KUIU

Reviews 3

JA

Jake Taylor

I have read all the reviews and I know some people want things right when they want them and if that is you make sure what you want is in stock when you order it. I learned this years ago when ordering something from Sitka. I ordered in May and got the gear the week before my long September hunt. Also when you deal with an online company that is growing there will be growing pains. I do think sharing these reviews can hopefully help the company get better. I have ordered many things that were back ordered and one thing to point out, they dont charge until they ship and if something needs to be returned or exchanged they have been great. Now for what I feel is most important...the gear. Myself and my hunting partners have been gearing up with Kuiu products over the past two years. I can honestly say I love them. Not one of their items has failed me yet. I have items from their attack pants, merino wool shirts, peloton line, super down jacket, socks, backpack, hats, gloves, chinook pant, guide jacket and on and on. I just came down from the mountains of Montana after 8 day of elk hunting. Between the 4 of us we shot harvested 3 bulls and only wish we would of found my buddies bull to make it a perfect 4 for 4 during archery season. In that time we were rained on, rained out for a day, frozen, had 6 inches of snow and then on the day I killed my bull it was 70 degrees and all the snow melted. Through all these conditions and the hard miles we hunted the Kuiu gear preformed awesome. The way their system works starting with the base layer is amazing. Everything is lightweight but incredibly durable. The super down is super warm and super packable. The ultra merino wool 145 shirt is the only shirt I need from 40 to 80 degrees. When it was 20 degrees in the morning I added the peloton 240 full zip and tried not to sweat on the 2 mile hike in. The super down was great, when we were sitting and glassing in the cold. The socks were worth every penny. We covered 100 miles during our time and not a blister. Far better for me than the year before, but I also have to give a hats off to Kenetrek for awesome boots. Finally the new pack system. The packs are awesome. I have the 1850 and my buddies have the 3200. The packs are very comfortable, highly adjustable, and perform great. We took out 3 bull elk. Two elk with just 3 of us in one trip. The way the back extends is genius. The load lifter system rocks and after having 75 pounds of elk meat on my back with all the other gear in my bag, bow, and antlers at times I had no sore spots or shoulder pain. Just take the time BEFORE you go on your trip to adjust the pack to fit your body and familiarize yourself with its features. We were miles in the backcountry and the hike out though hard was so much better with those packs. Bottom line, I know the company is growing but so far I have had great customer service, I order my gear in the spring knowing it will take until the summer to get all my products. If I have to get something quick and they dont have it in stock then I unfortunately have to go a different route which means Sitka for me. Another great company, but it costs more. This is my fault for not planning properly. When I have had questions I have called the Kuiu store and the service has been great and they have got me into the products I needed. Overall the big thing I have looked for and found with Kuiu is great gear. Though not inexpensive it is more reasonable than others and performs at the highest standards and in the toughest conditions I hunt in in Montana. Thank you Kuiu, Keep improving and innovating.

BR

Bruce Carter

They just dont learn. I am puzzled and frustrated with Kuiu cuz I wasted so much time "trying" to become a customer. I actually purchased several pieces of Kuiu off the classifieds (cheap off rokslide) including the Attack pants and puffy jacket and zip tee, neck gaiter, merino base layers, etc and attempted to purchase the rest of the items (DCS jacket, gaiters, some hats, gloves, etc) but was unable to. I tried the Kuiu stuff last weekend while hog hunting and it was okay but nothing so special I have to have it. I combined it with some Sitka Gear and was quite comfortable. My comments have little to do with the Kuiu clothes line and everything to do with the piss poor business administration, oddball sales rules, inability to stabilize production, and am astounded they would even have a sale when they cannot fulfill retail orders and lack inventory. From a strictly business perspective they are doing almost everything wrong. Example: Kuiu has a successful line of camos that they cannot keep in stock so they spend their money and resources expanding the line with new products (sleeping bags, backpacks, tents, etc) instead of ramping up production of the existing line and actually meeting demand. I dont care...they can manage and mismanage their business anyway they like but theres no way to ignore the fact that they are completely Fing up. I mean cmon, their 15% sale year crashed their site...same thing happened this year with a 25% sale. Are they so stupid that they couldnt see this coming and take preventative steps? Most online retailers (many do far more purchases daily than Kuiu does in a year) manage to process orders without crashing their site. Its not difficult to build a site and utilize a server capable of handling significant traffic. As a company I am unimpressed with Kuiu. They appear to be making obvious mistakes and then repeating them. My biggest issue is the way they promote these so-called sales. The policy of charging full price for backordered items is buried on their site and the 25% discounted price was shown on the ordering page with the item shown as backordered. So when you Google up Kuius reviews youll find plenty of people pissed off to learn they paid FULL RETAIL FOR ITEMS THEY MUST WAIT FOR. Bad form Kuiu...this will hurt you in the long run. Trust takes years to build and seconds to lose.

JE

jeff Hartland

My feeling are conflicted. I have had very mixed experiences with their customer service. I had ordered the bino harness according to their chart and my Swar 10x42s didnt come close to fitting. I called in and the first gal with whom I spoke gave me a bunch of attitude and told me they would not exchange them - same return / CC credit, re-order / re-ship BS... I had to pay to ship them back, and she said at least they would not charge me a re-stocking fee. I asked for her manager and she said his answer would not be any different. Surprisingly it was. After some wrangling, he agreed to not charge me a 2nd shipping fee, but made it sound like a favor. Their Tiburon pants are comfortable and light weight, exactly what i wanted, but wearing them on an AZ quail hunt was a bad idea as they snag easily. Recently I called to ask a technical question from one of their pack experts and the gal would not put me through, but she clearly didnt know the answer. I needed 2 minutes from someone who knew what they were talking about... but no. Heavy sigh... UPDATE:I actually got a call from their customer service manager. He could not have been more helpful in explaining their policies and apologizing for a rocky experience. He left me with the feeling that the company is making an effort to improve that aspect of the business in keeping with their reputation for quality gear. I will continue to buy from these folks!