Outdoor wear for kids

Now that both of my boys have passed firearms safety and are active hunters, I find myself spending a LOT on gear they wear for a season and then grow out of. Little brother can get some of big brother’s stuff but they’re two ifferent body types so it doesn’t work for everything. Gearing up for their first turkey hunt this spring and cammo tops and bottoms will run me anywhere from $100 – $200 per kid and they’ll only fit for a year. Making sure they had good, warm orange last deer season was even more. Is there any place that deals in used outdoor clothing for kids? I know local thrift stores might have some things, but wondering if there’s any place or programs that deal with outdoors specifically? I’d be happy to donate stuff they already grew out of and hopefully find stuff that fits for a lot cheaper than new.

Good question. I’m in the same boat, so to speak.

I’d think your best bet for used would be to buy and sell on Facebook marketplace.

I’ve cut costs by buying only outer layers as much as possible and then letting them just wear regular outdoor clothing underneath. For example, for deer hunting both boys just wear down jackets they already have under a blaze orange vest.

Turkey hunting is a tough one because of the need for all camo, I feel your pain.

The good news, at least temporarily, is that my 14-year-old will be able to wear all my gear next year. The party won’t last long, though. I’m 5’11” and he’ll easily blow past my height before he turns 15 as he’s 5’10” right now.

So I’ll get a 1-year “break” where I’ll have nothing to wear because he’s wearing it all, then I’ll get all my gear back and in exchange, I can buy him even bigger sizes.

Don’t think there’s much way around it. Other than, I probably won’t be buying high end stuff. I’d check Amazon/online. I found a pair of chest waders for my son he’s gotten a few years out of them and they were some no-name brand vs what I could have found in local retail stores.

The downside is getting correct measurements sometimes

Yeah, thought about online, FB marketplace, etc. The hassel of sending back stuff that doesn’t quite fit or being stuck with something you bough off marketplace that didn’t quite work is enough to make me want to buy new, but I’ll checknl it all out.

A size or two too large of a camo hoodie should work for a bunch of stuff and seasons, and similar to Grouse’s recommendation of the orange vest over regular clothes/coats. And if you’re hunting from a blind they can wear whatever. My first kills of pretty much everything were in a tan hunting coat that had been passed down at least 482 times, and my nephew wears it now. Guess my point is they don’t need new ScentLok 3000 and the latest in camo technology straight from the Pentagon to Scheels in order to have success. Also, not that it helps for this spring, but garage sales with outdoor gear are a gold mine.

X100 on just a blaze vest.

There’s no keeping up, just buy bigger clothes and let them grow into it.

Also, the snow pants and parka they wear for school/winter work for hunting. No need for extra stuff that way.

On the flip side, our boys love wearing camo to school, so the camo we do buy is worn 52 weeks a year, not just a week or two.

Keep an eye open for sales, stuff is clearing out as we speak.

Fleet Farm in Blaine was just moving stuff to the front when I was there. Fricken crazy deals, but no youth stuff.

I had a cart full of men’s insulated hunting gear (over a thousand bucks worth) but at 75% off..Then looked at myself in the proverbial mirror and left most of it in the store because I need more camo like I need another hole in my head lol

I picked up the boys a pair of nice camo Arctic Shield mid-weight jackets. Women’s size small for 75% off, and myself a nice set of midweight men’s Drake duck hunting camo for the same deal.

We cut the pink zipper grabs off the kids stuff and hit the little bit of pink embroidery with a black permanent marker

Those jackets should fit them for easily a few years (big on them now). They’re awesome coats that ended up costing $27 each instead of over a hundred.

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I can attest to those clearance camo and blaze orange items at fleet farm. I got a nice pair of camo pants in January that were more than half off the regular listed price.

I bought Mason a 1 piece coveralls in camo. Bought them a size or 2 big. They worked awesome for 3 years. Both hunting and fishing. Now he grew about a foot in the last year so I bought him a new ice suit a size big and he can wear my old hunting gear. Found all his old stuff on ebay and market place.

BigWerm wrote:

A size or two too large of a camo hoodie should work for a bunch of stuff and seasons, and similar to Grouse’s recommendation of the orange vest over regular clothes/coats. And if you’re hunting from a blind they can wear whatever. My first kills of pretty much everything were in a tan hunting coat that had been passed down at least 482 times, and my nephew wears it now. Guess my point is they don’t need new ScentLok 3000 and the latest in camo technology straight from the Pentagon to Scheels in order to have success. Also, not that it helps for this spring, but garage sales with outdoor gear are a gold mine.

Agreed. Half my kills this year were while wearing my carharts from work, because my camo isn’t for that kind of cold. Point being it doesn’t have to be some fancy spendy camo.
They also make camo cloth outers that go over your outwear if you went that way it’s like 50 bucks. The kid uses that for turkey hunting

Possibly a dumb question, but do you plan to turkey hunt out of a blind? If so, I think camo is highly overrated. Black or dark colors would suffice. If camo is required, would a thinner (cheaper) outer layer camo sized a bit large work? Layer underneath with regular clothing if it’s cooler?

I did the orange vest over winter coat when they were younger and just along for the hunt, but they’re both puberty age now – My oldest is a late bloomer and his little brother is 2.5 years younger but may end up hitting his growth spurt first :). So whatever I get for the next few years will probably be a one year wear. We’ll have to see.

I have a blind, but not sure if we’ll use it all the time. want the freedom to chase turkeys if we can’t move them. my blind is portable but bulky so it may not move with us.

I looked in fleet farm a couple weeks ago and I don’t think their clearance had started yet, so I’ll have to go back. I’m disappointed in most FF locations since the buy-out – it’s like a yard sale, mis-matched stuff laying everywhere, most things don’t have tags. But that’s a topic for another thread. I was in the area of Owatonna Cabela’s last night so swung in. Didn’t buy, but was pleasantly surprised with prices on SOME of their more bargain brands like Redhead. If I end up going new I may go there.

ThunderLund78 wrote:

I have a blind, but not sure if we’ll use it all the time. want the freedom to chase turkeys if we can’t move them.

You’ll definitely want full camo if you intend to be on the move. If you are not in the blind and there are turkeys nearby, just be aware that they will see you if you are not covered in camo (face included). Its not like hunting deer where they won’t see if you don’t move. Turkeys see the full color spectrum. I tried sneaking up on a few once when I first started and that was a complete fail.

As previously mentioned, you can get away with just wearing dark clothing if you intend to stay in the blind.

We have a pretty extensive network of gear that is swapped by the “kids” in the family. Everything from youth shotguns to life jackets, skis, bibs, boots, etc. that we just call up and borrow from one another. I’ve got 2 kids along with 3 nieces and nephews, and another half dozen close family friends with young ones the same relative age.

If you don’t have people close by with kids similar ages, Facebook Marketplace and garage sales are a viable option for youth gear. Spending hundreds on stuff that kids grow out of within months is a waste, unless you have a whole flock of your own to pass gear down through.