Accessories – KUIU vs Sitka Gear

The pieces I plan on comparing and giving my opinions on in this review are the following: 

KUIU

Guide Beanie (1.2 oz)

Guide Gloves (2.8 oz)

Merino Beanie (0.7 oz)

Merino Neck Gaiter (0.8 oz)

KUIU Climbing Belt (3.4 oz)

KUIU Vias Cap (2.9 oz)

SITKA

Jetstream Beanie (1.6 oz)

Jetstream Hat (1.8 oz)

Traverse Beanie (1.0 oz)

Jetstream Gloves (2.8 oz)

Traverse Gloves (1.5 oz)

Bandit Neck Gaiter (1.7 oz)

Sitka Bomber Belt (

Sitka Cap (2.3 oz)

(All above weights are from my personal scale)

While none of these accessories are apt to make or break a hunt, I wanted to touch on them as I see questions asked about each of them in different forums.

Beanies and Hats

I will start off by saying I like the design of the KUIU Guide beanie over the Sitka Jetstream Beanie.  I like how it drops down to fully cover my ears.  If for some reason I feel like it is hampering my hearing, it takes little effort to fold it up above my ears.  With the Sitka Jetstream Beanie the bottom of my ears are left slightly exposed to the wind.  The Jetstream short brimmed hat does a better job at covering my ears, especially when paired with the traverse beanie, so I tend to use this more.  The Jetstream hats are Gore Windstopper, and do a great job at blocking the wind.  The KUIU Guide Beanie breathes better, but doesn’t block the wind as well. 

 

Because they are not a direct comparison, I won’t directly compare the KUIU Merino Beanie to my Sitka Traverse Beanie, but I will say they are both nice to have on chilly mornings or evenings, or for a bit of extra warmth in the sleeping bag.  I tend to wear these beanies in conjunction with a hat.

I have more hats than I need, but figured I should mention something about both the KUIU cap and the Sitka Cap.  The KUIU cap was kind of a disappointment as it is cotton and considering how great all the other KUIU gear is, I am hoping that KUIU comes out with a cap made out of the same material as the Attack Pants.  A Merino wool hat would be cool too.  The Sitka cap is made out of the same material as the Ascent pants, and it sheds rain and snow well, and when wet, dries quickly.  I really like the Sitka technical hat and it is no more expensive than other cotton hats.

 

Neck Gaiters

The KUIU Merino neck gaiter and the Sitka (synthetic) Bandit neck gaiter are both a lot more functional and useful than I first thought they would be.  The Sitka Bandit is about twice as long, thus the reason the weight is double that of the KUIU neck gaiter.  The Bandit also has a small mouth hole that is convenient for mouth calls. 

Gloves

The KUIU Guide gloves are pretty tactile, and while the all leather palm is nice, it might add extra weight and I have mixed feelings about the Velcro cuffs.  I’m been tempted to cut them off a few times.  The KUIU Guide gloves are probably the most similar to the Sitka Jetstream Gloves.  The Jetstream gloves are very nice.  With either set of gloves my hands are kept warm down to about 25-30 degrees while stationary. 

I picked up the Sitka Traverse gloves right before my 2011 AZ Archery Elk hunt and I was glad I did.  While I normally like wearing the Sitka Shooter Gloves while archery hunting, it was wet enough and cool enough during much of my hunt that I wore the Traverse Gloves.  They have silicon grip points on the figer tips and are tactile enough for still using your hands while wearing them, but keep your hands warm and dry quickly when wet.  I also wore these gloves quite a bit during the January archery deer season in AZ.  I really like them and they are plenty warm while moving around.  When stationary I might throw another glove over top of them.  I have several pair of Sitka gloves and I've been very happy with every pair.  The shooter gloves are probably my favorite mild temp glove.  They are super tactile and sometimes feels like not having gloves on.

  

Belts

The KUIU Climbing belt and the Sitka Bomber belts are very similar.  The Sitka feels slightly sturdier or thicker, but maybe it just isn’t broken in as well.  The buckles on both of them are different, but similar enough that I don’t really have a favorite and they both perform equally well.  They are both comfortable under a pack hip belt and do a decent job of carrying a pistol.  Because both these belts are sporty looking, I wear them as much around town as I do in the mountains. 

Summary

While I don’t think excluding any of these accessories from your clothing system will detract from your hunt, they are nice to have and show that both Sitka and KUIU have done well to develop a whole clothing system and not overlook the little things. Sitka has a lot more accessories to choose from with all the ones I've tried very nice. 

Here are links to the different posts in the KUIU vs Sitka Comparison Series:
Introduction
Base Layer Comparison
Pants Comparison
Jacket and Vest Comparison
Accessories Comparison
Conclusion