Sitka or Ridge Reaper

[Sickforit23]

Hey Everyone,
I'm looking to upgrade my camo and i'm wondering what everyone thoughts are? I'm looking at Sitka and Ridge Reaper. I live and mostly hunt in minnesota and a lot of my camo is Under Armour realtree xtra pattern. I did my first elk hunt this year and am planning on going out west hunting as much as possible as i'm now addicted.


I've noticed however that the gear i use for tree stand hunting doesnt quite perform the way i'd like when i'm walking 10-12 miles a day.


So what are everyones experiences with Sitka or Ridge Reaper? I'm leaning more towards Sitka but i've had good luck with Under Armour for the type of hunting i do here in Minnesota.

 

[ILbowhntr]

Are you archery or gun hunting? I have a lot of UA and most of it stays home when I head west.  I'm picking up a pair of Mountain pants to use with my base layers before I head back out.

 

[Sickforit23]

I'm strictly archery. I've had a lot of luck with UA which is why I'm not sure I want to leave it but I know the reputation Sitka has. Right now I'm leaning towards Sitka, but wanted some input from guys who have maybe had both.

 

[bow_dozer]

Sitka is the real deal if you wanna cough up the dough, i love my systems.  If you are walking 10-12 a day, first get a pair of premium boots, way more important than your camo. I dont know what UA is made of but if its cotton based i would be moving away from that also.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

I have clothes from both (although I don't have any UA RR stuff) and use both in certain applications.... for stand hunting you'll be hard pressed to do better than UA. Even sitka's whitetail line doesn't top it IMO for the added $$.


If you're looking at western big game clothing sitka and UA RR both have steep price tags. Keep in mind sitka uses gore-tex which is technology introduced in the 1970's. I've only handled UA RR in stores, it had some positive attributes but for the money, if I had to pick one.... I wouldn't do either.


My personal unbiased opinion is that Kuiu and Firstlite both are making better garments and for less $$ than their sitka counterparts. The one line of sitka that might be worth it's weight in gold are the stormfront pants/jacket. That's the only rainwear I haven't completely shredded. Kuiu has a myriad of issues with other items like their packs and tents but their apparel is 2nd to none..... Order now though as some of their items have lengthy backorders (maybe that's been fixed, it's been a while since I've ordered any of their apparel but for a while they were growing faster than they could produce). First lite has came on strong in recent years making some of the best stuff also, although it trends a little higher price than kuiu (i suppose due to it not being consumer direct). If I could only buy from one apparel company I'd go with FL or Kuiu long before Sitka or UA but everyone's different. Like I said, I've got pieces or full setups from all of these and each have their place.


I'll 2nd bowdozer also in that a great pair of boots is far more valuable than the new trends in clothes. Hunters are worse than teenage girls when it comes to fashion. Some of the best elk hunters I've ever met have done a majority of their killing in plaid wool and carhartts.... doesn't mean we have to, just don't get hung up on fashion trends.

 

[Sickforit23]

The first thing i purchased when i decided to go west was a good pair of boots so i have that checked off the list. I went out to Montana this year with my UA stuff and ended up ripping a pair of my pants on day 6 due to some thick brush.

I was able to score a really good deal on Sitka so i decided to go with that. Just waiting to get the gear now.


Thanks for all the advice, i know now a days everyone has their opinions on which gear is best but in the end the majority of people i talked to (outside of this forum) said Sitka without hesitation. Hopefully the gear will last me a while!


Thanks again everyone and happy hunting

 

[Arrows4Elk]

@Sickforit23,


You made the right call, no question.