MY SITKA BIG GAME SYSTEM

What's going on everyone? Welcome to today's video. Pretty technical video today. Last year we did our Sick of Gear Whitetail system and this year we're doing our Sick of Gear big game slash western slash adventure type system. Which pairs well because they did have some new stuff launched before this hunting season. That's really cool. So I'm gonna go over some of that now. And I have been packing this week for some really big adventure hunts. We got caribou, actually leaving like very soon for caribou in Alaska. And then we have a big mountain go hunt in British Columbia, which is like the most adventurous hunt that I potentially will ever go on. So I'm pretty jazzed up about it. As you see, I kind of have everything laid out here. This is a little bit of my bare bones. What I will use in especially this caribou hunt in this mountain goat hunt, along with just like elk and mule deer and everything else. So I kind of go through that now and kind of when I would choose something over something else. And we also got some boot stuff, which is also very, very fun. And someone's riding a Harley Davidson next door. Okay, so we're gonna start at the base layers. What you would put on first. And of course, what is that is underwear. This is Sick of Gear's new Merino underwear. I know it's weird to talk about, but they had this other Merino underwear and I think this replaced it. I've been wearing it for several weeks now. It's legit. It's very good. If you're in the need for Merino underwear, it's really, really nice. Especially on elk hunts, back country hunts, Merino. It's very, how do I put it? Pleasant to wear when you're in a large group. So you don't, you're not the smelly kid. You know what I mean? Next, they have, I will also say Merino. Merino, Merino, Merino, Merino. It's Sick of Gear's new products. They came out with a huge line of Merino products. Well overdue. So this is their Merino 120 hoodie. It almost feels like a sun hoodie. Super, super light. Great for a base layer. Great for hiking. Great for warmer weather. I wore it for tack. I wore it for several other warm weather activities. Just working out in the woods or whatever. And Merino has always been known to be very brittle. Very soft material. So what Sick It did is they, of course, did the Goreway because they are just incredible with technology and clothing. They made it stronger by infusing some sort of stronger strained material in with the Merino. So it makes it really strong. Much stronger than just straight up Merino. But it's Merino. It acts like Merino. It's just essentially supported by some strong material. So this is a great base layer piece. I will wear this probably all the time now. I mean, before it was kind of a core lightweight hoodie. I still like the core lightweight hoodie. And it does well. It serves its purpose, especially if I'm running it more of an outer layer. It's a little bit more durable than a Merino, that even this Merino will do. But if I'm running a base layer, you know, like I'll probably always have something over this. Great option. It's got a hood. And then like I said, you go to hiking or do whatever, you strip down and you got this as your outer layer. Along with that, matching it is a new Merino base bottoms. So this is our also Merino 120, the lightest. It's three different layers of Merino thicknesses. So depending, you know, obviously if you're a little colder, you want to bump up and whatnot, it might be good to bring a light pair and a heavy pair. That's kind of, especially reading packing for all these trips, I've been reading a lot of packing lists. A lot of people will bring one light pair and one heavier pair. And if one's, if you get wet in one, you can leave it out to dry and you can swap or if it's cold and kind of gives you more diversity and of course backup. So, but Merino base layers. I like Merino. I bring a lot of going back and forth between synthetics or whatever. But this is also Merino, but this is your new Intercept system. Sika launched pretty much their new Elk line is kind of how they're marketing it with the Intercept. So this is the Intercept hoodie, a little heavier weight Merino hoodie. And this is the solid color. This does come in camel pattern, but I really like this green solid color. So I went for this. Of course it has the hood, it has the face mask and everything, but it's Merino. Kind of replaced the Apex system. So I know they have the Apex for Elk. This has shoulder pads. I took them out, but this is the new Intercept hoodie. Really excited to use this. So I'm thinking, you know, I'll run the super light Merino hoodie as my base layer at all times. And then I potentially would layer up and put this over top of it when I'm running around or doing whatever. So paired with that is your Intercept pants. These are very, very cool pants. I was kind of like, huh, another pair of pants from Sika. What could be different? But there is quite a bit different in these pants. Like I said, it kind of replaces the Apex system, which is their Elk spot and stock system. But I'm also going to probably take this on my caribou hunt. Really good cargo storage system on the sides. Quiet snap buttons, which is nice instead of zippers. You got pockets, of course. Your standard Sika front button system, your belt system. But you also have these giant heat dumping vents, which will go straight to you. There's no vents. There's no like anything in between. This is the pant leg. So huge vents for dumping heat while hiking. It's a really good hiking pant. It feels very durable. I have not worn this yet, but it feels very similar to the Equinox. You have this gritting on the inside. So this kind of helps with airflow as it sticks against you, your skin. If you don't run a base layer or something off of it and you have, let's say like one thin pair of pants, you know, like it's sticky and sticks to your skin. Well, this is kind of, it's like tiny little mountains on here. I don't know how else to explain it, but it kind of allows for better airflow and doesn't get sticky on your pant, on your legs or anything. So that's the Intercept Pants. Very excited to actually test those out and use those. So I have three pairs of pants here. Kind of all serve their own purpose. Like that's a really good all around pant, but probably not a super good pant to bring a mountain goat hunt or something like that. Unless it's warm out and you're doing a lot of hiking, something like that. But what I'm going to grab now is probably the most diverse pants that Cicak has. And that is the Mountain Pant. Mountain Pant has been around for a long time. This is my first big game pant that I got from Cicak Gear. I used it for a long time. I think this is maybe even the pair because I have a hole in my butt. I sat on a rock one time and it punched straight through it. And I've had these for like probably six years now, six or seven years, and they're still, they're still ripping. We have knee pads, cargo pockets on the side, zip up pockets on the, you know, for your phone, hand pockets, very diverse, stretchy, durable, but also lightweight. If you are like, I don't know what pant to get, you know, I'm on the fence and you're like, I just want something that's a do all, your Mountain Pant is that pant. So really awesome pant. I have it in the lineup. I wear it quite a bit throughout the season. It's just a good kind of all around pant. Now for your more heavy duty pant, this is the Timberline Pant. So you can see that we have more reinforced knee pads. These are actually waterproof sections right here. Then we also have the squishy knee pad on the inside, along with the butt section. It is waterproof and a little bit thicker just for, you know, if you're sitting on rocks or whatever. So super, super nice for that. Definitely heavy duty. I'm probably gonna wear these for like my caribou, mountain goat hunt, stuff like that. But I also wear them like elk hunting or really antelope hunting because of all those stickers and pickers in the desert and stuff, the plains. It's really nice when you're crawling around after antelope and stuff. So very diverse, similar material to the Mountain Pant, but it does run a little bit hotter because of these sections are a little thicker. But I brand these in 90 degree weather in antelope and more than moose last year, warm, all over the place, very diverse. You just layer underneath them if it gets colder or warmer. And that pretty much goes with anything. I mean, you can layer underneath it to get whatever you want out of the piece. I also will say I might run, they have Merino t-shirts now, which I probably will run a lot just as my base layer. So that's super, super nice. So we have that covered. Now what we're gonna do is move into some jackets. And you guys heard me talk about this piece a lot, but this is probably one of my most favorite pieces in the entire world. This is the ambient jacket. So it's very, it's like a fleece. It's active insulation is what they call it. So it's a great piece when it's maybe a little bit on the warmer side and you just want a jacket, but it also is a great layering piece. I've worn this white tail hunting. I've worn this moving to Alaska last year. I've worn this mule deer hunting, elk hunting, white tail hunting, late season as layering piece. It is such a workhorse. And that's why I have it in a solid color because I'll run one the entire season and regardless of what it is, it fits in. Along with just wearing in casual wear, it's super, super awesome. Such a versatile piece, such a big game changer coming from Sitka. Love this piece, cannot say enough about the ambient. I think on the white tail video last year, it just came out and I was like, I don't know about this piece. It seems awesome, it's cool. But after using for a year, it's absolutely awesome and it will always be in my pack. And the hood is great. I mean, when it's cold and windy, the hood is actually really good and underrated. As a little insulation piece, this vest is really good. I've had this vest for a long time. It's the Kelvin Aerolite vest, just a good insulation piece. I will run this sometimes over my ambient. So great piece just when it gets a little bit colder or chillier to put on top of just a quick little, any of these little base layers is really, really good. Let's see here, let's jump over to this jacket. This is the new Mountain Evo jacket. It's a very interesting piece. I'm very excited to put it to work. But essentially what it is, in my opinion, it's a hiking jacket because on the backside, we have way less insulation. This is not wind stopper in this portion. Essentially, it body maps where your backpack is going to be. So I'm really excited to use this on my caribou, on my mountain goat hunt. When you're hiking around, you can use it on elk hunts, whatever. But the camo pattern portion is essentially wind stopper. And then the back is very thin where it's rubbing on your backpack and a lot of your sweat there and also all underneath on your arms and stuff. So ventilation where you need it and protection where you need it as well. So really good, it's a very light jacket. It's very thin, but serves a really big purpose, I think, especially in the mountain hunter world. Oh yeah, I see this piece being used even elk hunting and real deer hunting when you're hiking in and doing a lot of hiking. So very excited about that piece. Definitely would be in my arsenal. I might even use it quite a bit. I might even put it over like an Ambien at times. So we'll see. We'll see where that kind of fits in as I use it. Now we're going to dive into insulation. Really important that you have proper insulation pieces. I mean, this is kind of like a quote unquote life or death piece. If you got good insulation, you'll be way, way happier. So this is the Kelvin Light Jacket. It's a very warm piece. I've had it, ran it pretty much in my backpack always, any sort of Western hunt, mid-September and on, or I know it could potentially dip down in the 30s and 40s, or if you're glassing on a windy knob or whatever. Very, very, very good insulation piece. You're going to be warm if you're in this. So this is what I run. It's really, really good. There's a couple other options you can potentially do, but I really, really like this one. On top of that, we have our Puffy Pants. Puffy Pants are so underrated. It is so nice to put these bad boys on and sit on the glassing knob and just be nice and toasty warm. They compress down pretty well, and they have big zippers on the side so that you can put them on when your boots are on. You literally just slip them, these zip all the way up. You just got to get your boot through there, and then you can zip them all the way down. It's also a double zip. So if you, for some reason, do a little bit of hiking or something and don't want to sweat, you can double zip that down. So when I have the Calvin Lite and these Puffy Pants on, I'm toasty warm. So I know that if it's cold, if weather turns terrible, I'm going to be really good. And talking about weather turning terrible, let's talk about rain gear. There's a couple different rain gear that Sika offers, but my favorite is the Dewpoint system. So the Dewpoint, super, super lightweight. It's like your packable, really nice rain gear for mountain hunts or really any sort of hunt. And I will say, I have a couple of these pieces in the open country because of my goat hunt. I had to get a couple of pieces, and I don't want to look like a goon. I need the right camel pattern for the hunt. So here we are with open country. The first couple of pieces in open country too. I'm pretty jazzed up about it. But the Dewpoint pan, it also has a double zip. You zip down that way, zip down this way, and then you also have a button that can go and clip around your boot. Like I said, super lightweight. This can compress down in just a little small form factor. Then we have a jacket, which same sort of thing, same material, paired well with pants. It's really, really game changer. I know so many times we've been stuck in weather, but really what sealed the deal was last year in Alaska. I mean, we nearly lived in this stuff. One day it rained all day, and we were just sitting outside in the rain. Got back to camp and took them off, and I mean, we were 100% dry. So it's wild what good rain gear can do. There's a couple of things you don't skimp out on. You don't skimp out on a backpack, you don't skimp out on rain gear, and you don't skimp out on boots. Everything else you can kind of mix and match gear-wise, but those three things are so huge to being comfortable and not being in a world of pain. Also some rain gear options. I always love bringing these super heavy gloves, Stormfront GTX gloves, very heavy duty. When you put these bad boys on, you're waterproof, you're warm. If you're glassing and it's windy, or glassing and it's cold and rainy, I know when I put these on, I put my Dewpoint system on, it is like, you're just golden. They have these inner liner gloves in here. I believe it's a synthetic inner liner. Super, super heavy duty gloves. I really like them in my backpack, especially for adventure style hunts. This is not sick related, but this is kind of like my little tweak on my system. These are Army Surplus Merino wool gloves. I will buy a bundle of these, and I run these all the time. Whitetail hunting, Western hunting, anything. They're just really small, really compact, and they're super ventilated in here. You can actually see my hand through there. So it regulates heat very well. Like if I'm running a little hot, you know, I'm breathable, but for some reason I just stay incredibly warm in these. I'll even cut like my fingertips off if I'm like, you know, wanna text, or wanna shoot my bow, or whatever. I'll kind of fine tune these gloves, but you can get them for like a three pack for 10 bucks. So it's really awesome. Kind of my tweak off of the Sick and Geared pack. Gators. Gators are not needed in all circumstances, but especially needed in adventure style. Hunts, wet hunts, you know, like caribou, moose, mountain goat, sometimes needed for elk if you are, you know, if it's terrible conditions, or raining, or whatever. So they're nice to have. These are the Stormfront GTX ones also, right? These are great. You got these on in a good pair of boots. Get these on, good pair of boots, and your dew point over top of it, you're like, you're pretty waterproof. That is kind of my big game system. I think these are going to be my workhorse pieces for this fall. Of course, you kind of fine tune it and tweak it here, and be like, ah, you know, maybe want to try like a heavyweight hoodie, or want to do this here, there, or whatever, and it's kind of a never ending process, but that is what I'm running probably the majority, 90% of the stuff of what I'm running this year. To go over some boots. So we'll start kind of at the lighter duty. These, I've had these for like three or four years now. I put a lot of miles on these. These are Crispy Thors. A really good mule deer, really good elk boot. Pretty stiff. But I really like these. A mule deer or elk, you can even go maybe a little lighter. A really light, quiet boot, but also has a decent amount of stiffness. It's super important. Just depend, it's all situational, it really is. But the Thors, it's a good middle ground. I throw these on, and I know I'm good, unless it's a really crazy mountain hunt, which, like I said, probably a million times right now, because I'm excited. You have to upgrade to something a little better. So these are the Crispy Brickstoles Mountain Pros? Extreme Pros? Mountain Pros? Something like that. It's their new ones this year. The stiffest they can get, waterproof, but they are the shorter. You can go like one inch taller or whatever. But just a hiking machine boot. Broke them in pretty good wear on my tack. I think, I haven't worn them yet. Actually in the field, I had some Brickstoles the insulated ones, though, for my moose hunt, and those did really good. So I'm excited. I like the Crispy stuff. I've had several of them now, so big fan of the Crispy's. So that's kind of my system. Hope you guys enjoyed this video. Breaking down my big game system, I guess, for this year, a couple new pieces. Tons of new Merino stuff coming from Sick of Gear. Super, super excited. I love Merino, of course, with their own gore technology twist on it, as always. Hope you guys enjoyed this video. Hope I answered some questions or some confusion, or maybe I confused you guys even more. If that's the case, I'm sorry. But yeah, we'll catch you guys on the next one. Thank you.