What are the drawbacks of a chest pack for deer hunting?

[schroej]

I'm looking at getting a chest  pack, like the Marsupial Multi-pack. It seems like it would be a great choice for my fishing, photography, and turkey hunting pursuits.

My question is: for those of you who have chest packs like this, do you use them for deer hunting? How does it compare to a bino harness with rangefinder pouch? I guess my concern is noise and ease of access to binos with the zipper. I'm mostly doing still hunting in western timber, with the occasional long sit-and-spot.

 

[Bubblehide]

Not ever having used the Marsupial pack, take this for what it's worth. It's wider than a typical bino pack, but I don't see that being an issue (I use a bino pack and a Kenai chest holster); even with a chest holster.

You've got me interested. I'm looking forward to what those that have used one, have to say.

 

[ChrisAU]

I’ve tried it deer and elk hunting and I loved having easy access to tons of stuff but eventually got tired of the zipper. I now use a non magnetic AGC Ravus with a Kifaru Admin pouch on the front, an FHF Nav Pouch on one side, and a Marsupial bottom pouch. Still have all the stuff but don’t have a zipper in the way of quietly getting my binos.

 

[BLJ]

I’ve tried it deer and elk hunting and I loved having easy access to tons of stuff but eventually got tired of the zipper. I now use a non magnetic AGC Ravus with a Kifaru Admin pouch on the front, an FHF Nav Pouch on one side, and a Marsupial bottom pouch. Still have all the stuff but don’t have a zipper in the way of quietly getting my binos.

You had a multi pack and switched?
Do you have any pictures of the new setup? Thanks

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I haven’t used the Marsupial because I don’t like having a pouch in the middle of my torso. It can be too limiting in the prone. And I don’t know how things are organized inside of that thing. I feel like there are situations where I would be digging through that to get at something I would need.

I prefer to spread my stuff out into many smaller pouches along each front rib cage using a load-bearing vest. I have a variety of map pouches, grenade pouches, dump pouches, and other pouches for all the various binoculars, Inreach, compass, spare magazines, and tools I might need. I can get at everything I need while staying prone. And, it’s almost all above my hip belt and inside my shoulder straps if I have the assault pack or main pack on my back. Or can be comfortably squished under the hip belt (e.g., an empty dump pouch).

I place a high value on not having to hold a yard sale to find anything I need, having some ability to quickly scale down what I am carrying, and some redundancy in safety gear I might need.

 

[ChrisAU]

You had a multi pack and switched?
Do you have any pictures of the new setup? Thanks

The FHF chest rig is what I used. I still use it for night hunting to hold a thermal monocular, batteries, etc. I’ll get a pic of my bino harness setup tomorrow. It’s a lot of stuff but I like having it all right there.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I'm moving to a Hill People Gear chest rig this year for whitetail stand hunting.

Big enough to pack my "at hand" items and small enough to not be in the way.

 

[MallardSX2]

Hang your bowstring on it 1 time and you will see a minimum of 1 drawback for sure. lol

 

[HailStateHunter]

Hang your bowstring on it 1 time and you will see a minimum of 1 drawback for sure. lol

Absolutely

 

[schroej]

I’ve tried it deer and elk hunting and I loved having easy access to tons of stuff but eventually got tired of the zipper. I now use a non magnetic AGC Ravus with a Kifaru Admin pouch on the front, an FHF Nav Pouch on one side, and a Marsupial bottom pouch. Still have all the stuff but don’t have a zipper in the way of quietly getting my binos.

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. It's tempting to just have one chest pack for all activities, but it sounds like this just wouldn't be quite as nice as a good ol' bino harness. I like the idea of small pouch add-ons to hold the rest of the stuff, though, and im almost wondering if I could make a decent minimalist turkey setup that way.

 

[HailStateHunter]

I can’t get used to shooting my bow with a Bino harness on. My muscle memory in terms of how I hold my bow and anchor doesn’t gel with having a Bino harness on my chest. I like the idea of it. Maybe need to practice during the off season.

 

[rustyN]

I'm moving to a Hill People Gear chest rig this year for whitetail stand hunting.

Big enough to pack my "at hand" items and small enough to not be in the way.

Been using a HPG Kit bag for years - probably 12 or so. I used their "Original V2" size in AK for caribou this year.

I can carry my FN510 with optic and light, Razor 10x42s, Rangefinder, phone, rite in rain notebook and pen, tags, etc in it without feeling like i'm too loaded down.

Drop the 510 for hunting whitetail in NE and it's an even sleeker load.

100/10 recommend Hill People Gear.