Bino Harness for Archery

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I want to get the opinion of guys who've done a lot more spot and stalk hunting than I have. I spooked a buck last summer when my FHF bino harness scratched on a branch. How many of you ditch the protective harnesses like FHF or similar in favor of a simple elastic setup like the Rick Young system?

 

[jdubrr]

I had the FHF and really liked it, but like you thought it was too noisy for archery. Ended up with the ADAK which is way quieter. If I only rifle hunted I would have kept the FHF which I think is slightly better quality IMO

 

[RazzleDazzle]

No complaints with my fhf. In my experience anything can snag/scratch on a branch and cost you a stalk. Get you a "softer or quiter" or more minimal harness and next time the branch will snap instead of scratch. No sense in rethinking your whole system because of it.

 

[Boxerboxer]

No complaints with my fhf. In my experience anything can snag/scratch on a branch and cost you a stalk. Get you a "softer or quiter" or more minimal harness and next time the branch will snap instead of scratch. No sense in rethinking your whole system because of it.

That makes no sense. The twig can snap no matter what harness you run, but the quieter harness gives you better odds if you accidentally brush up against something. We may be talking marginal gains, but if it only takes one weak link to ruin a stalk you might as well fix the ones you have control over.

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[RazzleDazzle]

Makes plenty of sense. Where do you draw the line? By all means I'm all about increasing my odds. But under your direction, than why are guys hunting in solids instead of camo? Camo gives you marginal gains....probly. I wouldn't ditch my awesome bino harness because I made a mistake that could be made with any harness quiet or loud. Maybe the next time the deer doesnt hear it. Just my point of view.

 

[KineKilla]

They make binos to take a beating so I do not see the reason to use a full enclosure harness system. My pants, jacket, vest, pack all have pockets...don't need another one on my chest.

I use the Leupold elastic strap type harness and the factory lens covers on my binos to keep mud, dust and rain off the glass.

 

[Boxerboxer]

Makes plenty of sense. Where do you draw the line? By all means I'm all about increasing my odds. But under your direction, than why are guys hunting in solids instead of camo? Camo gives you marginal gains....probly. I wouldn't ditch my awesome bino harness because I made a mistake that could be made with any harness quiet or loud. Maybe the next time the deer doesnt hear it. Just my point of view.

It's ok to have lines. I have them too. I like marginal gains but I like saving money more. I'll probably run my AGC harness into the ground, and I've killed all but 1 of my deer with at least some solids on. I was really only arguing that the point that you might break a twig has nothing to do with whether you should upgrade your harness. Sounds like our gear aquisition/retention philosophies have a lot in common.

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[Boxerboxer]

They make binos to take a beating so I do not see the reason to use a full enclosure harness system. My pants, jacket, vest, pack all have pockets...don't need another one on my chest.

I use the Leupold elastic strap type harness and the factory lens covers on my binos to keep mud, dust and rain off the glass.

Nothing wrong with that. The reason I like a full harness is I like having places to keep stuff right on my chest for easy access including but not limited to binos. I also like having one flap to open instead of screwing with 4 lens covers. Different strokes.

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[Felix40]

I use a marsupial most of the time but when its time to go on a stalk I switch to the rick young. You need to change out the clips but then its pretty much silent. Plus shooting the recurve with a minimalist harness is easier.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Good stuff to think about guys!
I’ve discovered I don’t really carry much in my bino harness that wouldn’t work as well or better in a pant pocket. Chapstick, a wind checker, and a spare mouth reed are about it. I also can cut 7-8 oz if I go switch to the Rick young style harness. But I was worried about lense protection. I’ve just been curious about what hardcore mule deer hunters use.

 

[RazzleDazzle]

I think it has everything to do with my point. Hunting situations are subjective. The OP made noise and blew a stalk. My point is that he could ditch his fhf for a "quieter" product and the next time it could not make any different at all because next time the twig could snap instead of scratch. Mistakes are usually not a products fault. No need to rethink everything because of a mistake. But if he wants to switch than it may also increase his odds. It's all subjective.

To the guys who think full harnesses arent neccessary, glass is one of my most important tools and for some it's the most expensive investment they make in the field. Protection is important.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I think it has everything to do with my point. Hunting situations are subjective. The OP made noise and blew a stalk. My point is that he could ditch his fhf for a "quieter" product and the next time it could not make any different at all because next time the twig could snap instead of scratch. Mistakes are usually not a products fault. No need to rethink everything because of a mistake. But if he wants to switch than it may also increase his odds. It's all subjective.

To the guys who think full harnesses arent neccessary, glass is one of my most important tools and for some it's the most expensive investment they make in the field. Protection is important.

I have multiple, competing interests here. First of all, I like the idea of saving weight and money by ditching the FHF harness for a minimalist system.

But I value the protection from the full harness. I actually believe body awareness has way more effect on overall noise than the harness used. I was trying to get cute, going for binoculars when I knew I was only thirty yards from the buck.

However, that whole body awareness argument can be flipped on its head. In theory I should be more aware of where my binos are so the lenses don't get scratched. So I shouldn't need the full coverage harness. The quandry definitely isn't black and white.

 

[RazzleDazzle]

Completely agree! I think you found the answer to your own conundrum...I might add further insult to injury by making the simple point that if you take into consideration your body awareness, switching harnesses will not save you any money at all. In fact will cost you money...

 

[CREillY]

I like the FHF full harness for a couple reasons:
- My lens stay cleaner and clearer during snow and rain
- I'm always switching layers, and forgetting things in my pockets. It's really convenient to layer up, grab my harness and bow knowing I have my range finder, binos, havalon, and wind checker exactly where they are supposed to be.

 

[WCB]

For my binos in general I do not use a harness of any kind. I have a long padded camera neck strap (basically what comes with binos just better. I sling it across my chest (head and right are threw the strap). If i'm stalking or traveling binos are basically carried on my right hip...when I need to use them I just grab them and pull them around to my eyes.

If I have to crawl or get low and sneak I swing them around to my back. I have found ZERO negatives to it...I can not stand the bulk of the chest packs and the inability to get them out of my way with the elastic type harnesses.

 

[mavinwa2]

Been using my old AGC Bino harness, storing range finder, wind powder bottle and other needed items in the 4 pockets for over 9 years now.
Never a problem and don’t go without it

 

[S.Clancy]

Depends, on elk where belly crawling is unlikely, I've never had a problem. Antelope, by the time I'm in shooting range I generally have taken off everything but my rangefinder, it's just too uncomfortable to belly crawl with a bino harness, any bino harness.

 

[IDMONK]

The badlands material is very quiet and I like the magnetic closure.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Depends, on elk where belly crawling is unlikely, I've never had a problem. Antelope, by the time I'm in shooting range I generally have taken off everything but my rangefinder, it's just too uncomfortable to belly crawl with a bino harness, any bino harness.

The last time I had to belly crawl was pre bino harness days. Pretty sure I left my binos with my pack. I miss antelope hunting. Need to put in again somewhere.

 

[BColt]

I use the FHF also, which I really like. However I have blown 2 stalks one on a antelope and one on a mule deer. Both of which were not the fault of my harness, but my inexperience on what not to do when in the red zone. Once the flap fell closed and made a slight pop when closing and the other, while unstrapping the elastic cord off the hook. I made a couple small modifications to help lessen the noise the next time, but it is possible to operate it quietly. Operator error in my case for sure.