Craghopper Nosilife review

Author: josh

Category: Kayak fishing apparel

Created on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:12

Written by Josh

After offering a preview of the Craghopper garments I picked up recently I promised to follow up with a review after having put them to the ultimate sand-fly test, which is precisely what Fraser island is. I had made some particularly bad decisions on apparel on both previous trips (for different reasons) and I was determined to get around those issues this year... especially those related to insect infestation. Being that the Craghopper Nosilife range is advertised as being impregnated with pyrethrum and as such insect repellent, it goes without saying that it grabbed my attention during the lead up to this years big trip. I was also taken with the fabrics used and cuts used, but perhaps more than anything it was actually the quality of construction that I really liked. Almost military in specification of manufacture, all points of stress are reinforced with extra rows or bar-tacking of stitching, in some places with extra-reinforced fabric backing (something you only typically see in military gear). I could tell just by looking at it that it would work out pretty well, even if the bug-repelling properties didn't really amount to much.

Truth be told, it's difficult to tell just how effect the fabric was at repelling anything, because in my sheer terror of facing similar conditions to previous years, I wasn't leaving anything to chance, so along with some of my other clobber, I gave it a treatment of pyrethrum prior to departure. What I can say is that I suffered a whole lot less bites, and certainly seemed less clouded by insects throughout the entire week, and no doubt the above mentioned treatment added to the effectiveness. Add to this, I packed plenty of insect repellent (Rid tropical) and used it liberally. And I was a lot more comfortable this year than previous years by a long shot. So whether or not the Nosilife fabrics were really working is hard to say. But at the end of the day, it was always more about fit, functionality and durability, and for me it scores an A in that department. I like it so much, I wear it to work most days as well.

As predicted in my preview, it really did suit my requirements to the letter. Because it is so light and compact, it occupied very little of the storage or weight carrying capacity real-estate. Fully UV protective and notably quick drying, it was never a problem to walk into the water wearing it because it never took very long to dry out. Predominantly I was wearing Simms Fishing gear while fishing in open water, but the Nosilife gear was just perfect for fishing in the creek. As predicted, it's a pretty good fit for any warm weather inland kayak fishing scenario.

While I only own 3 Craghopper Nosilife garments currently, there's a really very good chance that half my wardrobe might consist of their gear over time because not only am I pretty well sold on the quality and functionality (especially given it's pricing when compared to comparable brands), it's also pretty good looking gear, as noted by both Carl and Holger. That's why I'm able to get away with wearing to work as comfortably as I do on and around the water, which is a good thing considering my job sees me spending a fair bit of time paddling around the Clarence river (doing kayak demos mostly).