Chaps vs. upland pants

I need to add some gear.

I hunt primarily game farms (fields with brush and willows) as well as poplar stands for grouse. Not much for briars or thorny stuff. I am mostly looking to keep my pants dry with the morning dew and slight scratch protection. So I don’t think oil skin is what I want.

Thoughts, reviews, etc?

Thanks.

I’m cheap when it comes to clothing. Army rip-stop pants treated with aqua armor. Water beads up, I can wear sweat pants beneath if needed, and they don’t shred up for years of use

I go with Columbia upland pants (buy em’ at the end of season on clearance…) and then use Gaiters which seems to be more comfortable for me at least. I have used Chaps before but just don’t like the feel…

I have a few pairs of upland and some chaps. I prefer the upland pants personally. During warmer (above 32F) and drier hunts I wear a Big C brand pants that are like jeans with the brush guard. I’ve never had a problem with getting stuck by the various prickly things in the field. For real cold and/or wet days I have a paid of Big C brand Gore Tex pants. I like these a lot but I have the older model and they are pilling a bit. The nice thing about them is that I can use them ice fishing as well, they are pricey but if you can get them on sale it’s worth the it to avoid the aggravation of walking in wet pants all day.

Upland pants for me. Columbia, cabelas, etc. Any Jean with the cordura armor on the front of it. I have a pair of goretex pants I pull over them for wet fields or rain. I too am in the market for a good pair of upland pants that are waterproof. I have been looking for a couple years but haven’t found anything I liked.

I’m the same as Suzuki. Upland pants (Filson) with nylon or heavy canvas facing are what I wear most of the time. I have two different weights, light for early season and heavy for late.

For wet grass, I save my old Gore-Tex rain gear pants. They’re good enough to keep me dry, heavy dew or snow does not penetrate easily.

I have tried the Gore-Tex hunting pants that combine the nylon facing with the breathable liner. I found them to be exceptionally hot, more so than even wearing rain pants over the top of regular upland pants. I now wear them only for late season (Nov-Dec) if there has been fresh snow where I know I’m going to be getting wet all day long AND the weather is very cool to outright cold.

Also, the nature of upland hunting is that often you only need the waterproof pants for the first couple of walks in the morning until the rain or dew burns off. So having Gore Tex pants on required me to do a roadside striptease to change pants at noon to get into a cooler pair of regular upland pants. And of course, when you’re standing there with no pants on, on the side of a gravel road 18 miles from Nowhereseville, that would be the time when a convoy of 6 Buicks carrying the 18 members of the local Luther League drive by…

Granted, I only tried one brand, so there may be cooler ones out there, but my results did not encourage me to buy more. That and the fact that we spent considerable time pulling one of those Buicks out of the cattail swamp in the ditch ditch after the driver veered off the road… The whole situation was not optimal.

Grouse

I’m an upland pant vs. chaps kind of guy. Bean actually has some decent pants in a variety of weights to suit the temp and/or pucker brush. I much prefer the newer fabrics (I am NOT a fan of waxed cotton whatsoever) and almost always try to avoid cotton due to it normally sucking water and not getting rid of it. Having said all that, the Army rip-stop, which I think is a cotton/nylon blend, that Randy mentions is very good under a pair of chaps for early season.

I’ve had good luck with chaps personally. Not that I don’t own or like the upland brush pants but I can take the chaps off after a day of walking through wet or snowy brush and have dry pants underneath. I have a pair of the cabelas brand and have been happy with them. I do retreat them every few years with camp dry or a similar product. I have also personally found the chaps to be a bit more durable than the field pants I have had.

I will have to say I have never tried chaps but I have some pants from scheels( happen to buy in St. Cloud) that I really like a lot.

They are a “scheels” branded product and I have insulated and in insulated versions. They are set up to attach button on suspenders, sold separately, and that has proved to be nice than I would have thought. Have had insulated pants for several years with heavy use from fishing late and early thru deer hunting with no issues. Deer field dressing carnage also washes off with a hose as a big plus. I have also bought at the end of the season to save approximately 50%.

Just my brief thoughts…

I use upland pants and gaiters. I have a pair of Gamehide, Cabelas, and Columbia pants and I would say the Gamehides still look the best. The gaiters come up to the bottom of my knee so they take care of the wet grass or snow. In late season I throw on my old pair of Strikemaster bibs.

I just saw some high buck water proof pant at Cabelas last night but they seem like nothing more than camo goretex. As others have mentioned you get hot and very sweaty working in that stuff. It don’t breath fast enough to handle heavy exercise. Even last December I wore a Goretex coat pheasant hunting because of snow stuck to the weeds and I got soaked from sweat. It was like wearing a plastic bag! I’ll stick with my old goretex pants over my hunting jeans for now when necessary.

Filson Double Tin brier proof with zippers are my chaps of choice. Use them if its wet or when it gets cold. They are awesome. Plus you can unzip them and slide them on right over you boots if conditions change or it dries up, which is not possible with non zippered variety. I consider them to be a must have for when the snow flies. Just wear everyday jeans underneath, that way I can slide them off and look look half way normal if I have to do something after or before hand.