2024 gear review...what worked and what didn't?

[gps4]

What worked well:

-Crispi boots
-22yr old Filson Uplander boots
-Garmin Pro 550+ collar
-Filson vest
-Costa sunglasses
-H&H paper shotshells (12b 1oz #6)
-RST paper shotshells (16b 1oz #6)
-2023 GMC Sierra Truck (I have the 6.2L and it is now under recall)
-145 year old London made SxS 12ga
-Browning White Lightening in 16ga
-Gunner kennel
-The dog
-Kuiu Upland pants

What didn't work:
-Hatfield SAS 28ga - giant POS!

tell me more about the problems you had with the Hatfield.

 

[airmedic1]

What worked well:

-Crispi boots
-22yr old Filson Uplander boots
-Garmin Pro 550+ collar
-Filson vest
-Costa sunglasses
-H&H paper shotshells (12b 1oz #6)
-RST paper shotshells (16b 1oz #6)
-2023 GMC Sierra Truck (I have the 6.2L and it is now under recall)
-145 year old London made SxS 12ga
-Browning White Lightening in 16ga
-Gunner kennel
-The dog
-Kuiu Upland pants

What didn't work:
-Hatfield SAS 28ga - giant POS!

Good luck with your 6.2L! Two of my friends have them and are having oil consumption issues. The dealership wants to change from 0w20 to 0w40 but the say the oil fill caps with the 0w40 label are unavailable. I hope they get it fixed for you!

 

[LC Smith]

Good luck with your 6.2L! Two of my friends have them and are having oil consumption issues. The dealership wants to change from 0w20 to 0w40 but the say the oil fill caps with the 0w40 label are unavailable. I hope they get it fixed for you!

I’ve got just over 15k miles and it has run really well. I hope it is just an oil change and I get to move on.

 

[LC Smith]

tell me more about the problems you had with the Hatfield.

Failures to feed and eject. The dog arm spring keeps popping off. Hatfield out of business and can’t get new owners to communicate regarding warranty work. All comms with them were initiated three months before expiration of warranty. I’ll play with it when I have time to mess with it. It can’t get any worse. It’s a shame because I have pulled the trigger four times on four birds and all have fallen. It just won’t cycle.

 

[Boch0627]

I have a pair of these from an old Quilomene vest. They have a flap cover but they aren’t very deep and I remember they collected a lot of junk too. The other thing as you can see is the attachment straps are wider than the Molle attachment slots. I’ve been looking at Molle pouches but haven’t found anything that I like that I think would work. I also bought the low profile chest harness because I didn’t like the padded one and I’m not sure I want to keep pouring money into it.

View attachment 10518
View attachment 10516

Check out the she'll pouch from Cheif Upland. I have the Marsupial gear strap vest and like you didn't like the zipper pouch.
I ordered the shell pouch from cheif upland and it is the molle system and fits perfectly. It has the magnetic flap that's easy to open and closes it's self.

 

[UplandHntr]

Worked well: Browning Sweet 16 A-5, Boss 16 ga. #5's, Columbia Upland jacket (at least 20 years old, still going strong), Red Wing Wingshooter insulated boots (very comfortable and durable), Newt, my 5 1/2 year old Yellow Lab--great retriever/cripple finder, 2024 Suburban Z-71 (amazed that it averaged about 18 mpg for a 1500 mile round trip), Ruffland kennel-new this year, roomy, great protective Pheasants Forever cover from Scheels.

Did not work well: My son's Weatherby 28 ga. autoloader

curious about your '24 Suburban. Im on my 4th z71 Suburban and am ready for a new something. Im convinced that very very few people still use them as a truck anymore.
Im now convinced I have to get something else as a result of the A arms on the rear suspension after going to the independent rear suspension in '21. The arms look like they are 4" off the ground and my mind tells me I will constantly be dragging them when going through anything deep or thick. I do a lot of very stupid things with my Suburbans.
Any issues with those A arms in your opinion? Have you taken yours off road enough to put it to the test?

 

[matto]

curious about your '24 Suburban. Im on my 4th z71 Suburban and am ready for a new something. Im convinced that very very few people still use them as a truck anymore.
Im now convinced I have to get something else as a result of the A arms on the rear suspension after going to the independent rear suspension in '21. The arms look like they are 4" off the ground and my mind tells me I will constantly be dragging them when going through anything deep or thick. I do a lot of very stupid things with my Suburbans.
Any issues with those A arms in your opinion? Have you taken yours off road enough to put it to the test?

I've had 3 Suburbans or Yukon XLs. IMO, the best one for bird hunting was the last one with the removable 3rd row. I think that was like 2015. Oh Well.

My kids are out of the house now so I downsized to a 23 Tahoe Z71, purchased new in November of 22. Going into it I had the same thoughts as you about the rear suspension. After three seasons it's only been an issue once. It was a deeply rutted muddy road that was really just a two-track. I managed to get unstuck using all the normal tricks, but not until I found the button to override all the traction control features. Other than that one time, I have occasionally heard/felt a little drag from those arms, but it's never been an issue.

The Ford Expedition and the Jeep Wagoneer have the same type of suspension. I agree that the vast majority are mostly grocery-getters and youth sports team movers. I drive 35k/year, and 95%+ is paved or well-maintained roads. Smooth ride and low road noise are very important, so that eliminates all the vehicles truly built for off-road use.

I have a tick over 90k on my Tahoe right now, so I'm starting the process. For a variety of other reasons, I want to get away from GM vehicles. I'm going to look at the Armada, Sequoia, and Expedition. Tahoe, Expedition, Armada, Sequoia all have very similar wheelbases and overall lengths, but they have very different listed cargo volumes. The sales people will probably raise an eyebrow when I insist that I put my two dog kennels in the back before looking at anything else.

 

[Westok]

Great stuff. My things that worked. I got a go pro 11. I came back from the hunt I took it on wondering why I didn’t use it every time I got out of the truck.

 

[Wolfchief]

I bought the '24 Suburban in May of 2024. I really love it; it's about perfect for the outdoor activities I do. My son and I took it to South Dakota and had it off road for several days there but we didn't do any heavy duty mud bogging. It doesn't seem to make sense to take a $94,000 vehicle and see how rough you can treat it. We continued to hunt in NW Iowa and Illinois and had no problems. I really like the room it provides for guns, gear and dogs and it was more comfortable that my pickup truck. A bonus in my opinion was the average gas mileage on the trip was over 19 mpg. It has the 350 V-8 engine. Don't drive it much, it has about 9850 miles on it now.