Old hunting clothes

[Baxter6551]

In late 80s my wife told me her bosses Aunt wanted to know if I wanted her husband’s hunting outfit. He had passed away awhile back. Turned out it was a Woolrich” Pennsylvania Tuxedo” red and black plaid. The pants still had the tag on them. I wore it for quite a few years enduring some comments when everyone was getting the new goretex and camo patterns. The pants have since shrunk but the jacket still soldiers on as a winter kick around coat. I will be wearing it deer hunting this weekend. Oh … she didn’t want money but I gave her $50 for the outfit.

 

[Dave.357]

Had a new zipper put in my hunting coat
last year. I bought it at a yard sale in the
80’s. No idea how old it is.

 

[soFlaNative]

Patagonia jacket bought at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Wesser was $40 in '78. Thin liner with a nylon shell is perfect for the occasional SoFla chill. Took it a laundromat that does a bit of tailoring to run a stitch around the wrist openings to slow down a bit of fray.
70 / 30 blend Woolrich also from NC in "86 still serves as a work and woods shirt although it collects hitchhikers from the brush.

 

[kozmic]

I have a L L Bean, long sleeve Henley that I got on our honeymoon in Maine in 1985. Every edge is frayed and the cuffs are half ripped off, but I still gleefully wear it. It was a deep eggplant color when I got it. Now it's a worn shade of light purple. My wife says it's even "too tattered to use to wash our vehicles". I say "it's just getting broken in".
It goes along with my same vintage 8" LL Bean boots. I had new lowers put on those. They have been my go to winter and wet weather boots for decades.
I'm not sure you get that type quality any more.

 

[stu1ritter]

I have the Belfstaff jacket that I bought at the same time I bought my last Norton in 1972. When I stopped riding bikes I had the wax dry cleaned out and wear it as a general purpose jacket now.

Stu

 

[TXBryan]

Matching Camo?

At our deer camp if someone shows up in matching camo, as in pants and coat, he is likely to be the subject of "dude" ridicule.

I have (sometimes) hunting buddies that swear by Kuiu, Sitka, or some other modern brand "hunting wear" but it's hard to imagine improving much on what us "experienced" fellas cobble together.

And like the book says; it's all about layering.

Bryan

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Good stuff! People forget just how warm good old fashioned wool is and just how quiet the natural fiber coats are when walking as opposed to the synthetics.

 

[Golddollar]

Note the date on the Polaroid - 1972. The goofy looking kid is me, wearing my new Woolrich wool hunting coat. It is an "XL", and I wore it as my primary hunting coat for 20 years. Eventually, it shrunk, and I stopped wearing it.

A buddy I worked with decided to take up hunting, and I gave him the coat. He wore it maybe 10 years, til it shrunk on him too.

He gave it to his son, who also wears it hunting every year. As I write this, he and my coat are sitting in a deer camp in N. Central PA. The coat is still in very good shape. Weird getting nostalgic about a piece of clothing.

Larry

Not really. We are just remembering who wore the coat and what they meant to us.

When I went to hang Pop's coat back up there was this incredible fog in the house on the way back to the closet.

 

[Skeet 028]

I had onea those Quad coats. nice down liner till it got wet...but It wasn't made for deer hunting. Every move you made generated a lot of noise.. Wore it in a noreaster one day duck hunting. It literally blew 60 miles an hour. Parked the john boat on top of a muskrat house with an anchor out. . I had about 4 inches of rain water in the pockets...But the ducks flew. Pintails were ten point ducks. Still have it somewhere. Probably still has some duck/goose loads in the pockets

 

[Mule Packer]

Of course I have old stuff! I believe in functionality...not style. I still have a great old bird hunting vest I bought with my well-saved money when I was sixteen!! I got it out the other day and found a couple pairs of those old canvas and wire bird carriers that hang on your belt and a leather dog leash tucked in the back pocket. What memories!

I had a pair of L.L. Bean wool hunting pants that lasted me for forty years. During the past few years, I noticed they were getting a little tight around the middle. Last year I asked one of my grandsons if he could use them and he jumped on them like trailer trash on Velveeta. He was really thrilled when I also threw in the L.L. Bean suspenders.

One more thing I'll never get rid of, no matter how much Miss Judy complains, is a Filson tin cloth wool-lined packer coat. It's a good 30-years old and still going strong. Oh sure, I've re-waxed it several times and I've had to stitch up the cuffs a bit where they were becoming frayed, but it's still a winner.

Likewise is my old Filson red and black checked Mackinaw. It, too, is a little frayed around the cuffs and the outside has faded a bit. (I never noticed how much it had faded until I happened to look on the inside and saw how bright the wool was compared to the outside.)

I think there was a quote from Lonesome Dove that went something like, "Deets doesn't give up on a garment just because it shows a little wear." I'm the same way.

 

[GypsmJim]

I have a pair of Woolrich wool bibs that used to be my brothers. I think they're about 30 years old.

When I was 16 and had just started deer hunting, my Dad bought me a pair of Woolrich pants. That was 1965.

They were a little loose back then, and a little tight now, but they still work. Never has a year gone by that I didn't wear them.

That same year I got my first hunting licence. The plastic back tag holder that I got back then still adorns the back of my hunting jacket. The advertising info printed on the back is from a gun shop that went out of business over 50 years ago.

Wholly ****. Now I REALLY feel old!

 

[llowry61]

Note the date on the Polaroid - 1972. The goofy looking kid is me, wearing my new Woolrich wool hunting coat. It is an "XL", and I wore it as my primary hunting coat for 20 years. Eventually, it shrunk, and I stopped wearing it.

A buddy I worked with decided to take up hunting, and I gave him the coat. He wore it maybe 10 years, til it shrunk on him too.

He gave it to his son, who also wears it hunting every year. As I write this, he and my coat are sitting in a deer camp in N. Central PA. The coat is still in very good shape. Weird getting nostalgic about a piece of clothing.

Larry

Are those Sorel Caribou boots? I had a pair of those for years most comfortable warm boot I ever wore especially with the wool liners.

 

[tinkerer]

Would REALLY like to have that truck!!

 

[Bald1]

35 yrs ago I bought a matching set of Woolrich Red & Black Plaid pants and jacket. I paid $300 which was a ton of money for a 19 yr old working part time. I had the foresight to buy them a bit bigger than I needed and I’m still wearing them today. My friends like to call me Elmer Fudd. But I’m still in the woods when they’re back at camp warming up by the fire. The dry cleaner has jokes too when I bring them in. I’ve even worn them ice fishing.

 

[Smoke]

Most of the older things that I have are USGI cold weather gear.

I have a first generation ECWCS Fleece jacket that's about 30 years old and some Belleville ACU boots that are about 20 years old. other than that I have a USGI Sleep shirt from the 80s.


Stock Photo

I had a pair of the original Matterhorn Gortex boots that I bought in '88. I never had good luck with them they had all leather uppers and they made my feet sweat. I gave them to my Uncle who lived in Castlerock Washington and he thought they were the coolest thing since sliced bread.

My Bellevilles are Gortex lined but they have partially cloth uppers and they are the best boots I've ever owned.

The Army issued me one of the original Gortex rain coats in the early 90s but I never had any luck with it either. It kept the rain out but it didn't vent the sweat as advertised. I have a Sierra Designs packable raincoat that I bought in the mid 90s that works much better.



Stock Photo

 

[MRB1]

Part of my old hunting wardrobe is a red pull over hooded sweatshirt that has been worn on every deer hunt since the early 70s. It has never been washed. It's stiff from old blood stains and thread bare from use, but it still has a few years left in it. At the end of every season, it gets put in an old army footlocker with some cedar branches, and come the following season, it's raring to go.

 

[walkin jack]

I don't have it any more, or any pic of it, but all the years I hunted I wore my old Marine Corps issue field jacket w/zip-out liner. I don't know where it is now or what ever happened to it. I sold it to a co-worker circa 1986...still in near perfect condition. Haven't seen or heard from hm since I retired in Y2K.

 

[UncleEd]

Saw "hunting clothes" and I thought of sports
jackets, slacks, dress shoes for going to
singles bars.

 

[Glynn863]

My oldest son has inherited my Redwing Wellington boots that I got as a gift in 1981. I still have and occasionally use a Browning goose down jacket I bought in 1982. I still have a waterproof hunter orange cap from 1976, and other camo from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. I also have some of my paternal grandfather's hunting clothes from the early 1960s in a box.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" has been my motto on a lot of hunting / outdoor clothes.

 

[arjay]

I think I bought my fishing vest in the late 80s [emoji38]