Hunting Pants.... a review of Sarvo's gear
Have been trying out the lightweight trousers for hunting last couple of seasons, figure less hassle than battling sandflies, sunburn and slightly more protection from the spaniards and mongrel matagouri.
After trying a couple of the other common hunting brands offerings only to rip the shit out of them fairly quickly figured time to try something new. After having a good run with @Sarvo supplied M-Tec thermals over last couple of winters I decided to have a try of some of his other offerings. Hit up @Savro and ordered a pair of his Lizard-tec pants, Lizard shorts and camo-tech brush stretch canvas pants.
Fit was pretty good across the board though I had obviously been eating too many pies and needed to upsize the shorts. Pockets for Africa on all the pants and shorts - probably more than I will ever use. Build quality of everything seems excellent - no dodgy seams and decent quality zips, domes and buttons etc.
Got the canvas ones figuring the Lizards might be a bit flimsy for alpine scrub but after wearing the lizards round home for a couple of days they were comfy as and fabric seemed fairly durable even though it is pretty lightweight. Decided to give the Lizard pants a shot on a fly in trip to the upper rangitata. Was glad of the DWR when a week later was thigh deep in snow drifts. Didn’t saturate out after a day walking round the hills in the snow, plenty of stretch to handle climbing up the steep stuff and knocked back the wind chill enough that I didn't even have to break out the thermals in the evenings once we stopped to camp. Following day had no option but to push through some matagouri scrub that has been the demise of my other trousers but made it with no issues.
Next hunt was a bluebird weekend in the foothills, stinking hot, lots of long climbs. Didn’t over heat and pants seem to breathe pretty well and were super comfortable to walk in. Wore them three days straight and weren't overly offensive by the end of it. Have washed them twice so far and the DWR is still holding up ok.
Shorts have become my go-to’s at home, super light and comfortable, be a good all purpose addition to pack for round camp, swims etc.
Canvas pants are a far bit heavier. Big cargo pockets are prob a bit military styled to get away with wearing them to the office, but you can fit a tonne of stuff in them. Canvas fabric is a lot more flexible than my trusty cactus work pants but look like it will have pretty decent durability. Would prob suit bush stalking or hunting from a quad when not going to be working too hard.
Overall definitely recommend considering Savro’s stuff, he’s a good guy to deal with, knows his gear, and always good to support the forum advertisers. Much better experience than buying from HF or GC where half the sales folks don’t seem to know anything beyond what you can read on the manufacturers swing tag.
Can see his range of stuff on the website link below but message @Sarvo directly through the forum to get the NZHS discount.
https://www.nzgrhunts.com/clothing
