Binocular Harness Head to Head

[12kAhres]

I know I'm the relatively new kid on these forums but I think the Recon harness really needs to be included here if it's not too late. I'm hearing and seeing a lot of good things.

 

[Llama32]

I second that
I picked up a recon and a T&K

 

[Holmes]

@Zach Herold how's this test going?

I just spent a week in the Chugach. My Mystery Ranch soaked through by rain, sweat, or wet bushwhacking most days, per usual.

My buddy kept soaking right through his new Badlands harness with sweat everyday. He'd pull his binos out and find them slick with sweat and the lenses fully steamed under the caps.

Same issues I've had with the Vortex/AGC harness in the past.

I'd really love to know what bino harness doesn't sweat through on the back, or get saturated from the front when wet bushwhacking.

 

[Seeknelk]

@Zach Herold how's this test going?

I just spent a week in the Chugach. My Mystery Ranch soaked through by rain, sweat, or wet bushwhacking most days, per usual.

My buddy kept soaking right through his new Badlands harness with sweat everyday. He'd pull his binos out and find them slick with sweat and the lenses fully steamed under the caps.

Same issues I've had with the Vortex/AGC harness in the past.

I'd really love to know what bino harness doesn't sweat through on the back, or get saturated from the front when wet bushwhacking.

Sounds like you need one made of 100 percent rubber! Curious if you used a rain cover on the harness at all?
Seems like it would keep water from the rain and brush out but trap sweat that gets in the back.

 

[goathunter]

Excited to see the results of this. Also interested in the TK harness. Don't forget the "galloping horse test."

 

[Nick992]

How do you like the recon?
I'm a fan of eberlestock, but I haven't seen it in stores to hold.
Have you tried holstering a pistol on the underside?

 

[Ashenwelt]

I played with and some non-field testing of the following myself:

1. ALPS OutdoorZ Extreme Bino Harness X
2. Badlands Bino C
3. Badlands Bino XR
4. Badlands Bino X
5. Terrain Plateau Bino Case with Harness by Allen
6. Vortex Optics Glasspak Binocular Harness
7. Vortex Optics Guide Binopack (the one made by Alaska Guide Creations)
8. Alaska Guide Creations Kodiak Cub Gen L
9. Alaska Guide Creations Ravus
10. Marsupial Gear (Enclosed)
11. Muley Freak Traverse Bino Harness 2.0 (least looked at, too big for me)
12. Kuiu Pro Bino Harness

Bought the Kuu Pro. Runner-up was the Alaska Guide Creations Kodiak Cub Gen L. But I use an Athlon Cronus 10x42 and a Bushnell Broadhead. The Kuiu was just a better and more stable platform.

Love to read these reviews. Hope to see it.

 

[evergreenethos]

It would be interesting to add the Vortex or Leupold to your list. The Vortex is available for 29.99 on Amazon so it is very available (and sometimes comes with the glass) and the Leupold for those who focus on Leupold... okay it's harder to argue Leupold but Vortex is simply so cheap and available.

I am pretty sure the Leupold harnesses are just whitelabeled Marsupial non-enclosed packs

 

[Ashenwelt]

I am pretty sure the Leupold harnesses are just whitelabeled Marsupial non-enclosed packs

Scheels staff flat out said the same. In fact they had Leupold accessories and not Marsupial... and clarified they were the same.

 

[merthussein]

There's a lot I like about the Sitka Mountain harness but there are 3 main things that constantly bother me:
1. How hot it gets wearing it in warmer weather
2. The strap system - for me despite being thin and theoretically unobtrusive, it in fact often gets pinched under pack and restricts motion or applies a lot of weight on my traps and gets twisted and tangled a lot. It's just not as comfortable as I expected.
3. It rides very low (around stomach) unless I tighten all the straps a lot which then makes point 2. even worse.

I am toying with selling the Sitka and picking up the Marsupial Enclosed. Curious as to the results of your review.

 

[Slimsawyer]

Anyone know a rangefinder pouch that’s would fit a 4x4 inch rangefinder. The ones I tried at scheels were all to small (marsupial, badlands, leupold, akg)


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[Fjellvei]

Curious which one OP finds to be best WRT moisture resistance.

Annually I plan a vinegar soak and wash for the harness to reset the smells.....

I have the FHF chest rig and like it, and the alps one for just casual shooting. But am poised to grab a stone glacier or marsupial as next one to replace the alps.

 

[TheBootBowhunting]

Anyone know a rangefinder pouch that’s would fit a 4x4 inch rangefinder. The ones I tried at scheels were all to small (marsupial, badlands, leupold, akg)


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Marsupial makes a larger RF pouch that fits giant RFs like the Maven RF1 and the Vortex 4000. If your RF is larger than the Maven RF1, you need to buy a backpack just for it.


Marsupial only makes 1 harness for Leupold, and its a Medium Non Enclosed version that you typically have to buy separately. Last year or the year before they did a promotion that if you bought certain leupold binos during a certain time period, you could go through Leupold to get one of the Marsupial made harnesses. Marsupial has nothing to do with the harnesses that come standard with Leupold binos.

 

[Yaremkiv]

Too bad not many of those fit the UHD 10x/12x50's.

 

[Zach Herold]

Well with elk season a little over a month away I hope the reviews comes out soon

Sorry about that, I am still currently testing them.

 

[Zach Herold]

@Zach Herold I'd really like to know about how each harness does with rain, pushing through wet brush, and heavy sweating.

I like the design of my Mystery Ranch harness, but it wets out in the rain. I have even found my binos wet and steamed up from sweat soaking through the back of the harness.

Despite this, I still like the design better than the AK Guide Creations, Vortex, Badlands, and Sitka models I've tried in stores.

My results will have this information in there!

 

[Zach Herold]

They aren’t out yet, I would assume Zach is doing the comparison justice and actually testing them all in the field so he has a valuable real world review

Having had both, personally, it’s not even close for me, I like the marsupial a lot and didn’t like the stone glacier at all… the stone may be fine with small light binos, but for full size glass, there are a bunch of stuff that I didn’t like

Thought the stone was going to be the perfect harness for me until I tried one… I didn’t even try to sell mine, just gave it to a buddy.

The marsupial is my favorite on the market, I think the second gen outdoor vision has some potential too, I like the first gen, but it’s a little bulky, they pretty much seemed to make the refinements I didn’t care for, and I’ll probably get one soon to try

Some of it will come down to personal preference and the hunting you do

There are a lot to choose from, and surprisingly, none have really seemed to “nail it” on design, but the marsupial is my favorite compromise currently

Thanks for understanding that testing them all takes a lot of time I appreciate it!

 

[Zach Herold]

@Zach Herold how's this test going?

I just spent a week in the Chugach. My Mystery Ranch soaked through by rain, sweat, or wet bushwhacking most days, per usual.

My buddy kept soaking right through his new Badlands harness with sweat everyday. He'd pull his binos out and find them slick with sweat and the lenses fully steamed under the caps.

Same issues I've had with the Vortex/AGC harness in the past.

I'd really love to know what bino harness doesn't sweat through on the back, or get saturated from the front when wet bushwhacking.

I haven't had an issue with any of them sweating through the back, nor have I been able to walk through much wet vegetation bush-whacking. I will end up doing a simulated test to check how they do in water.

 

[Zach Herold]

Excited to see the results of this. Also interested in the TK harness. Don't forget the "galloping horse test."

Seriously thought ha ha no one wants to be smacked in the chin by their harness.

 

[Zach Herold]

Anyone know a rangefinder pouch that’s would fit a 4x4 inch rangefinder. The ones I tried at scheels were all to small (marsupial, badlands, leupold, akg)


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I think that the sitka harness might work for that.