I first picked up the “Classic Waterfowl Shirt” from Drake Waterfowl Systems in a semi-emergency last fall. I was shooting with a group of friends in the 3 day Ducks Unlimited Mid-South Fun Shoot at the Willows Sporting Clays in Tunica, Mississippi. I had the flu, felt horrible, and was shooting worse than horrible. To top it all off, the weather suddenly went from sunny to frigid overnight. How delightful! Since my cold weather shooting stuff was at home, and the weather was getting worse, I went looking in the vendors section for some relief. I snagged the “Classic Waterfowl Shirt” from the Drake Waterfowl folks thinking to use it as a “heavy shirt” or unbutton it and use it like a windbreaker. Purchasing the shirt was probably the only bright thing I did throughout that whole tournament. I managed to stay warm during the shoot, and made a new friend that served well throughout the next duck season.

Good waterfowl hunting clothing has a tough assignment. It has to keep a hunter warm, dry, cool and comfortable, often at the same time! A well-equipped waterfowler needs to develop a lightweight compact set of clothing that will keep him or her comfortable, warm and dry in either rain or shine. The clothes must also be non-binding so that they do not compromise the ability of the hunter to shoot well.

This seeming impossible task of achieving comfort in all conditions is not as difficult as it may sound. It is best done by carefully selecting items for a system of layers where each piece of clothing will work with any of the others to adapt to the outside environment.

For the concept of layering, outdoor historians credit Benjamin “Count Rumford” Thompson for discovering in the 1870’s that trapped air is the primary insulator in clothing. This “layering concept” leads to the inescapable conclusion that several thin layers of clothes will always be warmer than a single thick layer. This synergy resulted because the several thin layers of clothing trap air between the layers, in addition to the insulating air trapped within the fibers of the clothes themselves. Layering also gives you flexibility to shed or add as many layers as necessary when you are hot or cold to maximize your comfort level for existing conditions. It is its versatility as a “layer” that first struck me about the Classic Waterfowl Shirt.

The Classic Waterfowl Shirt is in a word, warm. This is due to the combination of several things. The outer layer of the shirt is a wind-turning dense micro-fleece. The inner layer of the shirt is also a thin layer of fleece. Sandwiched in between the outer and inner fleece is a waterproof/breathable membrane similar to Gore-Tex. The membrane also makes the shirt windproof, and makes the entire package very comfortable. Although the outside will get saturated, the shirt is as waterproof as a shirt can get. The bottom line: The heat stays in, the perspiration vapor goes out, and the wind can’t spoil the party. Not a bad combination for a relatively thin single “layer” shirt.

Let me make a few quick points about the characteristics of waterproof/breathable membranes. They work great in theory; some don’t work as well in the field. The membranes will always work better in low humidity conditions, such as winter. The membranes themselves work by having zillions of tiny holes in them that are big enough to let out a molecule of water vapor, but too small for a water molecule to fit through. The problem with some membranes is that the holes get filled with glue when they are laminated to the other fabric in the clothes. Therefore, they stay waterproof, but don’t breathe as well. There are 2 ways that I have come with to test breathability in a Gore-Tex type of product. One is to set an iron on “steam” and cover it up with the garment to see if the steam escapes “through” the garment (and not around it via the armholes). The other is to put your lips on the inside of the garment and try to “fog” a mirror breathing water vapor through the garment. If you think someone is likely to walk in on you doing the mirror routine, I suggest you go with the iron. The Drake shirt passed both tests this winter, so I can tell you that the shirt will in fact breathe.

I personally do not like heavy and bulky clothes. My experience with backpacking has colored my perceptions, and I will take light and versatile over thick and heavy every time. For most of the conditions that I hunted in last duck season, I could toss my coat, and still be nice and toasty in just thin Capaline underwear, the Classic Waterfowl Shirt, and waders. A heavy coat was stowed in the boat for the ride in and out, but was seldom needed for actually hunting. The upshot of this was that I felt much more comfortable and less constricted while hunting. No longer did I have to shed a coat when I got warm and go looking for a snag to hang the coat on to keep it out of the water.

One of the nicest features about the shirt is how easy it is to shoot in this garment due to its construction. A lot of “hunting clothes” on the market fit so snugly across the back that it is difficult to raise your arms over your head or rotate the trunk of your body without something binding. Olympic Medalist, World Champion and master shotgun instructor Dan Carlisle once told me “Bad fitting clothes will cost you as many birds as a badly fitted gun.” And I believe him, having shot ducks in some outfits that resembled straight jackets. The Drake shirt has none of these problems as it has both an action back and an underarm gusset on both sides to keep the shirt from binding on overhead or high shots. It is truly a pleasure to shoot in, and has been adopted by several competitors in my area for cold weather sporting clays shoots.

There are several very nice touches that are unique to this shirt. The left chest has a “call pocket” in the edge of the shirt that snaps open and closed with a magnet. This is very handy to tuck a call into in order to keep the reed from freezing in cold weather. There is also a call “separator” loop on the left chest that I have never used. I suspect guys with both a “goose” and a “duck” lanyard would really like this feature. A little zippered chest pocket is also built into the right edge of the shirt. Drake calls this a “license pocket.” I call it a “Snickers Bar” pocket. The buttons on the shirt are tough, and look like the rubber “no bruise” buttons on real rugby shirts. The Drake buttons are harder, and I have not had one break yet. I would like for them to be a wee bit bigger for clumsy fingers on cold mornings.

There are two pleated button down chest pockets on the shirt in addition to the “special” pockets described above. I have no problem with the left pocket. As a part time competitive shooter, I would like to see the right pocket removed so that it will not interfere with a gun mount. There is a reason that shooting vests and shirts do not have pockets on the right side. A garment this good would only be better with the removal of that pocket. Overall, that is a minor point, but one a competitive shooter will notice every time. Otherwise, it is hard to find anything not to like about this shirt.