Fieldtesting - Dubarry's versatile shooting coats and boots

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If there are two key items of apparel (OK, three if you want to be pedantic) that you need to get right to ensure you’re comfortable, dry and warm on a shoot day, it's your boots and your shooting coat. It may seem like stating the obvious, but shoot days involve being outdoors - frequently in fairly miserable weather - a good deal of walking on muddy, slippery, uneven and often vertiginous terrain, not to mention a fair bit of standing around.

This means that your coat must be waterproof and windproof, but also breathable, and to ensure you give yourself the best chance of shooting well (and I need all the help I can get in that department) it must offer sufficient freedom of movement to enable an easy, repeatable gun mount and swing. And then there’s all the stuff we have discussed before about pockets and suchlike. Similarly your boots need to be warm, waterproof, hardwearing, offer good traction on wet and rough ground, have decent ankle support, and be comfortable enough that you can be on your feet for long periods of time.

In mid-October I spent a full three days in a row out in the field. On the Thursday I was at Plas Dinam, observing a day for an article; on Friday I was shooting with some of the GunsOnPegs crew in Herefordshire, and on the Saturday I was shooting at our little family shoot in Hampshire. This presented me with a good opportunity to try out some new kit, as earlier that week I had been kindly sent Dubarry’s new Rosleague shooting coat and a pair of their famous boots to review. The shoots - and the weather conditions - could not have been a more ideal test.

Review: Wexford country boots by Dubarry

Let’s begin from the ground up. For many years I have looked at Dubarry’s ‘country boots’ with hunger - I loved the stylish design and clever use of materials, but being an impecunious wordsmith, I always had to make do with what I called “knock-off Dubarries” from the local agricultural supply merchants. They were great, but having now been able to compare the two, I can see why the Dubarry Wexford country boots command the price tag. From the materials to the construction to the details, they out-compete the knock-offs in every way. 

The walnut coloured leather offsets the GunsOnPegs Podcast Garters very nicely
(Photo credit: Sarah Farnsworth)

But looks and design are one thing… what about performance? It is always a nervy experience breaking out a new set of wheels on the morning of a shoot. Boots without mud and a few scuffs are like shiny, dent-free 4x4s: the mark of an arriviste. That the team of Guns I would be following for the day were, to a man, wearing lace-up boots of the kind favoured by deer stalkers, gave me further cause for concern. Would the steep terrain of Powys be too much for my new clodhoppers?

I need not have worried - barring one witticism from a loader about needing to kick a few bricks and get the boots looking a bit more lived in - the boots neither drew criticism for their box-freshness, nor deposited me on my backside once in the whole three days. The deep tread on the soles of the boots kept me safely upright throughout, despite tackling mountainsides, gorges and gullies, not to mention tracks slick with a surface coating of mud over hard-baked earth, while the solid construction and supportive leather of the heel box and upper provided great ankle-support.

Breathable, waterproof boots

GORE-TEX lined, the boots are breathable, though with thick shooting socks this could be seen as somewhat academic. However, breathability is just half of the picture when it comes to GORE-TEX - waterproofing is the other. I had a perfect opportunity to test this out when at Plas Dinam, one drive saw the guns lined out down the length of a cavernous gorge, complete with gushing mountain stream, into which one of the guns landed a partridge. I gamely shoved a foot shin-deep into the torrent to retrieve it, confident that I wouldn't need to wring out my socks afterwards.

One of the features of the Wexford boots that I loved was the full length zip, which makes getting the boots on and off a breeze. Now in my late 30s, with a lockdown belly still hanging around and a bad back owing to lugging around my small children, I prefer not to have to struggle with my footwear too much.

The zip helped to do away with too much undignified hopping around or grunting, even though the leather of the upper was still pretty stiff. I’m sure it will soften over time and the boots will become even easier to put on. Since then I’ve also found the unzipped boots great for shoving on to take the bins out or to feed the chickens, the wide ‘bellows’ opening making the question of whether to fold one’s trouserleg or tuck it into one’s sock, or just cram it in, a thing of the past.

What’s more, even though the Wexfords were spanking new, and despite wearing them for three days on the bounce, and clocking up about 20km, I didn't experience any of the discomfort one might expect from a new pair of leather boots. If I had a complaint it would be that the soles, particularly under the heel, could potentially have a fraction more give in them, but as complaints go it is a minor one. 

BUY THE WEXFORD COUNTRY BOOTS NOW

Review: The Rosleague shooting coat by Dubarry

Over the last couple of years I’ve tried a few different shooting coats, from tweedy ones to high-tech ones, not to mention the dozens I owned before joining GunsOnPegs. They’re a foxy thing to get right. However, I’m not lying when I say that the Rosleague - one of four products in Dubarry's range of fieldcoats for men and women - that Dubarry sent me is at the very least in my all-time top three. 

Like the boots, one of the key components of the Rosleague is the GORE-TEX Z-liner. This lightweight, waterproof and breathable fabric is what helps keep the coat from being too bulky (something I have found problematic with tweed coats and those designed for cooler conditions with lots of insulating fill) while still keeping one warm and dry. Also contributing to this are the woolen cuffs, which prevent the weather from creeping up one’s sleeves - a wholly unpleasant experience when it happens - and a good big collar lined with a soft material to keep the wind off one’s neck. 

Cool when warm; warm when cold; dry when wet

Over the course of the three days in the field the weather was largely sunny, but with a frequently chilly wind, especially first thing in the morning, and with several squally showers. Throughout I was warm without being hot, even when walking between drives on day two, and remained resolutely dry. This weekend we were subjected to more of these monsoon-like downpours we’ve had rather a lot of this autumn, and despite the intensity of the rain, the GORE-TEX did its job admirably.

The outer shell of the coat is made from a sturdy poly/nylon blend that looks tough, and is tough. In Wales, doing my best impression of Sarah Farnsworth, I adopted all kinds of weird positions to take photos - leaning on trees, rocky banks, and even lying - full length - on the ground. Neither thorn, nor stone, nor mud nor moisture troubled me, though I shall now need to make use of the coat’s machine washable credentials to get some of the Welsh landscape off.

On the days when I was armed with shotgun rather than camera, I was very happy with the Rosleague. Although I shot pretty badly on both occasions, I am sadly unable to place the blame on the coat. Being so lightweight and un-bulky, mounting my gun felt fluid and easy, while the ‘ergonomic sleeve design’ meant that the freedom of movement was perfect.

Although I don’t usually load from my pocket, for these days I felt that I ought to, in order to properly test the cartridge pockets (Oh, the sacrifices I make!). Although perhaps not as capacious as those on other coats I have worn, these had nice big openings, so there was not too much fumbling, and the vital pocket-flap-strap ensured that I could access the cartridges nice and easily. While we’re talking about pockets, the handwarmer pockets on the Rosleague, so important when one is waiting on the peg at the start of a drive, are among the comfiest and warmest I’ve encountered.

Available only in ‘Ivy green’, it is perhaps a little less versatile than a tweed coat might be; I don’t think I would wear it in town on all but the dampest of days, but as a shooting coat it is admirable - light and breathable enough for walked up shooting or long dog walks, yet warm enough for standing on the peg. I dare say one could even beat in it.

Given that I was testing it in October, I can’t really vouch for its insulatory credentials, but not having a “fill” makes me suspect that on colder late-season days you’d need to employ some layering to ensure that you kept warm.

BUY THE ROSLEAGUE FIELDCOAT NOW

Worth every penny

The Wexford boots, priced at £399, are definitely at the upper end of the scale cost-wise, but then, they’re also at the top end in terms of materials and build-quality. Conversely, the Rosleague coat, at £449 is probably slightly cheaper than other “premium” high-tech shooting coats, but without any noticeable drop in quality and performance. Smart, comfortable and warm, I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending both products to anyone - they’ve stood up to everything I have thrown at them thus far, and I’m confident that they’ll take much more.

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