Thought I'd follow up with a quick thread on this, I know a few of you read my last thread on top end camo. So last year I bought a pair of these Columbia Stealth Shot pants from D1ck's Sporting Goods because I needed a pair of pants on short notice to finish the season after my wolfskin pants tore from my knee to my belt line in the back. I got two weekends in hunting with them and absolutely loved them. Problem was, I left a handful of cough drops in one of the pockets the last weekend I used them and somehow they melted into a ball of glue I couldn't get out of the pocket. I use my pockets way too much for this, so I figured the pants were ruined, and when I went back to D1ck's to see if I could pickup another pair of them and the matching parka, and I couldn't find them anywhere. A quick search online showed me that for some reason they were discontinued. So things I really like about these pants....... The material is VERY similar to what is found in the Sitka Timberline pants. The surface is maybe a bit more durable than the Sitka's. It also dries really fast. We hike in mountain top swamps when I hunt up north, and I went in well above the knee several times while wearing these and they will be dry again within an hour or so. They stretch a bit in all directions, and are very light considering how warm they keep you. They don't restrict movement really at all. The Omni-Heat reflective technology absolutely does work, they are amazingly warm for a lightweight breathable garment. I also think they have just the right amount of pockets and all in the right places. After two weekends and what amounted to probably 15ish miles of hiking in them through swamps and really thick mountain brush and briars, the material seems to look new with no pulls or snags. The factory DWR works well and sheds water pretty good from what I saw last year, but I'd still recommend a liberal coating of 3M Scotchguard and then throw it immediately into the dryer on high for a half hour or so after the coating. I learned this trick from someone at one of the really high end custom hunting garment companies out there and it really makes just about any tight brushed finish synthetic fabric out there as water resistant as you get without having Gore Tex. Now yesterday I had to go work as a vendor rep for the day at the Bass Pro store in Foxborough Mass, and while I was there I happened to find an entire rack of this stuff on 50% clearance. The pants were normally $180ish and the jacket was normally $180. I also got luck with an additional 15% discount as a vendor, so all told I got them both out the door for around $130. Word to the wise, sizes run a bit big on these. I'm 6' tall, 225lbs with a 38" waist. The size Large pants fit me perfect with room for a light baselayer under, and the XL jacket is a bit big on me, but should have room for a healthy amount of base and mid layers. For anyone that wants something comparable to the Sitka stuff at a ridiculously low price, I'd really suggest you take a look at this stuff. I was able to handle several flavors of the Sitka stuff yesterday next to this and I just couldn't see a substantial difference, and the clearance prices made the decision a no brainer. The camo patterns aren't as good as the optifade, predator, or ASAT, but for what I need these for the garment itself is more important than the camo and I can deal with realtree AP.
