Oilskin coat for hunting??

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mad max78

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Hello All...
I am thinking of getting a oilskin coat for hunting in the fall and winter until the snow gets too deep. Then its the bibs and parka.

I am curious to know how quiet these coats are in the bush. Some days there is lots of walking, others lots of sitting and waiting.

your comments are much appreciated
 
Or warm they're a bit cold. Definitely need warm underlayer

As for quiet... Quieter than nylon for sure. I'd say pretty quiet. Not crinkly or loud with branches. But cold
 
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I use one for an upland bird hunting coat on the prairie and in the bush and sometimes when hunting waterfowl. It works very well for that purpose. I would find it a bit noisy and smelly and a little less than ideal for use in stalking big game. Suitability depends a lot on your style of hunting and where you are hunting.
 
I wear one quite a bit at work, but only when its wet/raining. Never really thought about it with regards to hunting. I think there would be better options available for that.
 
When they were more available, I used to be a big fan of Barbour waxed cotton jackets, still am really. They're hideously expensive anymore but it at least used to be possible to find American and Australian versions that were more bargain priced. When done right, waxed cotton aka oilskin breathes as well as goretex but is one heck of a lot tougher, thornproof, dirtproof and oil proof and almost every other kind of proof. The original Barbour jackets designed for hunting have massive brass zippers and really fantastic pockets for carrying small game and are quite good for other purposes, it's why I like them in particular. The 'Beaufort' model is the best one for upland hunting, then there's the 'Northumberland' for zero and sub zero temperatures, if you can find one.

Barbour_Beaufort_Waxed_Jacket_Sage_Zoom.jpg
 
I have a coat very similar to the one posted above. I also use the pants with suspenders. They work well in the damp. The water beads off them perfectly. Sometimes old school still works. I use gortex and other various high tech new style clothing but lately I've been choosing old school. Deer and turkey haven't shyed away from me yet while using waxed cotton Barbour clothing. In the real cold it gets a lil stiff but quieter than gortex when branches and thorns are sliding across it
 
mad max78 said:
Hello All...
I am thinking of getting a oilskin coat for hunting in the fall and winter until the snow gets too deep. Then its the bibs and parka.

I am curious to know how quiet these coats are in the bush. Some days there is lots of walking, others lots of sitting and waiting.

your comments are much appreciated
Click to expand...

Heavy, noisy, smelly...what more could you ask for?
 
Big Bad said:
When they were more available, I used to be a big fan of Barbour waxed cotton jackets, still am really. They're hideously expensive anymore but it at least used to be possible to find American and Australian versions that were more bargain priced. When done right, waxed cotton aka oilskin breathes as well as goretex but is one heck of a lot tougher, thornproof, dirtproof and oil proof and almost every other kind of proof. The original Barbour jackets designed for hunting have massive brass zippers and really fantastic pockets for carrying small game and are quite good for other purposes, it's why I like them in particular. The 'Beaufort' model is the best one for upland hunting, then there's the 'Northumberland' for zero and sub zero temperatures, if you can find one.

Barbour_Beaufort_Waxed_Jacket_Sage_Zoom.jpg
Click to expand...

I had a Barbour coat and pants back in the early 70's for motorcycle use and they were waterproof and thorn proof as advertised.
I wore out the coat and the mice found my pants but I sure wish I had them today. I priced a new set a few years back and found I could buy a top of the line Gortex or similar set for that much as well as probably having to get it from England. The Barbour suppliers here were all into artsy-fartsy dress jackets and such.
 
They work well for grizzly hunting if you season them with bacon grease to increase the water resistance
 
I acquired 4 different styles of Barbour jackets as they were going out of style here in the 1980s, along with some cans of the wax waterproofing and a repair kit or two. If cared for and reproofed once in a while (choose a hot sunny day and dab the stuff on using a cloth like a sponge), worn through 2 seasons each of them would probably last for at least 2 generations. There is for instance a story about one that was retrieved from the bottom of a salt water harbour after spending a winter there and when the mud and harbour crud was rinsed off, it was good as new. I say all this despite being a major Arc'teryx LEAF freak, Barbours are simply just impressive- when talking about them I used to say in all seriousness that they're proof that the Brits are masters of 19th century technology.

Here's the maintenance stuff I referred to:

Barbour-Thornproof-Wax-Dressing-UAC0001MI11_300.jpg



tumblr_meswt94QHY1rloeopo1_640.jpg
 
^^^ Pretty decent range of sizes but I wonder what the thickness of fabric is? For a while there was a special class of Barbour jackets sold in the USA that were made from cotton that was thin as tissue paper, I guess because people in the south found the real things too warm on hot days. Is Filson driven to the same silliness?

Edit: Oh never mind, in the fine print it says DU licencing prohibits shipping to Canada. What a great American organization DU is.
 
I make my own wax with beeswax and mineral oil.

Works fine on my Drizabone duster and it's way cheaper. I pour the mixture into soap molds and the rub the bars on the duster then finish off with a heat gun and rags.
 
geologist said:
I make my own wax with beeswax and mineral oil.

Works fine on my Drizabone duster and it's way cheaper. I pour the mixture into soap molds and the rub the bars on the duster then finish off with a heat gun and rags.
Click to expand...

I didn't have the benefit of a heat gun but I believe Barbour uses a special "hot room" to hang the jackets in as part of their professional reproofing service and I did find direct sun on a hot sunny day was a good substitute. However, I've only had to do this once, on the jacket I wore almost every day for seasonal months on end- it was something like 4 years old at that point. It had a sort of frosted look for a while after that, but eventually looked just like the others I have- maybe a heat gun would have been the answer.
 
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