Bino harness opinions

[Rick M.]

Both my enclosed Marsupial and Stone Glacier harnesses are currently in the 'in progress, running late' phase with USPS. I was supposed to get them both in yesterday. I am looking forward to getting my hands on both of them to do a comparison. I'll update if I ever get them from USPS.

 

[Fatcamp]

Been using an FHF for a couple years. I like it but the lid makes noise and when stalking under 100 yards it's too much for me.

Ordered an enclosed Marsupial to try. We shall see.

 

[scott_co]

I had the original Kuiu bino harness, and the Pro model is a nice step up.

I don't have any issues using it one handed while bow hunting. The two side pockets are easy for me to use such as putting a wind checker into one handed, and carrying a bear whistle/compass in the other side pocket.

I agree with earlier comment that the front pocket is a little tight to be of much use. If I don't put my hunting license in a carrying case, I can keep it in the front pocket, but that's about it.

And I do like the overall fit and function. The strap redesign keeps the harness closer to your chest when the binos are out of the case, and are held safe and securely when inside. They are a great fit for my Vortex Razor HD binos, and hope they fit a new pair of Swaro NL 10x42's.

 

[Brush Buster]

Really love my outdoor vision. I use them for my 10x42 SLCs. Very compact and comfortable. Fully enclosed and easy to open and the magnets are quiet. Never worry about the binos falling out as it is a very secure harness. Just enough pockets to make it very useful but not too many to make it cumbersome and bulky. I won’t be getting another harness anytime soon.

 

[gclubb02]

I like my agc alaska classic a lot and just ordered the kiss to cut down on bulk for bowhunting. Great products by an even better company

 

[Fatcamp]

Got my Marsupial. Did the buckle delete and got the front hooks to hang my bow from which is an awesome idea.

Need a piece of foam to boost up my binos a hair, but it's not necessary.

Now to spend some time with them.

 

[HoneyDew]

Both my enclosed Marsupial and Stone Glacier harnesses are currently in the 'in progress, running late' phase with USPS. I was supposed to get them both in yesterday. I am looking forward to getting my hands on both of them to do a comparison. I'll update if I ever get them from USPS.

Any update?

 

[Rick M.]

Any update?

I actually ended up keeping the Marsupial and returning the SG Skyline. It could just be that I'm more familiar/comfortable with the Marsupial, but I personally felt that it was more refined, polished, and simple. The one-handed option is a complete breeze and their magnetic enclosure system is brilliant.

With the SG, I toiled with setup for quite a bit trying to get the sizing right via the front velcro and back plate. When following the guidelines on the included fit card everything was way to tight for my NLs. I believe this is due to the fact that the fit instructions rely on the total length of the binocular, but don't/can't account for the girth of a given binocular (there is a finite/set amount of space within the binocular enclosure that will affect the final fit of a given set of binoculars).

Once I finally got the velcro/sizing dialed in, I just couldn't get the enclosure to open/close easily with one hand. Even when I loosened up the shock cords, operating the lid would tend to take enough force to lift the harness off of my chest a bit, resulting in what felt like chasing around the binos on my chest when trying to open/close the lid.

There is also what feels like a carbon tube in the top section of the enclosure (which is what you would pull up and over your binos to secure them and close off the lid), and it always seemed to get hung up on my eye cups and also never seemed to come up and over my binos straight (it would always end up crooked or diagonal across the top of the eyecups, forcing me to use my other hand to straighten out the carbon rod and tuck it over and behind the eyecups). I also found that the material, while lightweight and waterproof, would have to be finagled with to lay right. If you simply close the lid with one hand, things just don't end up laying right. It's a very hard thing to put into words, and one would have to just know what I'm talking about. Perhaps the material gets better with use and just needed to be broken in a bit.

In the end, I found that the Marsupial harness required zero setup along with simple, repeatable, and reliable one-handed operation. That being said, there are several things that I like more with the Skylines. First, the buckles are quite a bit larger on the Marsupial harness than on the SG (I much prefer the lower profile buckle system on the SG). Another plus for SG is the single point of attachment for your safety tether. I love the idea. Lastly, the built-in waterproof lid on the SG harness and rangefinder pouch is awesome. With the Marsupial, I will need to purchase a separate rain cover for the harness (and they don't even offer one for the rangefinder pouch). Not even having to think about anything when the rain starts is just fantastic. SG nailed in on many fronts.

SG is a fantastic company and this is their first iteration of a bino harness. I'm sure things will improve and they will refine the system, but for me, I just couldn't force myself to love them - as much as I wanted to.

I hope this helps.

Edit: I wanted to add one more thing. Padding. The Marsupial has padding in the lid, giving your eyecups quite a bit of security. There is no padding in the SG lid, it's just a thin layer of fabric that lays across your eyecups. Forgot to mention that as one of the other things that I disliked about the SG Skyline.

 

[Rick M.]

Got my Marsupial. Did the buckle delete and got the front hooks to hang my bow from which is an awesome idea.

Need a piece of foam to boost up my binos a hair, but it's not necessary.

Now to spend some time with them.

I didn't even know they offered a 'buckle delete' system. I need to check that out. How has it been working for you?

 

[Fatcamp]

I didn't even know they offered a 'buckle delete' system. I need to check that out. How has it been working for you?

Good. Just wearing around the house but that top buckle delete gets rid of a bunch of junk up top.

 

[Rick M.]

Good. Just wearing around the house but that top buckle delete gets rid of a bunch of junk up top.

Awesome. Thanks for putting that on my radar. The enlarged buckled are one of my complaints regarding the Marsupial system.

 

[Fatcamp]

Awesome. Thanks for putting that on my radar. The enlarged buckled are one of my complaints regarding the Marsupial system.

No worries. I heard about it here.

Buckle Delete Kit

Want to reduce the footprint of the top side release buckles on your pack? You can replace the top two buckles on our packs with our gatekeeper ladderlock buckles. Quick open design maintains the ability to disconnect the harness and use with multiple packs. The smaller footprint allows the...

www.marsupialgear.com

Might as well check out the bow hooks too.

 

[Rick M.]

No worries. I heard about it here.

Buckle Delete Kit

Want to reduce the footprint of the top side release buckles on your pack? You can replace the top two buckles on our packs with our gatekeeper ladderlock buckles. Quick open design maintains the ability to disconnect the harness and use with multiple packs. The smaller footprint allows the...

www.marsupialgear.com

Might as well check out the bow hooks too.

I have those already

Love the newer model that uses the mole on the bottom allowing you to set your bow horizontally in front of you. The older non-enclosed pack went off to the side.


One last question. I usually only unbuckle one buckle to get the harness off and on (my left side torso buckle). The other one always stays clipped in. I'm wondering if I could buckle delete that right torso buckle that I always keep closed anyhow. Does that make sense?

 

[Fatcamp]

I have those already

Love the newer model that uses the mole on the bottom allowing you to set your bow horizontally in front of you. The older non-enclosed pack went off to the side.


One last question. I usually only unbuckle one buckle to get the harness off and on (my left side torso buckle). The other one always stays clipped in. I'm wondering if I could buckle delete that right torso buckle that I always keep closed anyhow. Does that make sense?

I swapped out those side buckles with regular ones too. I had extras from some Molle2 bags I repurposed. My right side is all connected with an FHF rangefinder case. I can't stand the buckles it came with. They just are a hassle AFAIC.

 

[blacktail sniper]

does anyone know if the SG or Marsupial will fit the 10x42 leica goevid HBs? I have an AGC and love them but a touch bulky and with cups screwed out wont quite close

 

[Timberline001]

I’ve tried all of them and keep the marsupial full enclosed. It can’t be beat for me personally.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fatcamp]

does anyone know if the SG or Marsupial will fit the 10x42 leica goevid HBs? I have an AGC and love them but a touch bulky and with cups screwed out wont quite close

They have a list on their website for fitment.

 

[blacktail sniper]

just saw it..thnx a bunch

 

[Anglo-American]

I used the Adak for part of a season coming from an AGC. It's a solid harness but I had two issues with it and went back to the AGC as a personal preference (I've since bought an enclosed Marsupial and that is my new favorite).

Issue 1 with the Adak was that it really has no storage for anything other than the binos. The side stretch pockets are worthless for anything other than a mouth call. My wind checker wouldn't even fit well or stay in the pockets and coming from all the storage of an AGC I had a hard time adapting to that.

Issue 2 likely had more to do with my large binos (Maven B.2's) but they just weren't very secure in there. I never had them come out but they frequently bounced around and caused the top to come loose in rough downhill sections while hiking. The forward opening design that doesn't use magnets was appealing but there execution just didn't work that well with my larger binoculars. Maybe with a smaller set it wouldn't be an issue but it bothered me.

Other than those two issues it is a really quiet harness that you can operate with one hand. The low profile harness also stays put fairly well and is comfortable to wear. If you don't need extra storage and have smaller binos it is probably a really good option for you, especially at the Camofire pricing.

To me, the enclosed Marsipial solved all my issues with the Adak and had all the other benefits of being more quiet, lower profile, forward opening, more storage options, etc. My only hesitation is with the magnets messing up a compass, but knowing that going in I'll just take precautions and be fine. Otherwise the magnets are really secure and quiet. It's a more expensive harness but is really comfortable, stays put and works well for what I need.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Magnets interplay with your heart, as well as a compass.
It's dodgy.

 

[PowPowHawg]

I run AGC with both my Leica 10s and Swaro 15s… I’ve Now ran them for years and nothing else so I’m somewhat biased… They seem somewhat larger in mass compared to other But I like carrying more shit that I typically use…