Marsupial vs Outdoor Vision Bino Harness

[Where's Bruce?]

Do have the newest model Bruce? Post up a picture I looked at the new one at the expo but think it was all that impressive for the money

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Yes, it's the new one and I totally agree with you, when I first picked it up I thought, "...this flimsy FN thing ain't gonna work." The other bivys are far more robust. Then I wore em in the field. Light is better. No "SNAP" if you're careless with the magnetic lid, full containment and you can slide the lid inside the zipper handle and secure it in the open position in a variety of ways. Less on your chest is less sweat. Ounces = pounds. Comfort factor is important. I was surprised too. Use the FHF for years.

 

[Rafttohunt]

I have had the FHF, the OV and the Marsupial. I kept the Marsupial as I believe it is the best design of the 3.

 

[jm1607]

I have the FHF and OV.. Never had the Marsupial.

I love the FHF BUT I don't like the direction it opens..

The OV is also a little quieter than the FHF..

I'm keeping the OV and selling the FHF soon.. If anyone wants it PM me lol

 

[fnf01]

So to resurrect a thread as I’m deciding between these two right now. Does anyone know why marsupial kept so much open space instead of say extend the sides up the pouch to be as tall as the back but not sewn to the lid on front so it still opens just the same? Keep the same front flap open design but make it a more “full coverage”. I like the marsupial better right now than OV but if the side walls where taller and they had a bottom zipper like the OV with detachable rain cover it wouldn’t even be a contest.

To me both of those “fixes” seem like no brainers. Anyone with maybe more insight know why we haven’t seen that? I don’t see higher sides interfering with the Bino tethers they would just move up or to the front between the lid.

Edit: Also anyone had the magnets mess up cell phones, rangefinders, gps screens, ranging Binos? Heard the compass issues and not concerned with that, but more destructive stuff, I stupidly put a magnet on a computer screen in elementary school and turned it to black mess so just always cautious now lol.

 

[cornfedkiller]

So to resurrect a thread as I’m deciding between these two right now. Does anyone know why marsupial kept so much open space instead of say extend the sides up the pouch to be as tall as the back but not sewn to the lid on front so it still opens just the same? Keep the same front flap open design but make it a more “full coverage”. I like the marsupial better right now than OV but if the side walls where taller and they had a bottom zipper like the OV with detachable rain cover it wouldn’t even be a contest.

To me both of those “fixes” seem like no brainers. Anyone with maybe more insight know why we haven’t seen that? I don’t see higher sides interfering with the Bino tethers they would just move up or to the front between the lid.

Edit: Also anyone had the magnets mess up cell phones, rangefinders, gps screens, ranging Binos? Heard the compass issues and not concerned with that, but more destructive stuff, I stupidly put a magnet on a computer screen in elementary school and turned it to black mess so just always cautious now lol.

I think they left the sides short because its easier to grab your binos that way. I don't have a ton of time with mine in the field yet, but I havent had any issues with debris. If you shoot an email to the company, they are super fast to respond and will likely give you their reasoning for not making the sides higher.

And other than the magnet messing with a compass, I haven't had any issues, and certainly nothing destructive.

 

[OutdoorAg]

I ordered the Marsupial yesterday. If you have any reservations, I’ll give it a run when it arrives.

I’m also very interested in trying the Marsupial with my Hill People Gear kit bag harness. I went ahead and ordered the Marsupial with its harness straps so I can compare both harness types. Doing this for no other reason than I have the HPG harness, used it for years, and like it a lot. May not be a good fit for the Marsupial, but I’ll find out.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I ordered the Marsupial yesterday. If you have any reservations, I’ll give it a run when it arrives.

I’m also very interested in trying the Marsupial with my Hill People Gear kit bag harness. I went ahead and ordered the Marsupial with its harness straps so I can compare both harness types. Doing this for no other reason than I have the HPG harness, used it for years, and like it a lot. May not be a good fit for the Marsupial, but I’ll find out.

There's a pretty sweet buckle modification in the DIY section that is a big improvement for the marsupial.

 

[mtnhmr]

HPG needs to sell their harness without their kit bag.

+vote OV, debated between both, looks like a few more storage compartments with the OV over Marsupial.

Tough decision man.

 

[OutdoorAg]

There's a pretty sweet buckle modification in the DIY section that is a big improvement for the marsupial.

Yep I’ve got some g hook buckles waiting to give this harness swaparoo a try. Going to keep one buckle on the chest, change the other 3 to G hooks.

 

[OutdoorAg]

Finally got the kiddos to bed and opened up my Marsupial box. After adjusting the straps and dropping in my 8x32 ELs, here is my take:

1) This is a very well made product. Every stitch is tight. All buckets are quality. The foliage color is consistent from the webbing to the buckets to the codura. I have a few items from Hill People Gear, and I consider HPG to be some of the highest quality, USA made gear. What Marsupial is offering is an HPG equivalent. Well done. Very good quality control.

2) If you want light, tight, just right - this is your bino harness. It does not look like a chest rig capable of carrying 3 AR mags, a radio, maps, etc. It has 1 job - to hold and protect your binos without adding weight and bulk. And it does that job well. With 2 small side pouches, a chest facing pouch, and a forward facing zipper pouch, there isn't much room to store "stuff", and thats what I wanted.

3) The chest facing pouch is a nice spot to slip the iPhone. I didn't find the front facing zipper pouch to be roomy enough to hold a phone. This is the iPhone XS. Maybe that front zipper pocket will break in some, but as I currently see it - thats a place to hold an ID, license, some orange flagging, pair of ear plugs - something small and flat-ish.

4) I've seen the thread where people are ditching the chest buckles for wave lock G-hooks. I'm not 100% sure yet if I'm sold on that customization. I pulled those upper buckles all the way snug - right up to the tab where the safety straps connect. With no slack in the line, I experienced no twisting. More testing will tell the tale, but right now I'm sticking with the factory configuration.

5) Safety tethers....jury is still out. Not sure if I'll use these at all. It would be nice if the upper portion of the tether was adjustable. As they currently sit with my set-up, the tethers are too long. When I drop my ELs down, they nearly hang below the pouch. Part of this is me having the harness snugged up to get the pouch high and tight. I'll be considering ways to alter the tethers if I choose to use them. My gut is to leave them behind, have one less set of lines running across my chest.

Thats about all I can say for the first 15 min with the pouch. Its always nice to feel like you got your monies worth. I feel like I did, and supported an American company along the way.

As a side note - I splurged and bought myself one of their belts. This will result in a few of my other webbing belts finding the trash can. This is a great, comfortable belt and I really like the G-hook design.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I've seen the thread where people are ditching the chest buckles for wave lock G-hooks. I'm not 100% sure yet if I'm sold on that customization. I pulled those upper buckles all the way snug - right up to the tab where the safety straps connect. With no slack in the line, I experienced no twisting. More testing will tell the tale, but right now I'm sticking with the factory configuration.

If you have a 2018 or later harness (which you do if you have the mesh cell phone pocket), the top buckle attachments are moved from the sides like previous models to the top, so you won't experience any twisting of the straps. The buckle switching is more about saving bulk and clunkiness - those locking buckles they come with are pretty substantial.

Safety tethers....jury is still out. Not sure if I'll use these at all. It would be nice if the upper portion of the tether was adjustable. As they currently sit with my set-up, the tethers are too long. When I drop my ELs down, they nearly hang below the pouch. Part of this is me having the harness snugged up to get the pouch high and tight. I'll be considering ways to alter the tethers if I choose to use them. My gut is to leave them behind, have one less set of lines running across my chest.

I find myself not using the tethers either. I started out using them, but then rarely clipped them after having the binos on the tripod, so i ended up just not running them and had no issues at all. With the lid closed, the binos arent going anywhere.

I feel the same way about the harness as you. Its definitely a quality piece of gear, and something I will have for a long time. Their rangefinder pouch is real nice as well. Also, in my front zipper pocket, I keep a lens cloth, a lens brush, and an extra bullet.

As a side note - I splurged and bought myself one of their belts. This will result in a few of my other webbing belts finding the trash can. This is a great, comfortable belt and I really like the G-hook design.

I've been running their belt for a couple months, and I don't have a ton of experience with other belts on the market, but I don't have any reason to try any others. The marsupial is great! Its a total PITA to string through a pair of sitka timberlines because it hardly fits through the belt loops, but I blame sitka on that one.

 

[OutdoorAg]

Day 2 with the Marsupial...

1) Went on a 3 mile hike. Nearly all flatland - sorry, don't live at elevation. Temp was moderate in the low 70s, and the harness was comfortable. If I wore my phone in the chest facing phone pocket, with the screen facing my chest, I ended up with a sweaty phone screen. Flipped it over to the case side facing my chest, and that at least kept the sweat off the phone. No way around this - warm weather and wearing any pack next to skin is going to result in some sweat trapped at that location.

2) A plus one for keeping the safety tethers. Today I tried out a heaver pair of binos - 10x42 SLC. Multiple times I stopped to glass wildlife, going one handed, and putting the binos back in the pouch without looking down. At lease once I got a little quick with the holstering of the binos and nearly missed the pack. Never did I drop them and have the tethers catch the full weight of the glass...but I could see, while hunting, in the moment or when rushed - it could be nice to have the tethers there as a back up. Jury is still out, but after just this 1 day hike - I'm considering alterations to the tethers to make them work better for my high and tight set up.

3) This truly is a one handed operation. The flip top, glass out, back in, close lid can all be done with one hand. I say that because my other hand was holding the leash of my 85 pound lab, so I was forced into using one and only one hand.

4) Weight distribution is nice. I never felt shoulder strain, and the SLC 10x42 is nearly a 30z bino (SLC Neu). Thats on the heavy side for 10x42s, and I never "felt" the weight. Good work from the harness and back to spread the load across my shoulders and chest. This was with fully tightened chest straps - maybe even a little too snug as I could feel them when breathing heavy.

2 suggestions to Marsupial...

1)I think you could offer a X-Small pouch and it would sell. My binos - 8x32 EL and 10x42 SLC - both have lots of room between the eye pieces and the top of the lid. If you offered a stripped down X-Small version, no front zipper, drop the price $10, I think you'd keep selling em.

2) The inside of the lid looks like a PERFECT spot for some hook and loop. I'd LOVE to slap a velcro backed square with my ballistics on it. Perfect spot to flip open binos and review my drop chart.

Put it right here:

 

[jwooley]

For my Geovid HD-Bs Marsupial is it!!! 1 handed operation, easy to slip out range and slip back in..Had a FHF but for my rangefinding binos, this 1 works best..

 

[cbacon66]

I really enjoy my Marsupial. Very sleek when opened or closed and easy operation. I sold my AGC and haven’t regretted it.


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[WYLight]

I really like the Marsupial harness.

 

[mtguy]

Use the marsupial. Nice harness, and just the right size.

 

[gsp1]

I have the Marsupial and like it. I just wish the front pocket was a little bigger.

 

[NorthernAK]

I love my Outdoor Vision bino harness. Sleek and low profile and completely covers my binos. I gotta have full enclosure for my binos.

 

[success]

+1 for outdoor vision

 

[eltaco]

Tried the Outdoor Vision, which unfortunately didn’t fit my Mavens as well as I hoped. Ultimately, I think the magnets in both of these harnesses alter my GPS enough that I can’t consider using either.

If it weren’t for the magnets, I’d be ordering a Marsupial to try next.

Until then, I’ll stick with my KUIU which does most things pretty well.