Rain Gear for your elk hunt
Elk
What are the recommendations looking like NM Gila might require quality rain gear this year.. appreciate your thoughts.
I love my Sitka Dewpoint. You'll get a plethora of other recommendations though I'm sure.
Thanks Carl... sizing fun pretty true?
Another that prefers Cabela’s Space Rain.
another Cabela space rain
Frog Toggs. Super light and compact and 100% dry.
I wear Frog Toggs for everything. They "breath" as well as any, are as quiet as any, and last as long as any.
Frogg Toggs here too.
Bu it aint gonna rain....
Disposable? cabelas space rain
Lifetime with amazing warranty, sitka deepoint or downpour
Noisy, frogg toggs unless they drastically changed the material.
Just from my experience.
Space rain, it’s actually light enough you can hunt comfortably in it and doesn’t take much space in pack.
Space Rain has worked for me, for a decade (Plus, my Umbrella).
I like to pack light...
Sitka sizing is spot on. Their rain gear is cut to layer. So I wear L tops and L rain gear fits over pretty much whatever layers I need.
I run first lite rain gear - Vapor Storm light jacket and boundary storm tight pants. They’re super light, durable, and keep the wet out as advertised, but are pricey. I mostly bought these because of a sizable pro deal discount, but would recommend without hesitation if they’re within your budget.
Space Rain for me ever since it came out. Whatever you get, make sure its light enough to always be in your pack. Otherwise its "camp" rain gear.
Cabelas Space Rain sturdy enough for a moose hunt? Looking for me, hunts a year out, but its on sale now also.
Cabelas space rain gear. I used it on moose and caribou in AK, twice each. One time it was a little "undergunned" and I was wishing for better.
My Space rain started shedding the coating after about 5 years….it was good up to that point.
I like the Kuiu raingear…just have to refresh the DWR regularly.
First Lite rain gear has been great so far.
Elk never come out in the rain, so prolly won't need it anyway.... ;-)
I’ll add this - for nonresidents coming to Colorado to elk hunt this year, your rain gear may be among your most important pieces of gear. The monsoons have hit harder this year than I’ve ever seen in my 26 years in Colorado, with near daily deluges in the high country in Northern Colorado. If this continues through September, it’s gonna be a wet one…
Screwball……..I’d suggest something a little more durable than Space Rain, for a moose hunt. I’ve had a couple of sets of the Space Rain, and they are a great option for an elk hunt where most likely, you will probably only need them for a few stray rainstorms, whereas you might be living in your rain gear for a majority of the moose hunt. My buddy and I used Kuiu Chugach rain gear on an Alaskan moose hunt, a few years back. It rained every day of a 10day hunt, except for one, and we stayed dry (for the most part) the entire hunt.
Poudre...i remember 2013. Rained every day for 2 weeks. Every kind of rain there was...big ole fat rain, sideways rain, stinging rain..
It was miserable. I had old leaky rain gear. Never again.
Pat, 2013 in the Gila will live in my memory forever. It was quite the ordeal, but my Cabelas MT050 rain gear kept me as dry as could be expected for 4 or 5 days straight. My suit is more than a decade old now, and I just cannot find a good enough reason to replace it when it continues to work. I guess it's not near as light as the space rain.
Space Rain for me too. I also have a real good First Light rain coat if the heavy stuff is eminent. I have a 23 year old set of MT050 that still works but the fleece type shell retains so much water that it gets heavy and takes forever to dry. It's not very packable either and has been relegated to whitetail hunting and fishing. I also have some old Frogg Toggs that aren't very durable and water soaks thru the butt if I sit down.
I’ve used the Space Rain for most of my lower 48 hunts. It’s light and packs small. And on most of the hunts, it never even gets brought out. If I’m headed somewhere that rain is expected to be an issue then I up the rain gear game.
For New Mexico elk, I wouldn’t overthink it too much.
A few years back, I added a Walmart type small plastic, not metal, keeps the cost down, umbrella for use.
It's not as nice as being under a tarp in a downpour but it has worked really well.
For actual Rain gear I still use my local Company Kings Camo.
Plus, with lightening, I don't like getting under trees anymore.
Good luck, Robb
I never heard of the Kings Camo just looked at their site. Good looking items. Anyone else use them? Price is more friendly as well.
For the tough guys who don't carry rain gear and claim to hunker down under a tree...today in WY I was setting cameras, beautiful 74 degree day, when over the mountain came a terrific storm with no warning. Temperature dropped 30 degrees in minutes, downpour turned to hail for a solid hour, and it became a hypothermia machine. The ground and trees were white, with freezing water running across the ground. Anybody "hunkered down" with no rain gear or tarp would have been in big trouble.
Events like today are why I ALWAYS have Space in the bottom of my pack. You don't need it until you need it, but when you do, it can save your life.
Anyone who tells you MT50 is as good as anything doesn’t know much about rain gear. Absolutely no contest to todays hard shell offerings. You couldn’t pay me to take it on a real backcountry hunt.
For Colorado,NM, Utah type September elk hunts I’m a fan of Space Rain like many here. For wetter climates I like Kuiu Chugach., and for really nasty I’ve used the Kuiu Yukon. After that you need real impermeable Helly Hanson type stuff.
—Jim
LOL....I remember trading my brand new set of Space Rain to Aron the Elkreaper for an dead head elk he spotted while we were shed hunting that measured about 320". I think I made out on that one. LOL
Jordan, a 320 bull will make a lot of dog chews at $18-24 a pound!
Does that deadhead keep you dry when it rains?
Cheesey......yes when I drape a tarp over the antlers. LOL
The funny thing is I don't think Aron cares about elk antlers and probably would have given you the deadhead for nothing. When I hunted with him in 2013 he had killed a bull a few days prior and he left the head and antlers laying at the kill site. We walked past the kill site and asked him about the antlers and he said he didn't care about another set of elk antlers...
Didn't know it rained in NM,now in CO seems to rain or snow all the time.I think biggest deal for me besides the ggear being tough is that I can slip it off and on easy.Over my boots and camo
Cabelas space rain is good lightweight and small. Not very tough, but great for most anything in CO, NM, AZ, UT, etc. that you will need to worry about.
I shredded mine on a horseback hunt going through the brush. Ended up being a wet 12 day hunt…
I bought a set of the Kuiu Chugach rain gear after that hunt…. And another set of space rain to always have in the pack.
If I’m going to be in real wet conditions like coastal Alaska, the Helly Hanson stuff comes out.
I hear ya CM, things change with time. In 2010 he was an active shed hunter and sold the sheds for $$$ to supplement his income. We were up there just as the snow had melted enough off the carcass in the creek bottom to just begin to see it.....Aron was on it like an eagle while driving my truck....and we were all looking. He made quite an impression on my 13 year old son. I imagine hunting with him and Les was a great time. Les obviously values you as his hunting partner. Much respect.
Aron and I used to have a great time shooting together in 3D tournaments. We pushed each other to excel. That was back in the days when he was on the "juice". He bulked up like some freak super hero character, and was fighting in MMA matches until they tested him and they kicked him out. Turns out he was taking the wrong mixture of steroids, and it nearly blew up his heart. He was always an interesting character. We lost touch with each other when I moved to the boonies in 2000. Jordan, if you see him, say "hey" for me.
Sorry for my jog down memory lane. Back on topic, I've carried my Space Rain in my pack for nearly 2 decades. It's the only brand that I'm aware of that is light and compact enough to carry every day. I even carry it on my boat in Florida. But, I also agree, its not durable enough for serious bush whacking.
Matt
He moved to WY...I've not seen the dude since the group hike back in 2016 or so.
So the winner is Cabela's Space Rain and I forked up trading mine away.......but not really because I love my sitka rain gear since 2008 or whenever I choked up the $$$$ for it and have had it replaced for free once. Best hunting purchase I ever made. It may weigh 30 oz instead of 12 oz but it still rides in my daypack every hunt. It is a bit noisy but if its raining there is plenty of other noises going on.
On a side note, I stopped carrying the bottom half of my Space Rain on Colorado hunts years ago. I found that keeping my upper half dry was the key. If I was wearing the right pants, it didn’t really matter if they got wet. I still stayed warm enough, and my pants dried out quickly enough. It’s always been a weight vs reward wrt to rain gear for me.
Matt
I second that Matt. I have gone to wearing Duluth Trading dry on the fly cargo pants. They dry really quickly and are light and have tons of pockets for storing chit. Unless it is forecast to rain 100% for all day, I only take/use my sitka jacket.
I've been wearing the Wrangler ATG pants for the last 3 years, based on recommendations from hunters I respect here. You really can’t beat their performance for their price.
Matt
Well, thanks to this thread I just ordered the Space Rain jacket. With the clearance price, I couldn't resist the opportunity to give it a try. It's less than half the weight of my old rain jacket. Now, if only I had an elk tag this year...
Lou's warning is an important one. I've personally seen someone go hypothermic following a September rain shower. The dumbest part was that he had rain gear in his pack. He was just focused on chasing a bull and didn't move to put it on in a timely manner. Thankfully we were close to the truck and I had extra clothing.
I like their Gaters too-------->
Good luck, Robb
For the occasional thunderstorm, early season Rocky Mountain hunt I carry a Snugpak poncho at all times. It will cover my pack and if need be I can hunker down in it. Carries the size of a 22 oz beer. But half the calories
