I ditched the traditional turkey vest about 4 years ago and have been tweaking and playing with a bunch of setups and I think I finally found the best system for me and figured I’d share.
I took a Kifaru Steelhead chest rig and attached it to a marsupial gear hydration pack/yoke. I tried the kifaru hydration pack at first but the straps were too narrow and wouldn’t carry the weight well. With this, i am able to carry 3 pot calls, 4 strikers, a scratch box, box call underneath in a nomad case, roll of trumpets, two locator calls, call conditioners, snacks, shears, sawyer straw/collapsible bladder, and a turkey turkey tote. In the back i have a half roll of tp and 550 cord. Gloves and mask are carried in my cargo pockets. I took out my 10x42’s but am considering getting a pair of Maven 8x30 for turkey and most deer hunting. I clip my Glenda Green seat to my back belt loop or bottom of the hydration pack with a cheap carabiner.
The only thing i don’t like is the material of the pack can be noisy when you sit against say a pine tree so I’m still trying to figure out a way to quiet it down…
This setup carries the weight very well for me and is streamlined and ideal for hunting the mountains here in Southern Appalachia. I also use this setup deer hunting/scouting as well. I found this chest pack to be the about the biggest between FHF,Marsupial, HPG, and Kifaru. I tired the marsupial modular belt system with this too but didn’t like the clutter and found it to be too much.
It looks like FHF just released a new hydration pack that i might try and attach to this chest rig. Looks to be a little bigger and modular which would work better for deer season or fly fishing…
If I’m going hunting close to the truck and not hiking a bunch, i will opt for the Glenda Green satchel over this or a vest. This thing is dynamite and very well designed. Only thing i dont like about it is it makes carrying alot of water hard and after hiking for a long time it starts to get pretty heavy on the one shoulder though the extra padding helps... I highly recommend trying this satchel first if you decide you want to ditch the old vest
What vest-less systems are y’all running?
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