If you’ve done any shopping for hunting clothes, then you’ve probably heard of Sitka Gear, or at least, been exposed to the brand. Sitka is a maker of high-performance outdoor apparel geared towards hunting, fishing, and the outdoors.
I deal with Sitka at my day job so I’m pretty familiar with their line of products. One Sitka based question I see being asked occasionally is an inquiry into who owns Sitka Gear now?
Before I answer that question, let me take a second and discuss the history of the brand as it’s still relevant today.
History of Sitka Gear
Sitka was founded by a former college and NFL football player named Jason Hairston. After an injury ended his football career in the NFL, Hairston decided to venture into the world of commercial real estate. However, he grew up hunting and fishing, so his real passion was hunting.
As a hunter, Hairston was not impressed with the current hunting clothing on the market and felt that there was a serious gap in quality when comparing hunting clothing to high-performance mountaineering clothing.
In 2009, he exited the commercial real estate business and started the Sitka Gear brand of hunting clothing out of the garage of his home in California. His plan was to utilize the same high-performance materials and technology found in mountaineer clothing as source materials for high-performance hunting gear and blend that with cutting-edge camouflage.
As a brand, Sitka Gear took off, and Hairston expanded the line to include fishing and hunting waders.
In 2009, a company called W. L. Gore & Associates purchased Sitka Gear and kept Hairston onboard during the transition. If the Gore name sounds familiar, it’s because W. L. Gore & Associates founded and own Gore-Tex. In 2009, Gore-Tex moved the Sitka Gear headquarters from California to Bozeman, Montana.
While Hairston was transitioning out of the company, he became disillusioned with the sales direction that Sitka was moving. One big challenge that Hairston faced at Sitka was manufacturing high end performance hunting clothing while keeping the price at a certain point to drive sales. The retail pricing structure of hunting clothes (at that time) put Sitka near the upper echelon of pricing for the industry and was a sticking point for Hairston as he felt that technical hunting ear should command a higher price tag compared to competitor gear manufactured from lower quality materials.
Founding Kuiu
Once the Sitka sale was completed, Hairston felt that the hunting public would embrace a higher end brand of hunting gear that would be sold direct to the public via the internet. This direct to the public sales plan would cut out the middleman in the sales process, which would reduce consumer pricing.
In 2010, Hairston founded another clothing brand called Kuiu, that sold high performance hunting gear and hunting apparel. Kuiu was built with Hairston’s direct to the public sales plan and was equally successful as Sitka. In 2016, Kuiu had an estimated sale of nearly 50 million.
On September 4, 2018, Hairston took his own life at his residence in California. A post-mortem investigation revealed that Hairston was suffering from CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) from his football days.
Who Owns Sitka Today?
Sitka Gear is still owned and operated by the W. L. Gore & Associates company, and is based in Bozeman, Montana.
FAQS
Here are some frequently asked questions relating to the ownership of Sitka Gear:
Is Sitka Gear owned by Gore-Tex?
Not exactly. Sitka Gear is owned by the W.L. Gore & Associates company, who also founded and own the Gore-Tex line of fabrics. However, Gore-Tex does not officially own Sitka.
Are Sitka and Kuiu the same company?
While Sitka and Kuiu are in the same niche hunting apparel market and offer gear that looks and performs similarly, they are two different companies that happened to be founded by the same person, Jason Hairston.
When was Sitka Gear founded?
Sitka Gear was founded in 2005.
What kind of gear does Sitka Gear make?
Sitka specializes in making technical hunting gear.
Who is the founder of Sitka Gear?
Sitka Gear was founded by Jason Hairston, a former NFL linebacker.
Where is Sitka Gear based?
Sitka is based in Bozeman Montana.
What kind of technology and fabrics does Sitka Gear use in their gear?
Sitka Gear utilizes advanced and breathable technology and fabrics in their hunting gear.
Final Thoughts
Sitka Gear is an industry leader in high-performance hunting apparel, and many consider them to be the first vendor to incorporate technologically advanced materials in their apparel. While I have several pieces of Sitka gear (some of my pieces are shown in the pics above), I have to say that it’s an expensive line of products.
However, aside from the higher costs, my experiences with Sitka have been very good.
Additional Resources
Here are some additional reading and resources associated with the current ownership of Sitka Gear:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Hairston
Born and raised in the North Carolina foothills, Andy was introduced to the outdoors at a very young age. Like most beginning hunters, he started out hunting small game like rabbits and squirrels, then graduated to larger species like Whitetail Deer. Although he’s an avid deer and turkey hunter, he still enjoys hunting small game as well. Andy has worked in the hunting and fishing industry for nearly 25 years.
