it without smearing, so it does not shine,
and domestic raincoats made of synthetics with a camouflage pattern shine both dry and wet, letting bunnies go.
“Waxed” fabric is a solution for the production of things at a reasonable price – after all, poplin is inexpensive.
And you can buy ready-made impregnation or try to develop especially since.
With such considerations and ideas,I wandered from stand to stand with hunting clothes and in most cases
I stumbled upon a misunderstanding.
But so far, they have had nothing but the same camouflage made of American fabric at a very high price. But the fact that the manufacturer itself understands the defectiveness of its assortment is encouraging.
While millions of Russian hunters continue to dress in whatever they want, and their money, forming from streams into powerful streams, flows past the manufacturers of hunting clothing.