d_rek
Well-Known Member
Wondering if the Bowhunter Xtreme SST Parka + Bibs w/ DryPlus from Cabela's work well for saddle hunting? Find out here.
Parka http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...unter+xtreme&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
Bibs http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...unter+xtreme&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
MSRP/Purchased Price:
Parka $329-664.99 / 279.99 sale price
Bibs $299.99-334.99 / 249.99 sale price
Purchased from:
bought online from cabelas.com
Initial Impressions:
In my short hunting career I have been decently impressed by most of the cabelas garments i've tried. There are cabela's stores local to me, so I have had ample opportunity to frequent their retail outlets and also see a lot of their garments up close. And they tend to run really good sales during the off season on last years product lines and discontinued products.
Previously I owned a set of Elite Fleece parka + bibs. I had generally positive experience with these garments, but I found them to be far too bulky and restrictive for late season bowhunting not to mention noisy from the DryPlus fabric on the seat of the pants and across the top of the back. And, as I was to discover, the Bowhunter Xtreme are merely a variation of the Elite Fleece / Super Slam / X6 line of products from cabelas. As far as I can tell all of these garments share the same blueprint and have slightly different features.
Going into this purchase I heavily researched these garments as I really wanted to find something that would work great for late season bowhunting. From all of the reviews and feedback I had gathered online it seemed like these would fit the bill.
However, some disappointment set in upon recieving them. The quality that I have come to expect from most cabelas garmetns was intact but I rather disappointed that these appeared to be almost the same exact set of parka + bibs that I had just sold on craigslist except with a few extra pockets and different camo pattern! There were some features that do make this slightly more bowhunter friendly, and i'll get to them, but I was definitely slightly let down. Still, I decided that time in the field would prove to be the ultimate factor so that's what I did - put them through the test.
Quality:
Let me say this: As with hunting, and most purchases in life, you definitely get what you pay for. I fully expected to receive high-quality hunting garments that would withstand several years of hard use and that's exactly what Cabelas sent me. These are really well made garments with top notch construction and materials. You will be hard pressed to find better garments for the money.
Sizing & Fit:
For pants I usually wear a size 38 waist / XL and for shirts/jackets usually an XL. For cold weather jackets I sometimes buy a 2XL knowing that I will need a little extra room for layering. I am 6'4", 230lbs with long arms and legs, and finding garments that fit me properly in my sleeve, chest/shoulder, and leg inseam is definitely a challenge. Here i purchased both the bibs and Jacket in XL.
The bibs fit like a dream. They were a little short on the inseam but because I knew I would be wearing knee-high boots it wasn't an issue. They were roomy enough to allow for layering (at most I would wear fleece pants + high-loft thermals) without restricting movement or being uncomfortable. No problems with the bibs.
For the parka i intentionally purchased an XL because I had a 2XL in my previous parka and it was simply too bulky for any type of bowhunting - especially throughout the arms. Well the Bowhunter Xtreme parka has an innovative zippered cuff that helps compress and keep a slimmer profile throughout the arm. However, it also makes wearing multiple layers underneath a challenge. Wearing fleece sweater + high loft thermals I often had trouble simply putting on the jacket with these layers as my underlayers would bunch up badly on the forearm and I would have to wrestle with the sleeve to get it to wear comfortably. The other issue with the parka was in the bulk of the chest. From a sitting or semi-sitting position (kind of like you would be in a saddle) the chest simply bulks up too greatly and interferes with your draw for bowhunting.
Features:
Despite some of the sizing issues I had run into this set of garments has some really awesome features - the best of them being tons of awesome, cleverly located pockets.
There are pockets virtually everywhere a bowhunter could want them. You could probably stuff a backpacks worth of gear in the pockets alone.
Another innovative feature was the zippered arms which helped reduce the profile of the arm for bowhunters. While I found it to be problematic regarding the fit, it was something I ultimately appreciated having tried to hunt with a parka that I needed to wear a compression guard over.
Both of these garments have a scentlok liner, which is something difficult to find in late-season hunting gear.
Another feature is the DryPlus fabric that runs shoulder to shoulder, just below the neck across the top of the back, across the knees, and on the seat of the bibs. I found that this fabric is simply way too noisy for practical bowhunting. On calm days you can hear this fabric for miles. I did test it in blustery winter weather and it did keep me dry and warm, but I would have rather stayed silent and my jacket gotten slightly wet than risk being heard by my quarry.
Field-tested?
Yes, used from early Nov. until end of the 2014 MI deer hunting season.
As mentioned before, these are very high quality garments. They are also very warm. I wore this from 40F down to single digit temps for rifle season and late season bowhunting. Not once did I ever have an issue with staying warm. They are, in fact, so warm that I almost always walked to my stand with my jacket off. They also cut wind reasonably well.
The fleece outer shell does have a tendency to collect burs though. So if you move through heavy brush and burs you may want to entertain a different garment with a different type of outershell fabric.
Closing thoughts:
They are warm, have tons of awesome pockets, but the dryplus fabric is another dealbreaker. If cabelas could produce these without the dryplus, or use the same material from the MT050 quiet pack, they'd have a real winner on their hands.
It is also disappointing that these are so bulky throughout the chest area. Other than making a perfectly upright shot, as if you were standing on the ground of from a hang-on treestand, the chest material will always bulk up and puff out and interfere with your shot.
Recommended for use with a saddle?
At this point I cannot recommend Cabelas Bowhunter Xtreme SST parka + bibs for saddle hunting. There are couple of major flaws that need to be overcome for saddle hunters before they would be my go to gear for late season hunts.
Parka http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...unter+xtreme&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
Bibs http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...unter+xtreme&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
MSRP/Purchased Price:
Parka $329-664.99 / 279.99 sale price
Bibs $299.99-334.99 / 249.99 sale price
Purchased from:
bought online from cabelas.com
Initial Impressions:
In my short hunting career I have been decently impressed by most of the cabelas garments i've tried. There are cabela's stores local to me, so I have had ample opportunity to frequent their retail outlets and also see a lot of their garments up close. And they tend to run really good sales during the off season on last years product lines and discontinued products.
Previously I owned a set of Elite Fleece parka + bibs. I had generally positive experience with these garments, but I found them to be far too bulky and restrictive for late season bowhunting not to mention noisy from the DryPlus fabric on the seat of the pants and across the top of the back. And, as I was to discover, the Bowhunter Xtreme are merely a variation of the Elite Fleece / Super Slam / X6 line of products from cabelas. As far as I can tell all of these garments share the same blueprint and have slightly different features.
Going into this purchase I heavily researched these garments as I really wanted to find something that would work great for late season bowhunting. From all of the reviews and feedback I had gathered online it seemed like these would fit the bill.
However, some disappointment set in upon recieving them. The quality that I have come to expect from most cabelas garmetns was intact but I rather disappointed that these appeared to be almost the same exact set of parka + bibs that I had just sold on craigslist except with a few extra pockets and different camo pattern! There were some features that do make this slightly more bowhunter friendly, and i'll get to them, but I was definitely slightly let down. Still, I decided that time in the field would prove to be the ultimate factor so that's what I did - put them through the test.
Quality:
Let me say this: As with hunting, and most purchases in life, you definitely get what you pay for. I fully expected to receive high-quality hunting garments that would withstand several years of hard use and that's exactly what Cabelas sent me. These are really well made garments with top notch construction and materials. You will be hard pressed to find better garments for the money.
Sizing & Fit:
For pants I usually wear a size 38 waist / XL and for shirts/jackets usually an XL. For cold weather jackets I sometimes buy a 2XL knowing that I will need a little extra room for layering. I am 6'4", 230lbs with long arms and legs, and finding garments that fit me properly in my sleeve, chest/shoulder, and leg inseam is definitely a challenge. Here i purchased both the bibs and Jacket in XL.
The bibs fit like a dream. They were a little short on the inseam but because I knew I would be wearing knee-high boots it wasn't an issue. They were roomy enough to allow for layering (at most I would wear fleece pants + high-loft thermals) without restricting movement or being uncomfortable. No problems with the bibs.
For the parka i intentionally purchased an XL because I had a 2XL in my previous parka and it was simply too bulky for any type of bowhunting - especially throughout the arms. Well the Bowhunter Xtreme parka has an innovative zippered cuff that helps compress and keep a slimmer profile throughout the arm. However, it also makes wearing multiple layers underneath a challenge. Wearing fleece sweater + high loft thermals I often had trouble simply putting on the jacket with these layers as my underlayers would bunch up badly on the forearm and I would have to wrestle with the sleeve to get it to wear comfortably. The other issue with the parka was in the bulk of the chest. From a sitting or semi-sitting position (kind of like you would be in a saddle) the chest simply bulks up too greatly and interferes with your draw for bowhunting.
Features:
Despite some of the sizing issues I had run into this set of garments has some really awesome features - the best of them being tons of awesome, cleverly located pockets.
There are pockets virtually everywhere a bowhunter could want them. You could probably stuff a backpacks worth of gear in the pockets alone.
Another innovative feature was the zippered arms which helped reduce the profile of the arm for bowhunters. While I found it to be problematic regarding the fit, it was something I ultimately appreciated having tried to hunt with a parka that I needed to wear a compression guard over.
Both of these garments have a scentlok liner, which is something difficult to find in late-season hunting gear.
Another feature is the DryPlus fabric that runs shoulder to shoulder, just below the neck across the top of the back, across the knees, and on the seat of the bibs. I found that this fabric is simply way too noisy for practical bowhunting. On calm days you can hear this fabric for miles. I did test it in blustery winter weather and it did keep me dry and warm, but I would have rather stayed silent and my jacket gotten slightly wet than risk being heard by my quarry.
Field-tested?
Yes, used from early Nov. until end of the 2014 MI deer hunting season.
As mentioned before, these are very high quality garments. They are also very warm. I wore this from 40F down to single digit temps for rifle season and late season bowhunting. Not once did I ever have an issue with staying warm. They are, in fact, so warm that I almost always walked to my stand with my jacket off. They also cut wind reasonably well.
The fleece outer shell does have a tendency to collect burs though. So if you move through heavy brush and burs you may want to entertain a different garment with a different type of outershell fabric.
Closing thoughts:
They are warm, have tons of awesome pockets, but the dryplus fabric is another dealbreaker. If cabelas could produce these without the dryplus, or use the same material from the MT050 quiet pack, they'd have a real winner on their hands.
It is also disappointing that these are so bulky throughout the chest area. Other than making a perfectly upright shot, as if you were standing on the ground of from a hang-on treestand, the chest material will always bulk up and puff out and interfere with your shot.
Recommended for use with a saddle?
At this point I cannot recommend Cabelas Bowhunter Xtreme SST parka + bibs for saddle hunting. There are couple of major flaws that need to be overcome for saddle hunters before they would be my go to gear for late season hunts.
