Thread: A bushbuck review...

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Yes. There was a time when I was sucked in by opening Instagram and believing I had to have the flashest camo patterns etc also. Vietnam/phillipines/china. It's all the same. I'm not saying that you are getting better/worse value for money with different brands but there is a hell of a lot of people out there that think that just because they paid more for something or because it was deemed as popular or all their favourite social media stars use it then it must be the best product which is really far from reality.

Yeah I agree with that. If you're half savvy you can work out the shit over marketed brands to the ones that are quality

I'm a fruit salad when it comes to clothing. All sort of different brands, my favourits tend to be the NZ made ones like WOE and earth sea sky, they haven't worn out or failed me yet.

Items I'm using from kuiu are pants and a fleece & shell which take a while to wear out

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

I've seen more MSR's bend, break, collapse, rip etc than everything else put together. End of the day it's ALL made in china just varying levels of QC, if the materials etc are the same you're only relying on QC to maybe get a better run out of something. Even the "high end" (ie: it costs so much you baby it and get a "good run out of it") stuff is all made there. Kuiu, Yeti etc are all brilliant examples of this...

Yeti is the most jumped up, over-marketeering-wanked shit I have come across since Stoney Creek realised they could pay the likes of the Hunters Club to sharn on about it on TV. $400 for a 30L box that looks just like your chilly bin but is just made to carry all your fruit with a bit of organization? Got rocks in your head if you think I'm throwing down nearly half a weeks wages for that. The travel mugs/thermal cups are rubbish too.

Kuiu... The only pair of pants I can find in a 28" waist with vent zips. I can live with that. Sadly the range of fleece gear and jackets they have is also tempting but the exchange rate is fairly prohibitive these days.

Back to Bushbuck, I think the old saying about Briscoes "Don't ever buy anything from them if it isn't on sale, and know that it's definitely cheaply made" applies. A mate forked out for the 3 man tent and I have to say I wasn't impressed after sharing it with him for a week on the west coast. Barely fit the two of us and we're a pair of racing beans... The inner tent sagged quite a lot and swallowed up valuable space.

I don’t mind cheap gear, Fleece from the warehouse is as good as most others fleece.

But the likes of firstlite erk me. Really cheap nylon based merino sold at a premium.

It’s the throw away culture of all this clothing that is becoming fast hunting fashion. Hunters element seem to be leading this here.

Originally Posted by Freezer

I don’t mind cheap gear, Fleece from the warehouse is as good as most others fleece.

But the likes of firstlite erk me. Really cheap nylon based merino sold at a premium.

It’s the throw away culture of all this clothing that is becoming fast hunting fashion. Hunters element seem to be leading this here.

There's fleece then there's fleece. You're probably referring to the proper cheap and nasty pieces.

Polartec grid fleece is an outstanding material that is extremely difficult to wear out.

Agreed on the merino. I no longer use merino as a baselayer, it's all polartec now. Polartec baselayers will last 10-15 years. The merino blends from all the hunting brands wear out and stretch for me, probably an unpopular opinion but is just my experience. Not a fan of paying $160+ per merino top for it to wear out after a year or so

Originally Posted by hotsoup

There's fleece then there's fleece. You're probably referring to the proper cheap and nasty pieces.

Polartec grid fleece is an outstanding material that is extremely difficult to wear out.

Agreed on the merino. I no longer use merino as a baselayer, it's all polartec now. Polartec baselayers will last 10-15 years. The merino blends from all the hunting brands wear out and stretch for me, probably an unpopular opinion but is just my experience. Not a fan of paying $160+ per merino top for it to wear out after a year or so

Completely agree- there’s also grid fleece then there is grid fleece! Rip off polartech all over the show now.
Underarmour seem to have it right..? I’ve also been in the transition to polartech fleece.

I still reckon that for fleece gear the good old Warehouse's Back Country brand is as good as any... I live in it everyday and it just keeps chugging along. I recently saw a hunting pic of mine from about 8 years ago and realised that I was still wearing that fleece bush shirt. The small front zip packed up about a year ago; but it's been worn most days and I still wear it. No holes etc and it's had a shit ton of washing! Now do I say "Found at your local Warehouse"......

Te Bushbuck elastic rifle covers are ok and good value on sale

Originally Posted by Tahr

Te Bushbuck elastic rifle covers are ok and good value on sale

Yup at $14.99 they seem good value

I laughed when Bushbuck started bringing tents out, knew immediately they were AliExpress models, had just been looking at getting a few of them in for a kids camp. Anywho…

We have a couple sets of bushbuck defender jackets and wet weather pants. They’ve been pretty good to be fair, especially when bought on sale.


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Originally Posted by JoshC

I laughed when Bushbuck started bringing tents out, knew immediately they were AliExpress models, had just been looking at getting a few of them in for a kids camp. Anywho…

We have a couple sets of bushbuck defender jackets and wet weather pants. They’ve been pretty good to be fair, especially when bought on sale.


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I have the 2 person model, maybe $300, and when I was shopping I comoared the specs to the Aliexpress models. Clearly they are made to the same pattern, but the waterproof rating in particular is significantly higher. Do we reckon thats genuine or is there something shifty going on?
They are definitely screening their reviews on the website as there isnt a single one star review on any product, and even the best stuff eventually gets at least one!

Had a pair of bushbuck gaiters a few years ago. Stitching came apart after one trip, sent them back. The new replacement pair did the same after two trips (no jokes). They were so badly made it was kind of funny, but not!!!. To be fair the customer service guy (think it was the owner) was real good and refunded the $$$. He didn't even seem surprised at the performance, which I thought was wild. This was a few years ago now so may have changed. But I'll never buy bushbuck after that experiance.

I suppose they fill a gap in the market so all good for them.

Fair bit of hate towards Bush Buck but have a Ranger bush shirt and it does the job. If anything it’s too warm at times. Wear it with a thermal top and maybe a Warehouse Back Country top underneath when sitting out overnight waiting for deer/pigs to show up. Temps down below freezing. Also wear a pair of nylon/fleece back country pants, again these get too warm if moving around. Also got a couple of pairs of bb waterproof socks. They do the job ok, just a chore to dry after washing. None of the above gear is any worse than Stoney Creek, Hunters Element, Huntech, etc. some of which is overpriced and overhyped trendy crap.

Thought that review was gold. My kuiu mountain star tent hurt my pocket (like any good one will) but I would never look back now.

I think bushbuck gaiters are great ! They forced me to learn a new life skill …. Sewing . I get to practice every time I get home from a hunt.

This and also having to chase up a warranty on a jacket when the seams fell apart after the first use has highlighted to me the value of my time.

warehouse polarfleece lasts well for me..Ive also got a real mismatch of polarfleece gear...got given a top to toe pack for my 40th birthday...its ALL still going strong ten years later...so are the fleece Tshirts I already had...my only bit of swazi is an early fleece shirt..stil lwarm still good,no holes,no tears.
I looked at going into making it commercially then realized it would only take the warehouse to bring out camo fabric and the bottom end of market would be gone,so pulled pin on idea at 11th hour......
still got the prototype shirt and vest we made... the vest got given a reverse side in a weird safety fabric,they took out the tan from std DPM fabric and replaced it with bright orange..... my good wife had belly full of bubs when first sewed it and put waist pockets on backwards LOL...given her shit about it for 20 years and she fixed it the other month ....
polarfleece fabric has come a long way in 30 years....