Quiet Outer Wear Thread

[kyler1945]

For me in particular I draw my recurve with my arm tight to my chest in a fairly slow motion. The rubbing of the fabric of the Stratus jacket created enough noise for both of those deer to hear me draw in those particular conditions.

This is the only concern I have with any clothing. I don’t care at all what it sounds like when I rub my fingers in it. I want to know what it sounds like when my sleeve, pant, 2” webbing, other fabrics rub against it. It’s remarkable how a perfectly quiet fabric to the touch turns into a Lays foil bag when you rub another fabric against it.

The solution, really, is shooting a crossbow.

But for the occasions I’ll be huntjng with my compound, I do want something quiet.

I’m tinkering with a project, and have fabrics that are dead silent to the touch. Rubbing against some of the other fabrics in the project, or itself, and it sounds like langoliers.

I agree with Yinzer that for most occasions it’s probably fine. But two things matter for me - I’m on the ground a lot, where deer can more easily pinpoint sounds coming from their line of sight; and hunting in the hybrid - I have a piece of 2” webbing in very close proximity to my arms and chest.

All of the big thick garments from Sitka, cabelas, scentlok - they all are plenty quiet on their own. So usually a non issue. But if combined with other garments or webbing, sometimes they get loud.

 

[elk yinzer]

I agree with this for typical compound hunting distances. However, a couple of experiences last year made me re-think how quiet I need my clothes to be. I shot 2 whitetails and a sika deer last year, all under 12 yards. The first WT and the sika were both in early season and I was wearing either wool or fleece and neither deer heard me draw my bow. The second whitetail was in late season on a cold, crisp clear morning and I was wearing a Sitka Stratus jacket. Most consider this a fairly quiet jacket. While drawing my bow the doe's ears perked up and she immediately turned her head and pegged me in the tree. I was already at full draw at this point and she stood there long enough for me to make the shot but, I am positive she heard me first, not saw me. I also drew on a small buck in similar conditions just to practice going through my shot cycle and the exact same thing happened.

For me in particular I draw my recurve with my arm tight to my chest in a fairly slow motion. The rubbing of the fabric of the Stratus jacket created enough noise for both of those deer to hear me draw in those particular conditions. At a little farther distance or with a compound where you can draw with your arm away from your chest a little I agree it's not as big of a deal.

I can see that specifically with the draw. Mine definitely isn't tight to my chest.

 

[Nosaj]

Is this waterproof stuff? I think the stuff with membranes is gonna be loud. I read somewhere that the military tried to make quiet stuff that was also fully waterproof for sneaking up on folks, and they couldn't do it and just started putting soft clothes over their rain wear when they needed stealth....could be wrong though because it's just something I read online on another forum years ago but happen to remember clearly.

Other than that rain wear, I just buy midwayusa brand polyester soft stuff (bibs, jackets) and it isn't as quiet as fluffy fleece...but it's quiet enough for sure.

My rain wear is louder, but I don't wear it all the time. I don't believe in using waterproof stuff as my day to day (one reason is it is too expensive to always be risking to the big thorns and old, knocked down barbed wire fences.....had to sew up some rain wear pants last year and seal....so sad).

I was looking for some 45 and warmer gear and just picked up a hoodie and pants for $77 total. I couldn't quite find sitka,Kuiu,FL pieces that were exactly what I wanted so I wasn't going to spend $400 on them. If I don't like them I am sure my son will wear them.

 

[Still Kicking]

Gamehide has some very quiet clothing that's also warm. I believe it's called Hyperhide.

 

[backstrap19]

when you try to setup to shoot deer at sub 10 yds your clothing has to be dead quiet. Regardless of your thoughts on carbon scent lok has been the quietest clothing I’ve found other than wool. I also have their mid weight stealth suit and like It.

I could do with or without the carbon scent technology. that isn't the part that sells me. I own a lot of scent blocker clothing. for the money, at that point in my life, it was great stuff. functional, durable, and reasonably priced. I still love some of it. Wooltex jacket and pants specifically. I am interested in this revanant stuff now. I have the same question as @kyler1945 , is the pro version as silent? The clearance sale is a pretty decent price. Also, why is it so hard to find a decent pair of bibs these days???

 

[backstrap19]

I have been taking a deeper dive into the code of silence stuff. I'm liking what i'm reading and hearing. I'm going to try to get my hands on some soon.

 

[Iron_llama]

Once upon a time, my work uniform include a Gore-Tex windbreaker that was a very effective rain jacket, but was very loud when the sleeves rubbed against the torso, or during really any other movement. Those in the know switched to a lightly-insulated fleece jacket, which we treated with Camp-Dri, for a silent alternative. This was enough for mist or drizzle, but in serious rain we'd have to pull the Gore-Tex out of our packs. To this day my usual hunting top is a fleece hoodie over base layers, with a jacket in my pack for when I stop moving and sit still, or heavy weather moves in. The only downside is fleece can pick up burdocks and burrs and whatnot. I'm comfortable with that trade-off. My bugaboo is a pack... in the "economical" market segment, the fleece packs I've seen don't seem durable enough, and the durable packs are generally made of noisy cordura and covered in zippers.

 

[Tim0712]

I understand people's distrust/dislike of the scentlok concept but I've found their camo to be some of the quietest camo fabrics available. In addition its proven to be pretty durable in my experience.

I will second this statement but ad that the “scentlok” has proven true this far for me