Planning Your First trip To Africa - What Is Needed To Hunt Comfortably

[Red Leg]

Keep it simple, and cotton is King. All my Africa shirts are cotton or only with a tiny percentage of blend. Same is true of pants - the jess is not Kuiu country. The hat is a cotton canvas by Tilley. Roles up in a carry-on with ease, weighs nothing, and keeps the dermatologist happy. - even has a classic Stewart Granger look with a bit of training.

Also, go with olive and browns and leave the tacti-cool at home.

I find the RedBack boots favored by the OP and so many South African farmers and PHs (you rarely see them elsewhere) great around our place here in Texas as a ranch/farm boot, but I greatly prefer my Courteney's for hunting Africa. As others have noted, smart wool is the way to go with socks. If hunting the Caprivi or Zambezi Delta you will need a specialized boot that likes being submerged and will dry quickly.

Microfleece ranks with nuclear energy as one of the great inventions of the twentieth century. A sweater or jacket will handle most mornings and evening rides back to camp.

I don't do backpacks in Africa. If it doesn't fit a belt or pocket, it can sit in the truck.

 

[deewayne2003]

I'm even more thankful he didn't include pictures of men's underwear.

Speaking of men’s underwear - Saxx underwear

I got them for my Australian NT hunt and now they are all I wear.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Speaking of men’s underwear - Saxx underwear

I got them for my Australian NT hunt and now they are all I wear.

Saxx ... or Sacks? Sounds like something for well-endowed. Count me out. Sigh!

 

[Mauser78]

I'm thankful to the OP for taking the time to lay out a good guide.

I'm even more thankful he didn't include pictures of men's underwear.

Thank you, what I was trying to say is simply, you dont need anything special, we use your normal outdoor wear. No need to buy new stuff. If you can, do it. But it is not necessary.

And commando is easier for finding ticks.

 

[Mauser78]

Keep it simple, and cotton is King. All my Africa shirts are cotton or only with a tiny percentage of blend. Same is true of pants - the jess is not Kuiu country. The hat is a cotton canvas by Tilley. Roles up in a carry-on with ease, weighs nothing, and keeps the dermatologist happy. - even has a classic Stewart Granger look with a bit of training.

Also, go with olive and browns and leave the tacti-cool at home.

I find the RedBack boots favored by the OP and so many South African farmers and PHs (you rarely see them elsewhere) great around our place here in Texas as a ranch/farm boot, but I greatly prefer my Courteney's for hunting Africa. As others have noted, smart wool is the way to go with socks. If hunting the Caprivi or Zambezi Delta you will need a specialized boot that likes being submerged and will dry quickly.

Microfleece ranks with nuclear energy as one of the great inventions of the twentieth century. A sweater or jacket will handle most mornings and evening rides back to camp.

I don't do backpacks in Africa. If it doesn't fit a belt or pocket, it can sit in the truck.
View attachment 688439

You can almost pass as a local, you look the part.

 

[Mauser78]

Keep it simple, and cotton is King. All my Africa shirts are cotton or only with a tiny percentage of blend. Same is true of pants - the jess is not Kuiu country. The hat is a cotton canvas by Tilley. Roles up in a carry-on with ease, weighs nothing, and keeps the dermatologist happy. - even has a classic Stewart Granger look with a bit of training.

Also, go with olive and browns and leave the tacti-cool at home.

I find the RedBack boots favored by the OP and so many South African farmers and PHs (you rarely see them elsewhere) great around our place here in Texas as a ranch/farm boot, but I greatly prefer my Courteney's for hunting Africa. As others have noted, smart wool is the way to go with socks. If hunting the Caprivi or Zambezi Delta you will need a specialized boot that likes being submerged and will dry quickly.

Microfleece ranks with nuclear energy as one of the great inventions of the twentieth century. A sweater or jacket will handle most mornings and evening rides back to camp.

I don't do backpacks in Africa. If it doesn't fit a belt or pocket, it can sit in the truck.
View attachment 688439

@Red Leg For interest sake how does your clothing of your last 2 trips compare to your first? Did it change a lot?

 

[Red Leg]

@Red Leg For interest sake how does your clothing of your last 2 trips compare to your first? Did it change a lot?

Lighter, simpler and less of it. Also the shorts have grown a bit in length over twenty years. Having a checked bag take five days to catch up with me on a 14-day hunt also taught me to have a set of hunting clothes in my carry-on and wear travel boots that can also be pressed into service hunting if necessary. I also invested in a quality ammunition belt years ago.

Good job starting this thread.

 

[Hogpatrol]

^^^^THIS^^^^ One pair of hunting clothes (cotton) and boots in the carry on or just wear the boots enroute. If laundry is daily and unless the conditions require it, one extra pair of hunting clothes.
Exfofficio underwear, super light weight and dries quickly. If I weren't bringing rifles, I could to a month with a carry on and a backpack.

 

[Russ16]

^^^^THIS^^^^ One pair of hunting clothes (cotton) and boots in the carry on or just wear the boots enroute. If laundry is daily and unless the conditions require it, one extra pair of hunting clothes.
Exfofficio underwear, super light weight and dries quickly. If I weren't bringing rifles, I could to a month with a carry on and a backpack.

Ex officio lightweight is the best. Actually take up less room packing and super comfortable.

 

[Happy Myles]

Like Redleg, I wear khaki green or brown cotton shirts and pants. I no longer take shorts to help keep things simple as possible. I most often hunt where insects are more than a nuisance. No camo. Some of the old camo was polyester and reflected African sunlight like a tin roof. As an experiment, Decades ago we sent two men a few hundred away one in camo an one in my Willis and Geiger khaki green. We could see the man in camo clearly and the one in khaki barely at all. This issue may be changed with modern tech. Also where possible I wear a brimmed hat which helps shade my face as sun on face attracts animal attention. Also feel i can hear and see better, which may be my imagination. I know it helps defect sun from my sensitive skin better than a cap. In jungle a brim can be a bit of a nuisance.
First timers usually take too much of everything. Especially on a trip to South Africa where mostly you are not to far from some sort of store.
First safari is wonderful experience no matter where.

 

[549]

Mauser78, thanks for starting this thread. And for the contributions from those of you who have BTDT.

 

[Duke1966]

Reading this as I’m waiting to board my flight to Namibia for my first safari.

 

[miket1]

Reading this as I’m waiting to board my flight to Namibia for my first safari.

Good luck, its gunna be great! I just got back from my first a couple of weeks ago.

 

[fourfive8]

This has been covered here in many various threads. OD color shades cotton shirts and pants. Shorts if you wish… but thorns are unforgiving! Well broken-in leather boots with thin leather gaiters. Slippers for long flights and around evening campfire. Socks of choice but I prefer cotton. Cotton hat or ball cap. Light-med jacket. Thin leather gloves. Mornings and evenings in Africa cool season can be cold. Hunting swampy areas is another story/question about footwear. Most camps have daily laundry so no need to over-pack a bunch of duplicates. I’ve no use for synthetic clothing or footwear. DEET spray for mosquitos and tsetse flies. SPF 50 for sun. Permethrin for clothes if ticks are out. Small prescription of Cipro for gut bugs. KISS

 

[Hogpatrol]

Considering the detergent used at most venues, I doubt color or camo makes any difference. To the animals, we all probably stand out like a neon light on Times Square.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

In the past I was always a 100% cotton guy, but six years ago when I was at Minneapolis vet clinic vainly trying to keep my previous Lab alive I stopped in Cabelas for a distraction. Wound up buying a shirt on sale for my upcoming first safari. It was mostly synthetic including 2% spandex. Their "Strata" camo pattern was an interesting change from military digital or sticks & leaves Realtree. I now have six of the shirts. Hard to tell I'm wearing anything. Super comfortable and highly breathable. I wear them almost every day ... and they wear like iron.

These shirts have a "hidden" zippered pocket alongside the left side chest cargo parket. I keep earplugs in it and they go through laundry with the shirt.

 

[Betterinthebush]

I can offer an opinion based on only two things: facts and/or experience. I do appreciate all the advice offered by those who have gone before me and take it seriously. Having had a lot of past experience in advising guests and past clients on packing for Alaska, I have a genuine fear of being undergeared that is borne out of experience.

I’ll probably be the minority here, but good, comfortable, technical gear is an area where “less is more” doesn’t fit into my hunting vocabulary. In many places, to be sure, there’s no question less gear is fine. Especially in a well staffed and large camp.

I just wired my final payment and TF money to my outfitter/PH yesterday. In our email exchange he advised us to bring some warm clothes, thermal underwear and an insulated puffy jacket for mornings and evenings as it’s winter in Namibia and overnight temperatures are <32F routinely with daytime temperatures ranging from 70-78F. That’s a significant difference in temperature and, from my experience requires something a little gear than two shirts, two trousers, two pairs of socks. I don’t mind checking a little extra weight on checked luggage. I do mind being miserable on an expensive hunt when the difference between comfort and hell is measured merely in ounces.

I suppose my point is the most experienced person in one’s life on a guided hunt, regardless of location, is the Guide/PH and his experience and opinion should be the only and most important one to ever consider.

My first master guide I worked for once told me “The choice of a guide for a hunt is the second most important relationship a man will ever volunteer for. The first is his wife. A client that ignores his guide is heading for a relationship divorce in the bush from his guide.”

 

[Major Bonkers]

From 'This is the Greatest Hunting Era' by Bert Klineburger (1986), so it's a bit out of date.

Leave the swimming costume at home unless you are swimming in a chlorinated pool (bilharzia).

I always take (and wear) a tie, because I once suffered the indignity of being mistaken for a Boer. Computer and iPhone cables, of course (and a conversion plug). Vaseline is more versatile than chapstick. A spray can of WD40.

 

[Red Leg]

I can offer an opinion based on only two things: facts and/or experience. I do appreciate all the advice offered by those who have gone before me and take it seriously. Having had a lot of past experience in advising guests and past clients on packing for Alaska, I have a genuine fear of being undergeared that is borne out of experience.

I’ll probably be the minority here, but good, comfortable, technical gear is an area where “less is more” doesn’t fit into my hunting vocabulary. In many places, to be sure, there’s no question less gear is fine. Especially in a well staffed and large camp.

I just wired my final payment and TF money to my outfitter/PH yesterday. In our email exchange he advised us to bring some warm clothes, thermal underwear and an insulated puffy jacket for mornings and evenings as it’s winter in Namibia and overnight temperatures are <32F routinely with daytime temperatures ranging from 70-78F. That’s a significant difference in temperature and, from my experience requires something a little gear than two shirts, two trousers, two pairs of socks. I don’t mind checking a little extra weight on checked luggage. I do mind being miserable on an expensive hunt when the difference between comfort and hell is measured merely in ounces.

I suppose my point is the most experienced person in one’s life on a guided hunt, regardless of location, is the Guide/PH and his experience and opinion should be the only and most important one to ever consider.

My first master guide I worked for once told me “The choice of a guide for a hunt is the second most important relationship a man will ever volunteer for. The first is his wife. A client that ignores his guide is heading for a relationship divorce in the bush from his guide.”

What a Southern African believes requires thermal underwear and what the typical American north of Orlando considers cold tend to be two different things. I have hunted Namibia several times in the central highlands where water bottles froze overnight in the cruiser. By nine AM it will be a late spring day, and by afternoon, early summer. A micro-fleece jacket will be ideal, and if you are still wearing it for an early morning stalk, it is very quiet unlike a puffy jacket.

I would also suggest a scarf (I personally use a tan Arab style Keffiyeh) or neck gaiter and light gloves (leather shotgun shooting gloves are ideal) for the ride out in the morning. The Keffiyeh can also handle sweat later in the day.

The only condition where I might consider thermals would be a late night leopard vigil during the African winter. Though, I did that in August near Omaruru in Nambia's central highlands and found long pants and microfleece just about right.

But yes, listen to your PH and bring anything and everything you feel might be necessary. After the first twenty-four hours, you'll have that particular area's conditions sorted out from your perspective, and after a couple of hunts in Africa, you will have a very firm idea what is actually necessary except for specialized regions like the Delta, rain forest, or tsetse fly country,

 

[Mauser78]

What a Southern African believes requires thermal underwear and what the typical American north of Orlando considers cold tend to be two different things. I have hunted Namibia several times in the central highlands where water bottles froze overnight in the cruiser. By nine AM it will be a late spring day, and by afternoon, early summer. A micro-fleece jacket will be ideal, and if you are still wearing it for an early morning stalk, it is very quiet unlike a puffy jacket.

I would also suggest a scarf (I personally use a tan Arab style Keffiyeh) or neck gaiter and light gloves (leather shotgun shooting gloves are ideal) for the ride out in the morning. The Keffiyeh can also handle sweat later in the day.

The only condition where I might consider thermals would be a late night leopard vigil during the African winter. Though, I did that in August near Omaruru in Nambia's central highlands and found long pants and microfleece just about right.

But yes, listen to your PH and bring anything and everything you feel might be necessary. After the first twenty-four hours, you'll have that particular area's conditions sorted out from your perspective, and after a couple of hunts in Africa, you will have a very firm idea what is actually necessary except for specialized regions like the Delta, rain forest, or tsetse fly country,

That is true, I lived in Montana and Minnesota for two years, and was wearing the snow coveralls already with Temps above freezing. I almost died when the real cold came.
In SA I wear long johns in winter all day if it is under 65 degrees.