Is all this new gear is reduckulously great?

[WhoaBeaver]

I have only recently learned about Banded, Hardcore, Muddy Water Camo, etc. Even the Sitka ($$$!!) seems cutting-edge. Under Armour really seems to be upping the game too.
Then I realized I didn't know anything about coolers. Reference: all the coolers y'all were posting about: Frigid-Rigid, K2, the Brute, the ORCA, Canyon Coolers, etc.
Some of the tech surrounding e-collars right now seems pretty great too. (All the Garmin/Astro GPS surge we're going to see, innovative designs like Hawx and RAPT, etc.)
I have been looking to get a layout blind and there's all kinds of companies I wasn't familiar with.
I guess I'm out of the gear loop, even though I thought I was up on stuff through reading the internets and gun dog mags and such.

I appreciate product innovators: I think Drake was able to get in the game through great innovation 10 + years ago and they seemed to make a lot of hunting clothing companies think about how/why they do what they do.

I'm just wondering what else I'm missing. I'm also wondering what we haven't seen yet.

I think that the roto-molded cooler industry could jump right into the dog crate game for hunters. Airline crates are awesome, but they can be brutally dangerous on hot days. One of those super trailers/toppers with the 4" doublewall with fans and forced ventilation would be perfect, but not only could I not afford that with one or two dogs, it would take up way too much space and I wouldn't use it all the time anyways. I think a single-dog cooler-type crate that could be secure and would help with the heat issues would be a great product. Those big coolers are almost that size already, the dimensions just need to be adjusted. Add handles/vents/fans/lights/whatever and you've got a great kennel that shouldn't cost thousands of dollars.

And I thought all the camo innovation was about done until I saw the Muddy Water camo post the other day. That timber one looks great! Even the wetland one looks great for flooded field hunting and such.

Anyways, wondering what y'all thought about the current state of "gear" for lack of a better term. I know none of it is essential, but some of it sure seems great!

[Northbigmuddy]

Anyways, wondering what y'all thought about the current state of "gear" for lack of a better term. I know none of it is essential, but some of it sure seems great!

The current state of gear is...all your stuff is old after a year or two hence it won't work and you should buy our cool new gadget that will make you kill more/better game and put our sticker on the back glass of your truck.

I've been killing game for years and some of my gear is close to 20 years old. If it ain't broke I'm not fixin it.

[WhoaBeaver]

I've got my share of Filson stuff that I've had already 11 years and plan on passing it it down to my kids. I've got some quality boots too that have lasted about that long and are still going strong. I really don't "need" anything. I like the quality of my good stuff. I am just interested in the technological advances of the new hunting gear and wondering what I don't know about.

[deltadukman]

The banded gear 2 man layout blind....Gh22 is allowing test runs!

[hntrpat1]

The banded gear 2 man layout blind....Gh22 is allowing test runs!

Glory hole included?

[booger]

Some of the new stuff is no doubt great, and actually "new". The synthetic materials for clothes is sorta new. It's been around but used to be found on awful scratchy sweaters, then it started showing up in warm underwear (Damart Thermolactyle) sp?, then outerwear (Gore-Tex), then camo everything.

Now it's all pretty much the same in my opinion, but marketing has gone absolutely bababooey crazy off the charts hardcore xtreme to the maxx.

If all of my stuff were to disappear tomorrow, it would be replaced by whatever is on sale, that is in some dark pattern (or black/brown/green) and made of synthetic material. Polyester, Dacron, acrylic etc. I can't pretend to even know the latest brand names.

I'm the weird guy that reads every tag on the rack and has to know exactly what it's made of. Which stems from buying bogus wool socks that were 80% cotton/20% wool and dang near froze my toes off. (Perhaps I have sock issues)

G.P.S. - Good.
4 stroke outboard - Bad.
Spinner - Bad.
Monofilament "Texas Rig" decoy system - Work of the devil, hate it. Tanglefree my azze.
Cheap Decoys - Good
Internet Scouting - Bad.
Cell service in duck hole - Bad
Mr Buddy Heater - Good

Am I still on topic?

[WhoaBeaver]

[quote="booger"] bababooey crazy[/quote]
Awesome.

[GulfCoast]

Glad to see the Booger Man is posting.

New stuff is designed to kill credit cards, not ducks. I love the companies changing the design of a call barrel every year, and calling it new. No thanks.

[jacksbuddy]

Some of this new fangled stuff IS good. How many of you guys went back to uninsulated rubber hip boots once you discovered neoprene waders?

But a lot of it is just gimmiky. And GulfCoast is right. A BUNCH of this new stuff is only designed to kill your credit cards and your credit rating - not ducks, geese, or other assorted waterfowl. Case in point? Over half of the exhibitors at the Wildlife expo this past weekend (and I am saying this even though I didn't even attend. )