The following testimonial was written by Ron Johnson, VP of Marketing for the multi-billion dollar French corporation, Tessenderlo-Kerley. Ron is an avid big-game hunter, making several yearly trips throughout North America. He has hunted buffalo, caribou, moose, and nearly every deer species on the continent. He recently took a ten-day hunting trip around the mountains of Kodiak Island, Alaska. In this account, Ron zealously tested the Ranger ATJ (jacket) and Ranger ATP (pant) from RIVERS WEST. Both are made of H2P® Camo with Mossy Oak® patterns.
I have returned with all my parts. I didn't get the tag for a Brownie so will have to try that again.
We had nine hunters on the trip including the Martin Archery group from Walla Walla. The area provided little in the way of cover - very steep, with no trees and only a few rocks and short grass. We were after Sitka deer and I was lucky enough to fill my two tags and a bonus red fox. These are beautiful deer but the horns are typically small so the pictures look like I shot Bambi. I saw several 1200 - 1400 pound Brownies in the 10-foot range. As usual, I would have had several nice situations if I’d had a tag.
I have a great GORE-TEX® rain outfit that I was extremely happy with; it had served me quite well on previous Alaska and Quebec hunts. However, I had experienced one problem with the GORE-TEX® suit - when I sat or knelt the moisture came through the material.
We had some extreme weather this trip: abundant rain, high winds, hail, and some snow. I must admit, I was miserable that first day of the hunt. I layered up, just like we’ve been told to do in order to keep warm. With all those layers, and your H2P® System on top, I was hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable.
The following day, I packed everything else away – I wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and your RANGER jacket the rest of the trip with long-underwear beneath the pants. Let me tell you, I was warm, dry, and comfortable the rest of the trip!
There was no time during the ten days that the H2P® let ANY moisture through to my skinny little body. I sat, crawled, knelt, laid and fell, crossed streams and jumped from the boat into the surf and was unable to get wet. I used duct tape to seal the pantlegs to my boots when jumping in and out of the boat since the rocks didn't allow the boat to reach shore.
I was concerned with the weight of the jacket creating too much heat, but the H2P cut the wind completely (exceeding GORE-TEX®) and the jacket breathed as well as GORE-TEX®.
I told the guys about watering the dogs with the H2P® hats so they challenged me to prove it. I filled the gunny hat with water and let it set a full day over paper towels. Boy were they impressed!
You guys have a great product!
- Ron Johnson, V.P. Marketing
Oakdale, California
November 21, 2002
