Thread: hunting chaps

no no no...this is not a sexist thread..chapessess can wear chaps too...chaps as in leggins/crutchless pants/legs that hook on your belt.
well anyway I sort of inherited a set made by NZ Hunting products a year or so back...Ive been a bit of a sceptic to be honest,the comments from others and singing of YMCA aside I just wasnt sure how useful they would be.....they worked good for wet weather pants as kept legs dry and long coat covered the bum bit....
they are made of heavy duty cordura??canvas ripstop stuff like good packs are.... with leather patch on inside bottom of both legs and a buckle around the base,top is a strap that loops through your belt.....would be ideal if belt through trouser loops but works fine without as I found today.
I absolutely DETEST wearing long trou out on the hill,with my big chunky pack carrying thighs I find they bind up on legs and make walking up hills dificult.
these chaps not having a crutch dont do this. I covered a fair few kms today and didnt even notice I WAS WEARING THEM untill I came to the matagouri or spanyards...now for anyone who doesnt know what these plants are...think pin cushion crossed with a tangled up barbwire fence....spanyards are often referred to as "bastard grass" and matagouri is usually avoided at all costs...animals love it for this reason.
I waltzed through this prickly shit all day with out issues my legs were scratch free at end of day unlike poor Rumpy who looked like he had been in a cat fight with a lion and lost.
to say Im impressed is an understatement...
I believe they were origonally made with pig hunters in mind...wallaby chasers take note,these are awesome bit of kit...weigh bugger all and really work.I had on my Sarvo boots and no gaiters,the chaps stayed down over tops of boots all day apart from one boot once when I was stomping on matagouri to chase out wobblies.

Yep I wear something similar when beating here in the uk. Made from oil skin.
Stops gorse blackberry.

Forestry guys use them doing pruning.They call them Gorse Pants.
There was a guy in Waimate who made them .

Failing that,buy these.

https://www.gamegear.co.nz/collections/trou-and-chaps

When I was shepherding 45 odd years ago you wouldn't be seen dead without wearing your canvas leggings with leather on the inside knee and ankle straps. It was part of the uniform. Made by Squires Leather Co in Taihape (who now have a rifle selling agent through this site, )

They were great for keeping the horse sweat off your inner legs and for wading through variegated thistles etc. Over time the canvas became quite soft and comfortable.

It was said that if one old guy up the Parapara (will remain nameless) ever took his off he would collapse in a heap. He was never seen out of them, and they were thought to be the only thing holding him up. Someone also observed that the same chap wouldn't have been be able to take his Jackie Howe black singlet off because his chest hairs would have grown through it.

Have worn them with shorts for pig hunting for years, great in black berry and gorse, when they get old and soft use them for hunting deer when the terrain demands more than my shorts.

i do know of a cowboy who rode into town while wearing brown paper shirt, brown paper jacket, brown paper jeans and brown paper chaps

they arrested him for rustling

Originally Posted by Phil_H

Can you post a picture of them @Micky Duck?

hows a bout a link???

https://www.huntingproducts.co.nz/pr...mens-clothing/

Great for when you get off the horse and walk through the tall spikey grass too



You never know whats lurking there!

Not too bad after yesterday but there was many a word spoken about the aforementioned foliage that I won't repeat here. The progress was also very slow in places compared to the pace @Micky Duck could push through the thick stuff.

look on the bright side,there was no gorse......

Our blackberry rose hip....Acacia

I'm actually really pleased to see this thread as I've often wondered about buying a pair. Down here we have a fantastic concoction of rosehip, lawyer, gorse, matagouri and an occasional side serving of blackberry. I don't mind the matagouri (in a mildly masochistic way) but I detest the rest. I can even put up with a bit of speargrass. Perhaps the main reason I've not purchased a pair is like you @micky_Duck I'm scared I'll break out into a bit of Village People and then start trying to justify an Indian headdress as a ghille suit while hunting.

Maybe we need to make these fashionable again? They're certainly practical.

The downside will be working out what to do with those wasted hours on the dunny... no more thorns to pop out of the legs while sitting on the shitter.

Oh don’t think your Swazi over trouser can be used the same way

wore them on a tracking course a few weeks back...spent a fair bit of time down on my knees without issue...not so much into crawling through tunnels anymore...a set of builders knee pads would be good for that.

https://twinneedle.co.nz/collections...products/chaps

OK I am going to stand up and be counted on this one. I am a wearer of chaps. I have worn out several pairs over the years (like the rhyming?). I can quite categorically state that the chaps from Twin Needle are about ten times better than anything else on the market. In my opinion. Link attached. I have both the zip and non zip versions. Zip version is easier but slightly bulkier. Non zip is really stream lined and easily the comfiest best fitting chaps ever made. They soften over time. I can't kill these ones.