Thoughts on the Seeland Keeper jacket

Co1

Well-Known Member
Looking for a new shooting jacket that will also be used for a bit of stalking as well. Any experience out there of this jacket? Is there anything better for the price? I'd love a pro hunter X but can't justify the price tag.

Cheers
Col
 
I have always found the seeland stuff fit for its price but it is a compromise, I've had a couple of their non-technical products which have been fine, but only fine, nothing to write home about. When it comes to staying dry and warm I'd rather not compromise. There are other alternatives to harkila, swedteam do great stuff, Swazi etc.....
 
Got both but I find when the Seeland gets very wet it stays wet longer than my Pro -hunter both keep me dry,and layers keep me warm. trollys are warmer in the Seeland , I hate the bottoms of the pro-hunters when use'g wellys they dig in to you. best gear i'v ever had was Sasta dry and hot .
 
Cheers. I have a swedteam Axton jacket as a stalking jacket and it is excellent, but it's no good for shooting as I can't get more than a few cartridges in the pockets before they fall out!! Was thinking of selling that to fund a new duel purpose jacket.
 
Looking for a new shooting jacket that will also be used for a bit of stalking as well. Any experience out there of this jacket? Is there anything better for the price? I'd love a pro hunter X but can't justify the price tag.

Cheers
Col

I've used one for stalking for many years
Plus points- Dull finish and reasonably quiet, Negative points- Water resistant rather than waterproof, mine didn't come with a hood either.
atb Tim
 
Looking for a new shooting jacket that will also be used for a bit of stalking as well. Any experience out there of this jacket? Is there anything better for the price? I'd love a pro hunter X but can't justify the price tag.

Cheers
Col

Where is it made and what is the quality like?

All my stuff is Swazi, no issue with the name or where bit is made its just well made.
 
I bought the keeper set and my first thoughts were they looked fragile.

This proved to be the main problem with the seams failing in a few months of non pro use and the trouseres looking decidedly second hand

I think the design of the trousers is excelent with good pockets and a usefull over boot flap. The waste of the trouser is VERY high so whilst I have a 36" waste and thats what I ordered, it wont do up on my 40" belly
So I leave it open and rely on the aftermarket braces which are button type so very good

The trousers came with a game carrier which is handy for my duck / pheasent shooting

The jacket again has a miriad of useful pockets. Its well fitted (though I had to go 2 sizes down from the size that was supposed to fit me re their size chart) Its comfortable and like the trousers has coped well with light to moderate rain and some laying prone to shoot

It comes with a detachable hood and a handy whistle and in cold weather I found the design of the neck to be excelant wind proofing

Both trousers and jacket are soft and pretty quiart when stalking

The trousers are quite "fitted" which is both a blessing and a curse. In conditions 6c-10c + they feel nice and look fairely smart but drop below 6 and you will struggle to get decent thermal layers under the slim fit legs

I dont consider this an issue as i have heavy padded trousers for deepest winter high seat and for walk and stalk my problem is over heating, not getting too cold

On that score they are a bit sweaty, but I have never found waterproof anything thats isnt, (including gortex) so a minor issue.

Aside from the seems failing, I am very happy with the purchase. The seams were repaired under warentee but that took an anoyingly long time. Since repair they have been fine.




2016-02-08 14.10.00.jpgIMAG0630.jpgIMAG0632.jpg
 
Not a good advert for Seeland?

I wear two jacket combos. Both have been faultless: Milsurp DPM windproof jacket (very breathable) for dry weather, and if wet, but warm, I wear a lightweight breathable waterproof underneath. For cooler weather, I now use a Deerhunter Recon with Deer-tex reinforcement. Can't fault it. Totally waterproof, very breathable compared with most, no failed seams! Trousers...milsurp summer months and newly acquired Fjallraven trousers for cooler/wetter weather. Been out in rain recently with them and they kept me nice and dry (after waxing them) and not sweaty unlike my deerhunter trousers.

It's a hard balancing act to find a clothing combination to stand up to the demands that we place on them, whilst remaining durable.
 
Keeper Jacket is a good jacket for shooting plet of room, it does come up big, so yes you can drop a size down. The Jacket has a waist drawcord that is meant to be used to nip in the excess cloth when layering up and down.
Waterproof membrane is a 10,000 mm so pretty good for most weathers. You must replenish the water repellent coating as you would with a Gore Tex garment as soon as you start to get wet out. Use a Tech wash is fine in the washing machine. No bio powder nor conditioner or you will ruin the jacket and the taping of the seams

Noise, very quite soft cloth.
Return rate: If we do our job, almost none. Possibley less than 0.25%.
Seam failure on the Garment: it can happen, very very rare. The thread used on the seams is quite tough
Trouser Fit: Slim, Jacket Big.

Range: Keeper, Exeter Advantage and Marsh are all the same design, but each one has tougher cloth in this order. Keeper Soft, Advantage slightly Tougher, Marsh Tougher and noisier.
https://www.ruggedtough.com/seeland-keeper-jacket-25056.html
https://www.ruggedtough.com/countrywear-brands/seeland-clothing-accessories/seeland-jackets-fleeces-and-gilets/seeland-jackets/seeland-exeter-advantage-jacket.html
https://www.ruggedtough.com/countrywear-brands/seeland-clothing-accessories/seeland-jackets-fleeces-and-gilets/seeland-jackets/seeland-marsh-jacket.html

Harkila Pro Hunter is worth every penny if you are using all the benefits, if your not then your buying features you don't need.

Give us a call at the store if you have any further questions, more than happy to advise.
Ask for Brendan or myself
All the best
Andrew
 
Thanks Andrew. What are the benefits of the pro hunter over the seeland range? I am a big believer in but cheap but twice so if it is worth the cash them in happy to throw more at it. I need a jacket for everything, I don't like to have to think about what to put on top. I've got plenty of layers to go under but my big problem is overheating. I'm pretty hard on my clothes any the jacket will be used for stalking, shooting, beating, fishing, walking the dog and probably for going to the shops with the wife!!
 
Looking for a new shooting jacket that will also be used for a bit of stalking as well. Any experience out there of this jacket? Is there anything better for the price? I'd love a pro hunter X but can't justify the price tag.

Cheers
Col
I bought one as a "smart" shooting jacket, tend to use army surplus stuff for stalking. Personally I think its a nice jacket, waterproof, comfortable and good fit but too fragile for hard use espec stalking. But I was pleased enough with the quality to get the Seeland Marsh Jacket which is a lot tougher. So the Keeper jacket gets used as an everyday jacket and dog walks. The Marsh is the "smart" shoot jacket and stalking is done in Army Surplus (Im a fan of the Austrian Army olive drab personally as Im not a fan of cammo) which is tough as old boots and cheap!
 
Pro Hunter and Pro Hunter X are a range of hunting Jackets and Trousers. The main features are Gore-Tex Membrane and a Cordura Facecloth. (the outer cloth). Cordura is one of toughest fibres on the market which enhances the Pro Hunter range to enable crawling without any real detriment to the integrity of the Jacket or Trousers.
Seeland is not really designed for this activity and will prematurely fail if used as if it was Pro Hunter.
Pro Hunter Comes with a 5 Year Warranty as standard.

Note I put the word features at the start. This is because in our view a feature becomes a benefit to the wearer if they are going to use it, other wise its just a feature.

Pro Hunter is a big fitting Jacket and normal fit for trousers. The Draw cord on the waist of the trousers should be used to take up excess cloth when layering. The snow tape at the bottom of the trousers can be removed if not needed and a bit fiddley threaded back through if required.

Waterproofing: The Gore-Tex membrane exceeds the Seeland Seetex and is designed to be out in persitant heavy rain all day. Seetex whilst will cope well is not designed for this. We have never had a proplem with Seetex to be honest.

Buying Second Hand: I add this in as buyer beware, as we have seen this: The Garments have been washed in Bio powder which destroys the glue on the seam tapes, rendering the waterproofing useless and irripairable.

Wet Out both will need to have the outer repelency re-applied as with all repellent finshes once wet out occurs. We give you a free sachet on purchase and also a Gore tex repair kit unlikley ever to be used, but at least you have it ready just in case.

Any questions, feel free to call the store 01525 211488
All the best
Andrew
http://www.ruggedtough.com
 
Thanks for all the help. I'm going to put my hand in my pocket and go with the Pro Hunter X on the basis that it should last me 10 years, so that's only £40 odd quid a year. See classifieds for my Swedteam jacket which will have to go to fund it!!!
 
I've had one for a couple of years now, very comfy, quiet, very breathable, good pockets and comes with a hood.
Not the most waterproof, fine in showers but leaks if in heavy, continuous rain.
Overall, good value for money and I'd probably have an other as a daily working coat.
Not as good as Kuiu but a million miles better than anything Arktis has to offer.
 
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