Product Review: Kurt Thune Classic Sweater

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trax
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:55 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Product Review: Kurt Thune Classic Sweater

Post by trax »

Shooters today can choose from a variety of sweater options through companies like Anschutz, Kurt Thune, Sauer, Champion's Choice, or other vendors. However, I haven't really seen any product reviews for any of them. So, here's my attempt at a review of the Kurt Thune Classic sweater...

You can click the thumbnails below to view them in full-size. I've got the whole album up on imgur at http://imgur.com/a/68wV7

If you do a search for "Kurt Thune sweater" on Google Images, you'll probably find this picture, which, to my knowledge, is one of the only pictures of the sweater on the entire Internet.

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Like a lot of shooting apparel, the Kurt Thune Classic sweater is functional and well-made, but not a fashion statement. For several years it was available in a combination of black, gray, and yellow. The current color combination is black, gray, and blue. It's available in sizes ranging from XS to XXL. For a list of dealers, click here.

I purchased my sweater through mail order from Brenzovich in Fort Hancock, Texas. It arrived in about two weeks in a waterproof mailer.

Construction

Like the other sweaters on the market, the Kurt Thune features a double-zipper design, synthetic fabric, and a close but not constricting fit. One of the first things that you'll notice about the sweater is that it's constructed using a variety of textures--I counted 6 different "weaves" across the sweater:

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  • Upper chest: A deep cable-knit pattern
  • Upper arms: A "looser" cable-knit pattern
  • Stomach and backs of arms: A medium-density "standard" pattern
  • Elbows: Medium-density double-thickness pattern in an oval shape
  • Inner elbows: A high-thread-count, breathable pattern
  • Back, below the shoulderblades: A very loose, "mesh" style pattern

Fit

Here are a few photos of how a "large" sweater fits me. For what it's worth, I'm a size 40 jacket and weigh about 185 lbs. I've purposely worn a white cotton t-shirt underneath the sweater to show the mesh ventilation on the back. (The t-shirt doesn't really show up in the thumbnail, but you can see it pretty clearly when you click to open the full-size image). When I'm actually at the range I prefer to wear a fitted or compression wicking base layer.

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At the Range

I was pretty busy this past week, but managed to stop by my local indoor range on my lunch break to do a quick prone session. The sweater didn't really make any noticeable impact on my comfort level when in position, but I did feel like I was staying cooler compared to my old department-store sweatshirt. I'm looking forward to trying this in mid-summer at an outdoor range, where I think I'll notice a much bigger difference.
andrewp
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Australia

Re: Product Review: Kurt Thune Classic Sweater

Post by andrewp »

Thanks heaps trax

I'm about to upgrade my sweater from a very old Mouche body warm top. Not ideal in the Australian summer! My local shop has the Sauer cardigan but I prefer the Kurt Thune gear. I agree its hard to find anything online about these so cheers for the review.
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