Product Review: Mountain Khakis Granite Creek Pant

Remember how badass those Mountain Khakis Alpine Utility Pants are I told you about? I'd like to introduce you to their flats friendly brother, the Mountain Khakis Granite Creek Pant. When I'm not in my waders when fishing, I'm in these pants, no exceptions. I've put several pairs of these pants through their paces over the past two seasons and all I can say is wow.


Highlights of the pant include the UV 50+ rating for fighting the sun, the quick drying material preventing you from feeling soggy with jungle rot, key pocket placement and enough of them to stash your tippet and flies so that you can fish minimalist if you want, and of course the reinforced heel cuff, nothing is more important on a pair of fishing pants than protecting your cuffs from getting fragged and frayed out in the aquatic arena.

The nitty gritty:
Retail $82.95
6.3oz 100% Brushed Nylon
ScotchgardTM Treatment
UVA-UVB 50+
6 Pockets with Mesh Pocket Bags
3 Zip Security Pockets
Cargo Pocket
Quick-dry, Lightweight & Packable
Diamond-Shaped Action Gusset
YKK®Zippers
Reinforced Heel Cuffs
Triple-Stitched Seams
Mid-Rise, Relaxed Fit

I've blasted these pants out on the Great Lakes flats, the concrete and rebar battlefied of the South Platte in downtown Denver, my homewaters out on the prairie, and everywhere in between. These pants are also right at home for those hot, humid July evenings in the country, at the lake, or for grabbing a few cocktails out on the town. Best of all, after all that abuse, these pants still look like they're brand new. I couldn't ask for a better of pants for the summer.


Images property and courtesy of Mountain Khakis

Product Review: Mountain Khakis Alpine Utility Pant

As you may have noticed by now I don't often kick around praise and kudos to those undeserving. It's unbecoming and frankly seems a bit of a heavy handed offering to those who feed you, simply giving accolade in return for more free product or continued sponsorship. You see it on most pay as you go media, sponsored solely by those providing, it's easy to see why the reviewed product is featured as the next snake oil, with nary a negative comment or an honest critique to be seen. Enter Mountain Khakis and their Alpine Utility Pant. Just how tough are these pants? Let's not beat around the bush and get right down to the nitty gritty.


The Alpine Utility Pant is a wolf in sheep's clothing. At first glance, it may look like your dime a dozen canvas utility pant. Other big time players in this league are Dickies, Carhartt, Wrangler, and even Patagonia. These brands range all across the board in terms of quality and price. The Alpine Utility Pants rank right at the top for price coming in at $89.95 retail. So how do they rank up in fit, feature and function? Nearly all the competitors share common features like triple stitching, YKK zippers, utility pockets, etc. What sets the Alpine Utility Pants apart?

The Pros: Heavy duty cotton canvas, double front knees and seat, gusseted crotch, reinforced heel cuffs, double front right pocket.

I spend a lot of time in the field, whether for work or play, I'm out in all of the four seasons Northern Minnesota has to offer. I've worn just about every cotton duck dungaree-type pant on the market and after the last field season and a half, I can honestly say that the Mountain Khakis Alpine Utility Pant is the toughest pair of pants that I own. These aren't designed just for your weekend warrior. I ran of pair of AUPs through the gauntlet last year, wearing a single pair week after week throughout an entire 9 month field season. That one pair of pants never gave up and are still in regular rotation alongside a couple of other pairs of AUPs for this season. These pants are no worse for wear, with only slight fading and wear, mainly due to the wash cycle. These pants have seen it all, from behind the operators seat of heavy equipment and dump trucks, to survey work out in the field, to boots on the ground hand labor. Anyone familiar with natural resource management and stream habitat improvement and restoration work knows that it is a hard, dirty job. There is no room for gear that it is not up to the task. The Alpine Utility Pants have never failed me yet. The gusseted crotch is a huge plus, adding mobility crucial for laborious tasks. It's a no brainer that the double knees and seat are an integral part of these pants toughness, however the reinforced heel is money. Typically every pair of work pants I have ever owned get beet up right around the back of the heel, right where the cuff meets the back of my steel toed boots. The Alpine Utility Pants have hardly even frayed, which can save you from taking a fall if you ever have gotten the frayed cuff of your pants caught under the heel of a boot. The double front pocket is a nice add on, keeping a deep hold of your wallet and separating it from what every else you need to carry in the front, like spare nuts and bolts, or a couple of wrenches. Probably the best feature is the canvas material used for the pants; MK has found the perfect blend of toughness and comfortness. These pants are smooth against the skin, unlike the brash feel of Carhartts, making them a joy to wear on those 10 hours work shifts. They are no less rugged and durable however, far outlasting the wearability of previous pairs of Carhartt work dungarees. I would say that the only possible con of these pants is the hefty price tag. After further consideration, however, the longevity of these pants far surpass those of the competition, making them more cost effective in the long run.

The Bottom Line is these pants are tough as nails. Savvy enough for street and casual wear, yet sturdy enough for even the toughest of jobs. Hands down these are the best pair of pants I've ever owned, and the first pair of pants I reach for when work calls.

Caveat Emptor: The Alpine Utility Pants were provided for rigourous field testing, courtesy of Mountain Khakis, as part of the "Bad Ass" Ambassador Team Program.

Product Review: Rise Fishing Co. Level Series Fly Rod

I recently received a 7 weight Level Series Saltwater Fly Rod from Rise Fishing Co. to put through the paces of roughfisher branded abuse.  Here are the specs from Rise:

Model     Length     Line     Action     Sections     Price
90-7wt     9'0"           7          Fast         4                  $249.99

9’ 7wt – The 7wt rod will perform short casts with tight loops yet has enough backbone to punch flies in to the wind with accuracy. The rod also excels in throwing poppers to largemouth bass, presenting small shrimp flies to dock light snook and even nymphs to steelhead.

First Impressions:
From the moment I opened the shipping carton I was impressed. The rod was encased in a sturdy cordura covered rod tube, complete with carry strap, embroidered logo, and a nice feature: a laminated pouch to put a business or identification card. The rod was stored within a 5 piece rod sleeve, with a screen printed graphic logo, including model and line designation. The next bonus you'll notice when removing the rod sections is the included spare rod tip. It's always great to have a handy insurance policy along. The fit and finish of the rod is superb. From the hand finished cork grip and fighting butt, to the laser engraved reel seat, to the ferrule alignment marks, no detail is left out on these models. The best part is, the alignment dots on the rod sections actually lined up! I've been irked by other premium rods that I've owned where the dots weren't lined up properly, even ones that were wrapped and marked by hand! I especially like the spartan appearance of the rod: a straight up midnight blue with gloss finish and black wrapped titanium carbide guides. The blank is as dark blue as the abyss! The simplicity of this rod is the true beauty, often times, rod makers will throw all this extra junk on a blank to try to woo the eye of the angler. In my honest opinion, this makes rods looks gaudy and cheap, though their price tag may be far from it. I don't want to pay extra for stuff I don't need.



Inauguration:
Let's face it, there's not a whole lot that can be determined of a rod from the wiggle test, yet we all do it when we pick up a rod. When I picked up the Level Series rod for the first time, I figured on the rod being fast. After all it didn't "wiggle" much and the brochure said it was fast. Well after stringing up a reel and line, I can confirm that the action is indeed fast. Having predominantly cast medium-fast progressive rods for the majority of my angling career, I must admit that it took me a few casts before I got the rod to load in its sweet spot. To be fair though, I was casting a long bellied steelhead taper, whereas I should have casted a line with a more traditional shorter length head with this type of rod. Once I let a little bit more of the belly section out of the rod tip, this rod picked the line up off the water with ease. Within two false casts I already had 60 to 70 feet of line out of the guides with a single haul. That's damn good, considering that a hack like me typically relies on my roll cast and single-handed spey casts to get my fly downstream. If this rod can make me cast like a champion, then imagine what it could do for you. While I didn't put this rod through it's entire test yet, it did handle the basic overhead and rollcasts quite well. Loading the rod typically wasn't an issue, and aside from a few sloppy dump casts, the accuracy of my casts were placed right where I wanted them. Even in the wind. I like how this rod casts and feels, as it will find perfect duty out on the carp flats. However, for my primary needs as as nympher, this probably wouldn't be my first choice as I prefer a longer rod (9'6" or 10') and one with a softer tip and progressive action. But that is comparing apples to oranges; this rod is made for running and gunning. It's hard to believe that a rod of this quality is retailing at only $250.


Thinking points:
This rod did everything I asked it to. It definitely met my expectations, and for $250 retail, picking up a rod is a no brainer, whether it be a primary or back up rod. And while this rod may not make it as my daily driver, anyone looking for a fast action carp rod need look no further. This rod will hang with the big boys out on the flats, and then some.

Caveat Emptor: The Level Series rod was provided courtesy of Rise Fishing Co., in exchange for review and extensive field testing.

The High Five

Not content that Hurricane High Gravity is the cheapest tastiest swill out there on the market, I took a few reader's suggestions and recently diversified with a few different brands of high gravity malt beverages. I picked up the royal sampler for some taste tasting and review, because that's the kind of service we provide.

The Lineup:
Hurricane High Gravity, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 8.1% ABV
Steel Reserve High Gravity Lager, Steel Brewing Company, 8.1% ABV
Schlitz High Gravity V.S.L., JOS. Schlitz Brewing Co. (Pabst), 8.5% ABV
Camo Black Ice, Camo Brewing Company, 10.5% ABV
Earthquake High Gravity Lager, City Brewing Company, LLC, 12% ABV

The criterion for testing is simple. First, each product needs to be classified as a High Gravity Lager, with a minimum ABV of 8.0%. Second, the product needs to be cheaper than $2.00 per can and something that is easily concealed and transportable. Nothing wrong with 40oz. bottles, but 24 oz. cans are more portable and help minimize the burning sip of death, commonly associated with the last vile sip of piss-warm malt liquor that's been warmed from your hand holding the glass bottle. Finally, the beverage must be one that is available year round and easy to find in stores. No sense in getting your hopes up for a drink that is only available on rare occasions. This is a daily driver beer.

The current reigning champion is Hurricane High Gravity, but only because it has been previously uncontested. I am not going to go out on a limb and pick a predict winner just yet, though Earthquake gets the early lead simply for its high alcohol by volume rating. Only one with a refined palate such as myself will be able to assess and rank each entry fairly, unless you happen to be an expert critique of turpentine and mineral spirits. If so, we can form a consortium of swillers, a brain trust, if you will. I'll follow up with the rank and file of each candidate, as well as all the nefarious and putrid details of each beverage, and reveal my choice in a future post. There are no losers; All five of these drinks rang up for less than $10, with enough change left over to buy a lucky lotto ticket or a slim jim.

Now these are the kind of product reviews we can handle.

Caveat Emptor: The above mentioned beverages were purchased at full retail price by the roughfisher. There is no incentive or financial gain to be made from the review, other than a hopeful roughfisher wishing to be picked up for sponsorship by one of these beverage companies.

Product Review: Sixth Finger 5.5" Tungsten scissor

It's been nearly six month's since I laid my greasy mitts on one of Singlebarbed's “General Purpose” Sixth Finger 5.5" Tungsten scissors. I figure that's more than ample time behind the vise to give an honest review of what these tungsten laced snippers are capable of. Let's see how they fared.


I'm not gonna sit here and pimp these scissors to you; I'll let the consummate salesman Singlebarbed hock his own products. But I will give a brief rundown on the meat of these scissors. Here are the specs:

Sixth Finger 5.5" Tungsten scissor
5.5" length
Large, heavy jaw
Adjustable screw allows disassembly for blade sharpening or retightening
Tungsten carbide edges

Put into commercial service, these scissors have been put through their paces, seeing more than their fair share of abuse. Feather rachi, chenille, furry foam, latex, heavy wire, these blades have seen it all. No less than a half-thousand flies have passed before the tips of these blades over the past few months. To no surprise, these "GeneralPurpose" scissors have held up to the claim of being beefy, burly and brawny. The tungsten carbide tips have held up beautifully, cutting through 26 gauge wire without consequence. Following Singlebarbed's warning, I have refrained from cutting bead chain with these scissors, as I agree that a heavy duty shears or wire cutters is a more appropriate tool for that task. However, I did test them once to see if they would cut through bead chain, and they cut through a link of #8 bead chain with some flex of the blades. The body of these scissors has just the right amount of stiffness and flex that allows for strain-free use, especially under heavy sessions behind the vise. That's good if you want to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome like me.


The finish of these scissors is what has seen the most abuse. The blue paint that these scissors were coated in has started to chip off the metal in the high wear and exposed areas. Short of anodizing these scissors, flaking paint is difficult to remedy in scissors used heavily or commercially. It's possible that the salt residue from my hands and fingers led to the paint weakening, however, the likely culprits are damage occurring from repeatedly setting down the scissors on my tying tray/table, and the other metal tools I store these scissors with in my traveling fly tying bag bumping against each other. Regardless, the fit and function of these scissors are not the least bit affected, and this is merely a cosmetic issue.


You can pick up the General Purpose or any of the other Sixth Finger scissors over at Singlebarbed's e-commerce site. $29 will get you a pair of tungsten laced scissor goodness. Take it from me, if these scissors can pass the roughfisher test of abuse, then they will surely outperform any other scissors that you currently have at your vise.

Caveat Emptor: Singlebarbed gave me two pairs of "General Purpose" scissors for product testing, free of charge. He gave them to me not because he "likes" me, or thinks that I'm a "good guy", but rather because he knows that my penchant for burritos, malt liquor, and heavy metals will give these badboys the beatings that they deserve. The fact that these scissors were free had no effect on the outcome of this review. On the contrary, this review was completely subjective due to the fact that I had no financial investment in the product and little regard if they would have blown up at the vise.

Product Follow Up : Cloudveil 8x Grippy Rubber Boot

Follow up to the initial product review: Cloudveil 8x Grippy Rubber Boot.

In disjunction with the Trout Underground's Rubber Wading Boot Testing, the roughfisher took it upon himself to review the only boot seemed to have been left off the Underground's review sheet, the Cloudveil 8x Grippy Rubber Boot. No product was given, donated, or loaned to the roughfisher for review. The reviewer purchased the boots (though a kickback or some schwag woulda been nice, hint, hint Cloudveil).

The Environs: Faced with urban assaults, rocky rivers cascading through old growth forest, college campus test ponds, and loonshit filled sloughs, this boot has been through it all. It has withstood chemical and biological attacks and still maintains its superior structural integrity. The rigors of hiking through the concrete jungle and arroyos have remarkably left little wear on the soft rubber soles. In fact, the grippy nodules on the soles are money for maintaining your posture when high sticking off of concrete sills and ledge ways. They are also effective when boulder hopping across wet rocks, and are at home in the mud. They've been everywhere.

The Fit: The fit and function of these boots are above par; they are lightweight, offer excellent support, and perfectly fit to my foot. Combined with the toe drain holes, these boots are just as comfortable hiking in wet as they are dry. In fact, after a few death marches, these boots functioned no different than my performance hiking boots. Pretty amazing that after a full day in these boots hiking and wading, you can kick off your boots without pain or even a blister. Best of all, these boots dry very quickly and are very easy to clean, a must for today's battlegrounds and our fight against aquatic nuisance species.

The $10 Million question: how do these boots perform on moss? The same as any other boot without felt or studs: mediocre. There is no smoking gun here, no rubber boot has been produced, to my knowledge, that excels on the slippery stuff. If you plan on using these boots in moss, look into studding your boots or opting for felt (if you can still find any).

Wading Safety: The one thing this trial really brought home were to brush up on your wading safety practices. Even with a wading stick/staff, I still experienced some difficulty crossing in fast knee deep water, narrowly avoiding a swim on several occasions. Wearing a wading belt is good practice, an PFD might even me a wise choice, especially in difficult terrain. All I know is, I'm never going wading on freestone streams without a wading staff. Ever.

The Bottom Line: Boot companies are improving their product with every season. Are these boots easier to keep clean and reduce the risk of spreading invasive species? Sure. But there's so much more to a boot than just that; fit and function are equally important, if not more. This is by far the most comfortable and functional pair of boots I've ever worn. Even more impressive than its fit, is the fact that these boots are just as comfortable wearing as my normal footwear, a must for anyone who spends more time in their waders than in their bed. These boots handled the rigors of concrete and blacktop in stride; I'd like to see how they stack up in the snow and on ice. My guess is the soft rubber sole will minimize slipping. Looks like I'll have to wait a couple months to find out.

Product Review: Cloudveil 8x Grippy Rubber Boot

As part of my effort as a Clean Angling Pledge partner, I am always on the lookout for gear and equipment that can help minimize the risks of transporting and spreading invasive and exotic species. The biggest focus of late in the spread against invasives are wading boots and the felt soled vector.

Manufacturers have heeded the calls of consumer and industry, and several models of grippy rubber soled wading boots have entered the market in recent years. One boot worthy of note is the Cloudveil 8x Grippy Rubber Boot, featuring Vibram® Idrogrip™ soles. For the non-believers, these boots are stud compatible for slick rivers and slippery streams. That should squelch any doubts as to whether these boots are worthy on snot.

These boots are remarkably light at 36.6 ounces, and are heavily reinforced with rubber around the sole, heel and toe. Perhaps the best feature of these boots is the fact that they come with two 4mm and 8mm inlay soles, insuring a custom fit while wet wading or wearing waders. I can attest to the fact that dual insole option is money and provided me with a perfect fit.

These boots will be field tested over the course of the season and a follow up review will be conducted after some serious hours have been logged in these boots. I know it can be a difficult tasks for some, but it's a service I'm obliging to provide for you the reader. It's all about the sacrifice.