Shooting clothing

[Irish Bob]

I was having a chat with a friend about shooting kit. He did not have much good to say about most of it. Apparently most is now made in China and only designed for recreational shooting, weekends etc.

He retold a story about a stalker who had a well known make of clothing and said it was letting in water after about three weeks, used hard every day I would add. He happened to have someone senior from the maker stalking with him. The person from the maker said that this was about right as their stuff was made for the recreational market and three weeks with this stalker was about equal to three to four years with their target customer. Anyway he replaced the kit foc but the same happened with the new stuff in about the same time, as the person from the maker had predicted.

I am am not going to name the brands because I know people pay a lot of money for their kit and are happy with it.

My question is this: what makes other than Nomad and Swazi are made in their home countries, i.e. Manufactured where they are based?

Second, irrespective of the above what lasts getting hammered day in day out in all conditions?

I am looking for the views of those who wear it every day for work, stalker, forestry, farming etc.

I will start by saying that Swazi is good stuff which you can wear every day (I do). It does wear out but takes a long time. You can also sew it up. Downside is it is not smart for going out like Harkila or such like (i only have Swazi btw).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Haloed']

Nomad is made in China and have no UK repair facility. That is why it is cr☆p.

 

[jackfish]

As far as I see you get what you pay for some of the time but certainly not all of the time. I've had harkila, swazi, nomad, swedeteam forties etc. Currently using swedeteam and what I will say is that in the heavier prolonged down pours it's not up to the job. Best I've had were swazi Tahr (should never have sold it)and nomad. Just bought another Nomad All Rounder so we will see how that goes on the hill.

 

[Irish Bob]

Nomad is made in China and have no UK repair facility. That is why it is cr☆p.

I thought it was a small company that was made in the UK, that is why it is expensive. I never would have guessed.

 

[jall55]

Had some Harkila boots - did me a hard 4 seasons before they gave up

Tried Chameu - just because I thought that the Harkila stuff was getting to pricey - one season and they re in bits !

I work my stuff hard - sawing - shooting - spraying - digging etc !

Best coat I ever had was a Laksen - only gave up the ghost when the zip went

 

[Haloed']

I thought it was a small company that was made in the UK, that is why it is expensive. I never would have guessed.

I had a zip go and it took 3 months round trip. Philil loaned me a prototype coat which i bought and the zip is terrible.

 

[springer]

Nomads advertises "No leaks in 20 years"....so, 20 minutes it is then !!
Had 2, both made in Poland (NOT) England !!
Nightmare to deal with and customer service that makes a Korean pet shop look good !!!!

 

[ChesterP]

I use Fjallraven Vida Pro trousers. Don't know where they're actually made and don't care. They have lasted 3 seasons of regular shooting/stalking and hiking, had very rough treatment, and are still as good as new unlike some craghoppers which lasted a few weeks before they went through in the knees! My Altberg boots made in God's own County have lasted me years through all terrains and weathers and are still going strong. Worst performing clothing I've owned were Deerhunter trousers that ripped on their first outing...presumably one of the "recreational" carp items being marketed. Wouldn't buy another pair. Best durability? Derby Tweed made in the UK....25 years old jacket and still going strong, along with some surplus DPM kit.

 

[Rugged & Tough]

Some interesting points and certainly we can see some logic in some of the comments.
However, we firmly beleive that half the problem with premature failure is not because the garment is of poor manufacture, it is because it was never designed for the purpose being used. As you said, more recreational, than workwear.

As more and more of us shop online, we are not getting the proper advise as we used too. As a bricks and mortar retail business, we can spend an hour with one customer just going through their needs, pulling a selection of products for them to try on for fit, trying on a few different sizes and then finally coming up with the perfect options, or importantly sometimes not!

Whilst we can look at the core countrywear brands, it is key not to stick with just "Country", dip into the workwear brands too.

We had a gamekeeper in the store a couple of weeks ago and we recommended Carhartt EB136 100% Cotton logger Pants for the core heavy duty work as these are designed for what he is doing. Mix this with a strong Marsh Jacket from Seeland, a tough pair of Dunlop wellies and you have the basics to build on.

Country Wellies are not designed for being worn day in day out like a pair of Argyles, or Balmorals. So it is down to us as retailers to do the job that you need us to do and to give you great service and advise.

Yes you might save a few £1s online, but you will more often than not, waste more that the saving by buying the wrong product.

We are open 7 days and you can call the store on 01525 211488 to get advise on any aspect of your country clothing needs. We post free in the UK and offer free UK returns. We can ship internationally too.

Whilst this appears to be a big plug, it is more about giving you the best service for the hard earned money you are about to spend.

Andrew
Rugged Tough Work Clothing, Country Clothing and Tactical
LU7 9LS

 

[Nugs]

I have to put in a good word for Fortis clothing, based and made in the southwest.
They are family owned and run, so you get a more personal experience when ordering.
I use the trousers extensively around the farm and for stalking/fishing and they are very rugged, purchased a SAS smock earlier in the year as a spring/autumn top and that is holding up very well.
Just my two penneth.

 

[tusker]

I have a Deerhunter Montana jacket purchased about 16 years ago I were it for work as well as stalking, beating etc. and it is still a great jacket. I have a Lakson and that is the warmest jacket ever I owned also about the same age. My "posh" shooting coat that I wear on pheasant and partridge days also my racing coat in the winter is a Napier made from Alpaca wool it was expencive but it is a great coat also about 16 years old.
I think that stuff made that far back was of better quality than now because the accountants get hold of it and insist on it being made cheaper but still sold at the same price.
Tusker

 

[smokey]

Nomad is made in manchester near strangeways

 

[Pedro]

Just reading this and wearing my Deerhunter trousers, having come back from checking the pheasant pens and find a popper on a rear pocket has fallen to bits. Can someone start a thread about winning the Euro Lottery so I can read that please?

 

[Jet flint]

Laksen, Swazi,fjallraven,meindl,lowa,arcteryx leaf and musto, if selected for the right purpose, layered correctly and maintained have all proven to be great gear for both work and play, all the lads that work for me have hi viz Swazi smocks and meindl work boots. I have to say that the understanding of the correct way to layer seems lost especially on the game shooting brigade( of which I am one). There is absolutely no point in buying all of the lastest gore tex gear and then wearing a bloody cotton shooting shirt and tie, the manufacturer who brings a formal highly breathable shirt will surely be onto a winner.

 

[Tom D]

One thing that should be pointed out is that something being made in china is not necessarily a bad thing. Everything is made to a price, the chinese can make good stuff if they want to, they can also make crap. So can we. The macbook that I'm writing this on is a high quality bit of kit, it was made in china as are iPhones iPads etc.

So for any given piece of clothing you have the cloth, taped seams etc, stitching, its all in the design. If the person who stitched it is on £2per hour or £10per hour the quality should be the same...

If you think that any modern synthetic DWR treated garment is going to stand up to the kind of day in day out abuse that a shepherd or forester will give it then you are mistaken. For these people old school fabrics will work better, but they might not stay dry all day. They will however go home to a nice warm house and a hot bath and dry it all out ready for the next day. North american hunters on the other hand may only hunt a couple of weeks a year, but they will likely be sleeping outdoors, and drying wet kit in a tent is not fun, so for them the fancy synthetics are a massive benefit. They dry quickly and keep water out much better when in good nick.

 

[Harry mac]

Just reading this and wearing my Deerhunter trousers, having come back from checking the pheasant pens and find a popper on a rear pocket has fallen to bits. Can someone start a thread about winning the Euro Lottery so I can read that please?

That's happened on every piece of Deerhunter clothing I've bought. Two pair trousers and two jackets.

 

[old keeper]

As a matter of interest where is Nomad made, one post says China, another Manchester?

 

[Wilf102]

Back government the OP point. What's made in their own country?

Fortis. I have had the Falklands coat for about 7 years. Yes, I can fault it. But it does what I need. Keeps me warm, and dry enough. So it serves its purpose for southern uk well. Not sure I would wear it on top of a highland in an all day downpour because I haven't tried it yet in those conditions. Trousers wise I have been using keeper trousers by Seeland. Fine in the damp and winter used for stalking and beating and bought for £40 in a sale. I have ordered a pair of Fortis stalker trousers at the game fair. £110 I think. Not because I am a Fortis fan boy necessarily, but because they ticked a number of boxes for fit and function. TBH the biggest box they ticked was being UK made and marketed. If we don't give our own country the business they can't reinvest in technology and material research and will go out out of business. If locally produced products are genuinely rubbish they are near enough for feedback. If they are good enough we should be supporting them too.

Boots are army surplus because at £60 they are good enough and frankly built to take more of a hammering than the majority of stalkers. I would have bought a pair of Altberg (see para above). But I haven't see no them when I have had the spare cash in my pocket. They probably would have done well at the Game fair with a stand next to Rigby and doing bespoke boot making.

Some one will come back with Use Army Surplus (also made in China ironically) and they have a point.

We expect kit kit to be totally waterproof and breathable and warm and cool and never wear out. So the problem is twofold. Unrealistic expectations and an increasing desire to spend money on something marketed as Hunting. As per a previous post, thinking outside the box is probably a good thing. Logging trousers not stalking trousers. How about climbing softshell trousers. Stretchy, water resistant, hard wearing. Just not "Hunting" sexy.

I could digress onto what we really expect to get extra with a MadeInGermany 0-infinity x76 zoom scope over a fixed 4 or 6 x 42 scope. But that's thread creep really.

 

[SDC7x57]

Sorry to disagree....Nomad is NOT made in China, and never has been. All materials come from good old Europe.

 

[Cawdor118]

I was going to buy a nomad outfit... Met the sales rep at a couple of fairs and to say the quality is crap is an understatement. Both times the items on the stalls had noticeable defects meaning there is obviously zero quality control wherever the factory is. Not in a million years would I buy it by post because you just wouldn't know what was coming. Defects I have seen with my own eyes (may be minor - but at the price they should be perfect). -
1.Tweed with "pulls" in the cloth meaning lines are warped.
2. Stretch bottoms with toggles - frayed like a cheap shoe lace
3. Waterproofing tape blown on inside

Sorry to disagree....Nomad is NOT made in China, and never has been. All materials come from good old Europe.