What bino system do you like?

[SDHNTR]

i dont think its that noisy. Its the same fabric as all of the kifaru bags that everyone is in love with

Joe

True, but rarely is a Bowhunter wearing their pack in the final part of a stalk, and they sure aren't wearing one in a ground blind or tree stand. Ever sat in a stand on a cold, still morning with animals at close range? Trust me, the slightest noise matters.

 

[bowuntr]

I've been using the crooked horn/similar system for years. I like to use my binos and sometimes quick. The other contained systems are bulky and confusing. I consider them just another gadget or gimmick. I don't buy the bino protection reason either... I've been wearing high end binos on my chest for years and never once had a pair get damaged because they weren't protected. I have missed the opportunity to get a good look at an animal because I didn't get my binos up in time. Keep it simple... Ed F

 

[justin davis]

True, but rarely is a Bowhunter wearing their pack in the final part of a stalk, and they sure aren't wearing one in a ground blind or tree stand. Ever sat in a stand on a cold, still morning with animals at close range? Trust me, the slightest noise matters.

I don't think it is loud and i am a bowhunter. i think its pretty darn Quiet! But then again i rarely hunt from a treestand.

 

[SDHNTR]

I've been using the crooked horn/similar system for years. I like to use my binos and sometimes quick. The other contained systems are bulky and confusing. I consider them just another gadget or gimmick. I don't buy the bino protection reason either... I've been wearing high end binos on my chest for years and never once had a pair get damaged because they weren't protected. I have missed the opportunity to get a good look at an animal because I didn't get my binos up in time. Keep it simple... Ed F

Ed, I too have been of the same opinion. The Nimrod is the best harness without a pouch and I've used one for years. I'm also considering cutting the lid off the FHF for that reason. Then you can access the glasses just as easily as not having a pouch, yet they are still more contained, not sagging or bouncing around. I see the protecting feature as unnecessary, but the containment is nice and this system is not bulky or confusing at all.

 

[trk3263]

I have been using the Binobro for 3 years now and like that the harness is not elastic and my binos are well covered but easy to get with one hand.
I just upgraded to the new Pro version which is nice because of the lower zipper pocket I carry my reed calls and headlamp in and the side pockets just big enough for a mouth call and wind checker. I also found it real nice to be able to clip my vortex rangefinder on the wind checker pocket.
To be honest I never used any other harness other than the crooked horn.

 

[realunlucky]

Ed I found that crooked horn bounce to much for my liking. Went to the nimrod and it has much less with the solid top straps. Still trying the fhf system like the extra security but your right the trade off is speed to access the glass. Great for spot and stalk antelope where I spend time crawling when stalking and keeps glass handy but mostly use just range finder in that situation was its a wash for me. Probably go back to nimrod just for kiss principle

 

[LostArra]

I starting out with the Crooked Horn but moved to a Nimrod and the Rick Young. I use the RY for my lightweight binos (8x32 or 6x30).

I like 'em both and I like having my binoculars out and ready. I don't need a pack on my chest. I carry Crooked Horn's Bino Shield or Nimrod's Bino Top in my pack if it got real nasty and the binos needed to be covered.

 

[Sagittarius]

Cool site !

Hello, found this site by accident and think it's great !
Back in 89, I purchased a pair of Swarovski binoculars.
These were my first pair of Alpha binos and I was thrilled to get them.
One morning during deer season, I was walking in the dark when I felt some thorns from a vine dig into my hunting jacket and hold with a vise like grip.
I ripped myself free but not before I felt the thorns rip into the flesh of my hands and left arm.

When it was light enough to see the damage to my hands, I happened to look at my new Swarovski binoculars and discovered the armor coating had sustained some rather bad scratches.
It was pretty depressing at the time to have my new expensive binos scratched like that.

I decided to buy a pair of new Zeiss Victory HT's back in February of this year to hunt with this fall.
The memory of the damage to my Swarovskis made me want to look for something to protect my new HT's so the same fate did not befall them.
I did a search of every kind of binocular protection system I could find and decided to go with the FHF medium size bino pack and harness.
Went ahead and got the range finder case to go with it too.

Don't know if it's the best system but it fits my HT's really well and seems well made.
It should prevent the kind of damage my Swarovskis suffered at the hands of the thorns.
I believe, if you're careful, you don't really need a full containment system but there may be times when you're walking around in the dark when their protection would make them worth their weight in gold.

I plan on using the new FHF unit and see how it goes this season.
The biggest downfall to the system is... the harness is way too small to fit over my bulky hunting jacket in cold weather.
Wish FHF would offer some larger harness sizes up to 3x and 4x !

 

[realunlucky]

I found the same problem with my fhf harness and email him and he sent me a larger harness

 

[bowuntr]

That's what the armor coating is for. Did your binos sustain any performance damage? Ed F

 

[Drelk]

I've tried them all. Used them all. I also feel that the fhf is noisy. Fhf probably has the best design for my needs. I don't sit in tree stands often either. I'm going to try running it through the washer. The kuiu fabric is dramatically quieter. I will be running the kuiu this fall. But it is not perfect either. It is a very functional "cover". I think the fhf design with quiet fabric would be as close to ideal as we r going to get.

 

[MattB]

I recently tried the Kuiu harness, and it is the best I have used that is commercially available (I have not used the FHF). Versus a simple harness, they provide additional protection and reduce bouncing if you run/jog and controls the binoculars if you need to crawl. When I say protection, I don't mean from impact damage but from moisture and dust. More than once my binoculars have been rendered unusable due to moisture, and one of the easiest ways to damage binoculars is through improper cleaning. Less dust = less cleaning = less opportunity to screw up your binoculars. With the Kuiu set-up, you can leave the top open and the binocs are as accessable as with a simple harness.

 

[Titaniumman]

Interesting comments by all. I use the Crooked Horn harness for my 10x25 Leica binos. They are very light so bouncing has never been an issue. These are also my binos of choice when I am in a tree stand. I can't see much beyond 100 yards in mine and only in one specific direction; 50 yards elsewhere. I bought the Vortex HD for my mule deer hunt and will use them for elk hunting also. I am hoping the FHF fits my style of hunting. Paul is very good to deal with so I am positive I will be able to get the system I want.

 

[kravguy]

I emailed Paul about the noise of the fabric. He got back to me with honesty. He said, obviously, that it was made for western hunting, not really for sitting in a stand. I see his point but us western bow hunters probably do sit in stands a fair amount if you hunt multiple species. He offered to take it back for a refund, but also suggested I just try running the harness through the washer. I'll surely try that. He also said he may be able to custom make one out of some different fabric if I was patient. I appreciated the response and the refund offer but I think I'll keep it. Even given the noise trade off, it's the most functional system I've used.

I know exactly what you mean with the noise. However, I think it's a combination of the fabric for the harness + the fabric of your outer layer they are resting against. Just by experimenting over last hunting season I was able to figure this out a bit. I was wearing a KUIU vest as an outer layer on a Texas hunt last year, and the noise was bad. Bad enough to get deer looking in my direction if they were in the 20 yard range. That was the last time I wore the KUIU vest. With the harness against a soft fleece, wool, or wolfskin material it's almost silent.

On really cold days I did find that the lid can make a bit of a crinkling sound, but I don't use the harness that way. Keeping the binos covered and having to open the lid each and every time gets to be a pain in the butt. What I do is use the lid while walking to and from stands, and to store them. Once I am in the stand the lid comes open and I tuck in down between the harness and outer layer. Only time I keep them concealed with the harness is if there is bad weather.

 

[Screamrider]

I have the FHF for my viper HD and my EL Range binos. No issue with noise and love the harness.

 

[manbearpig]

I have the FHF bino harness, I can't imagine it being designed any better.

 

[SDHNTR]

Glad to see I am not alone with the noise issue. kravguy, I hear ya. It's the inside 20 yard thing that gets me too. I've been in situations with deer at 5 yards and in order to get a good look at the one at 30+ yards I have to not spook the ones close in. I think if Paul made a "bowhunter" option with quieter fabric on the existing excellent design, he'd have just built the perfect mousetrap. Someone ought to send him this thread.

 

[Sagittarius]

I found the same problem with my fhf harness and email him and he sent me a larger harness

I sent an email to Paul and he's building me a larger harness too.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Really need the larger harness to use with my large hunting jacket in cold weather.
Paul is making one that will adjust to fit several sizes, depending on how many layers I use.

 

[Zackman]

I'm with Arrowslinger and others on this topic--at first I wasn't a big fan of the capture-style bino harness. In fact, the first time I used one in the field, I took it off and went back to my Crooked Horn. I gave it another chance, got used to the design, and have been using them for several years. I currently use S4, but agree with MattB, that the new KUIU design is pretty slick as well. I have noticed it helps a lot during my early season hunts here in California, where it is incredibly dusty all the time.

 

[kravguy]

Glad to see I am not alone with the noise issue. kravguy, I hear ya. It's the inside 20 yard thing that gets me too. I've been in situations with deer at 5 yards and in order to get a good look at the one at 30+ yards I have to not spook the ones close in. I think if Paul made a "bowhunter" option with quieter fabric on the existing excellent design, he'd have just built the perfect mousetrap. Someone ought to send him this thread.

Paul had options with materials before. He may very well be able to make you one in a fleece material. I'd imagine that would be about the quietest.

My situation was really odd. It was so quiet that day and all the deer that came in seemed really uneasy about something. I did have 2 deer bust because of the noise the harness made while wearing the KUIU vest. It was enough for me to hunt the remainder of the time without the vest. It doesn't make near the noise with different materials.

The only other time I noticed it being loud was while in Saskatchewan, and the cold made the lid sound a bit crunchy. Like I said before tho, I use the lid while getting to and from stand. The remainder of the time my binos are out and the lid is tucked inside the pouch.