From The Field: Hunting Chaps
The following are some answers from a quick Q+A that we had with Stephen after meeting and chatting with him at a tradeshow! He has owned a pair of Frost River Hunting Chaps for a number of years and has sure put them to good use. This includes sending them back to us to have them repaired to keep them going!
A Short Story from Stephen
Stephen primarily uses his Frost River Hunting Chaps when he is upland and pheasant hunting in Minnesota and South Dakota. As an avid hunter who typically gets out 6-8 times a month from October through the start of January, and even more now that he has retired, his chaps have taken a beating.
"I have two teenage daughters, who decided a few years ago that since I'm really difficult to buy a Christmas gift for that they would give me a day of hunting with them as a Christmas gift. It really was the best gift I could have every received. Over the last several years we have created a family tradition of my girls spending a day pheasant hunting with me between Christmas and the end of the season in MN. I'm usually the one who will bust through the thicker cover while they take the easier route. We were walking back from hunting a large piece of public land (but still hunting) where we hadn't flushed any birds and my older daughter who was hunting for the first time, asked what our dog Mac looked like when he got birdie…..I started to reply and notice Mac was acting birding and in that moment, he flushed a rooster….I would love to say we knocked the rooster down, but we all just stood there and watch the rooster fly away as we laughed and I answered, "thats what it looks like when Mac is 'birdie.'” Its safe to say she now knows exactly what it looks like when Mac is 'birdie.'"
Why Frost River Hunting Chaps?
"I learned to appreciate my Frost River Chaps the very first time I wore them, there was a heavy dew that morning and as we walked through the CRP field we couldn’t help from getting wet. The waxed canvas was great at repelling the water and while some of my hunting partners may have had what they thought were "water proof” pants, I was the only one who was really able to keep dry. The dew was so heavy that even the best water proof pants became water logged. Beyond the water repellent nature of the waxed canvas construction, I like the confidence I have in walking through any type of brush, it's like I have an exterior layer of armor. I’m always the one who is willing to walk through the thick/dense/nasty brush to flush a rooster and thats because I know my chaps will keep me safe. Lastly, I love that the chaps don't pick up any burrs as I want the fields.
I usually wear jeans or an insulated pair of technical pants in colder weather while wearing my chaps hunting. At the end of the hunt it's so nice to be able to take off my chaps and have a comfortable pair of pants on that are dry and not full of burrs for the ride home or relaxing with my hunting partners."
The Frost River Repair Process
"When I saw that the chaps were starting to wear through, I was really disappointed, it was the middle of the hunting season and my chaps were so well 'broken in' I really didn't want to consider purchasing a new pair of chaps, but on the last day of the season, one of my hunting partners told me, "well I think you got your money worth out of them and its time to buy a new pair." I think so highly of the chaps, I felt they should be indestructible!! As such, I reached out to Frost River Customer service to inquire about repairs, after exchanging emails and sharing photos, I sent them in to see if they could be repaired. Customer Service let me know that they could be repaired for a minor fee and I gave them the green light. Upon receiving the chaps a few weeks later I was really happy with the repairs. the chaps look great and they addressed both the wear areas on the upper half as well as the cuff. I think they look just as good as the day I purchased them at the store in Duluth."
BEFORE
AFTER
Some Parting Thoughts From the Frost River Team
We strive to use the best materials we can in all our products so that they can last a lifetime. We know that our gear is a part of many memorable adventures and that the scuffs, scrapes, and stains that develop over the years are reminders of them. Our Lifetime Warranty is our guarantee that it is built to endure. This short story about our Hunting Chaps hopefully goes to show that not only do we go the extra mile in designing gear to last, but also construct our goods in a way that they can be repaired and provide the same integrity.
