Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Looking for material to fill shooting rest bag

Since the bag will be used on backpack hunts it needs to be lightweight.
What works? Kitty litter? Airsoft BB's?

Kitty litter will work but I like your other option better. No mess.

Kitty litter. Much cheaper than air soft bb’s too.

Rice works well

Rice and kitty litter have moisture issues , rice also attracts critters. My fair weather shooting bags are filled with unscented kitty litter.

Give Cole-Tac a call they'll sell you lightweight fill. How big is the bag?

Unscented kitty litter. I've also used tumbling media. You can get lizard bedding (ground walnut) stuff at the pet store for cheap, if so inclined... It doesn't soak up moisture like kitty litter can..

It is about 3x5x8 inches. so won't take much to fill it.

Ground walnut shells.

Lead shot, airsoft bbs ect

styrofoam peanuts work well.

I used to haul plastic injection molding beads. They would be perfect. I use rice, I've had the same rice in for over 30 yrs and I lived in the PNW most of the time.

Little Debbies Oatmeal Cream pies.

The LIGHT WEIGHT litter works PERFECT...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fresh-St...Clumping-Cat-Litter-15-4-Pounds/39881086

Sounds like the lightweight litter is the way I will go. Whoever said lead must be sadistic.

I made a couple using micro-bead poly fill from a craft store. I've since switched to this, which ain't cheap but it's light and bombproof: SAP Lightweight Bag

Lentils is what I use.

I don’t use ANYTHING that’ll soak up moisture and gets heavy, moldy, or is something a rat wants to eat. Plastic BBs....craft, air soft, or whatever, work without weighing too much, absorbing moisture, etc.

I have a bunch of old shot bags with the kitty litter that is or looks like little hardwood pellets for a pellet grill......

Me and DD have used them for near 20 years..................

Don't fill them all FULL, you need some soft ones.

A smartwool sock filled with foam shipping peanuts works for me. I used to use a Caldwell rest but found the sock lighter and just keep it in my pack.

I like to carry foam pipe insulation for a rest, but this works best in a stand. For a bag either vermiculite from the garden center or the spill clean up stuff from the auto parts places. These can be mixed with foam to go even lighter but I like the firmness of the granular fill.

I like that foam pipe insulation idea! Good idea.

I use rice too, also here in the PNW; the damp doesn't seem to be a problem. I like rice for a range bag because it's dense and packs down firmly.

For a field bag where you want light weight some sort of plastic beads or BBs seems like the ticket, but personally in the field I've always ended up improvising with my fist and a folded coat or whatever is handy, even a pile of dirt, for the rear support and use a bipod on the front. Not the best shooting solution, but I don't like to carry extra stuff so that works for me.

The plastic BBs are the best for lightweight non-moisture filling.

SM - do you use that for a front or rear bag?

So I filled the bag with Airsoft BB's and it weighed about 3lbs 9oz. That was more than I wanted to carry so I got some lightweight kitty litter. It weighs 2lbs 6 oz with the kitty litter.

Wow! What rear bag are you using? That seems pretty heavy!

Ths one from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/TufForce-Shooting-Brick-Pistol-TL-SB03F/dp/B004I4D2WW/ref=sr_1_15?crid=3BLCWNK4UQ05C&dchild=1&keywords=shooting+rest+bag&psc=1&qid=1573047298&sprefix=shooting+rest%2Caps%2C1087&sr=8-15

What weight airsoft bbs did you use? They come in different weights, measured in grams. You can probably double (or halve, depending what you used) that weight by using different BBs.

I used the .12gram ones which were the lightest I could find.

Buy a foam pool noodle for a dollar and cut it into little pieces.



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Interesting. I was guessing maybe you used the .20 gram or heavier for the bag to weigh that much. It must hold a lot.