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OP
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Considering cutting back on what I tote along in the woods for a morning or afternoon hunt, and seeking an alternative to carrying a daypack. Any suggestions for a vest that can carry the essentials?
"No good deed shall go unpunished!"
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Joined: Apr 2005
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Considering cutting back on what I tote along in the woods for a morning or afternoon hunt, and seeking an alternative to carrying a daypack. Any suggestions for a vest that can carry the essentials? Quite often I'll just carry a HPG Kit bag. Most of the time, even if I carry a pack, I'll have my "essential stuff" in the HPG kit bag and throw it in the backpack. HPG kit bag is really nice when it's pouring rain because I can wear it under an oversized Helly Hanson jacket and keep most things dry....and not have a bag soaked that has to be dried, etc.
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Campfire Outfitter
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maybe you just need a good small day pack ? or a fanny pack ? i just purchased a smaller Eddy Bauer day back ,has plenty pockets,i don`t even know i am carrying it. this day pack has a chest belt and a small hip belt too,pack has a great warranty too. good luck with your choice.
LIFE NRA , we vote Red up here, Norseman
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Campfire Ranger
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I tried a fanny pack with extra pockets, but that just put more weight on my waist. One with suspenders might work. The last couple of trips I took to the deer woods, I just put the bare minimum for getting one out in my various pockets.
I use a rubberized German army shoulder bag of some sort for turkey hunting. That works pretty well too. Easy on and off.
What fresh Hell is this?
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What is so important to carry around when you're stalking game? I carry my phone in a pocket, my knife on my belt, Extra Ammo in a pocket and that's about it. I leave the kitchen sink and all the other crap at home. I don't want to be burdened with a lot of crap. I go hunt and go home for lunch, then come back arould 3 PM for the afternoon hunt. If I shoot something I walk back to the truck and go get it.
What goes up must come down, what goes around comes around, there's no free lunch. Trump's comin' back, get over it!
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Here in Alaska things can go wrong like to have enough to call for help spend the night and come home.
kk alaska
Alaska 7 months of winter then 5 months of tourists
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What is so important to carry around when you're stalking game? I carry my phone in a pocket, my knife on my belt, Extra Ammo in a pocket and that's about it. I leave the kitchen sink and all the other crap at home. I don't want to be burdened with a lot of crap. I go hunt and go home for lunch, then come back arould 3 PM for the afternoon hunt. If I shoot something I walk back to the truck and go get it. Where I do most of my hunting a phone is useless for anything except pictures.......I'm sure not going all the way back out for lunch.
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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What is so important to carry around when you're stalking game? I carry my phone in a pocket, my knife on my belt, Extra Ammo in a pocket and that's about it. I leave the kitchen sink and all the other crap at home. I don't want to be burdened with a lot of crap. I go hunt and go home for lunch, then come back arould 3 PM for the afternoon hunt. If I shoot something I walk back to the truck and go get it. Outrageous! You, sir, are in flagrant violation of a campfire rule. You need to immediately do a search on "what to carry in my day pack" and get with the program. If the aforementioned pack weighs less than 15 lbs and/or has less than 200 feet of two sizes of rope, you need to do some serious soul searching.
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Campfire Ranger
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Supply houses that cater to the logging industry sell vests with fair sized pockets on the back in addition to many pockets on the front and inside. The pocket on the back is smaller than a day pack but larger than a game pocket. Timber cruiser surveyors us them to tote the tools of their trade.
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Might take a look at wildland fighter style packs.
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You could also look at upland game style vests or coats with game pockets. Some cruiser-style wool coats have zippered game pockets on the lower back. A zippered pocket reduces chances of stuff falling out when you're not looking.
Used to be able to stuff lunch, extra gloves, a drag rope, and maybe a lightweight rain jacket in the back game pocket of my old Johnson Wool cruiser jacket. Compass in chest pocket, matches in waterproof container in pocket, knife and ammo on belt, folded up piece of heavy plastic sheet for a waterproof seat in hip pocket - everything needed for a day of deer hunting. But I was much younger and less concerned about comfort at the time. And your lunch could take a beating if you sat against a tree and squashed your sandwich.
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I have thought on and off about using an upland vest like Mike recommends. My only gripe is that I have yet to find one that was decently made out of a quiet material.
I have just settled on a lighter, smaller back pack that is large enough to stick my heaviest jacket into the main pocket. Besides that, I usually only carry a knife, gloves, beanie, some paracord, a flashlight or headlamp, and some hand warmers.
My biggest negative to sticking stuff in your pockets has always been that I eventually leave something in my pockets. That is why I like the small, light pack. Everything is in one self-contained location. No matter what I am wearing (generally), I just grab the pack and "go" knowing that what I need is all there.
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Filaman, just out of curiosity where do you live/hunt. Geography makes a big difference in what you carry around whilst hunting. In PA where I hail from your would be hard pressed to be more than 5 miles from a road/house. All I ever carried was a knife and a piece of rope to drag beyond my rifle. Here in Colorado much different.
Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want!
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I just use a fairly large fanny pack that has non-padded shoulder straps. Works great for most any southern hunting whether stand hunting or still hunting.
Last edited by CWT; 02/14/20.
Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms should be a convenience store; not a government agency.
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Considering cutting back on what I tote along in the woods for a morning or afternoon hunt, and seeking an alternative to carrying a daypack. Any suggestions for a vest that can carry the essentials? I have done this in the farther past. Back then we used to cross the legs of a deer diagonally after gutting it so the legs made a sort of set of straps, climb inside, and walk out of he woods. Good way to get blood, fleas, ticks, on you and your cloths but it does reduce what you have to carry. Also a decent way to get shot. The two vests I've used both came from Cabela's. Both are discontinued. But any sort of vest with large, maybe 4x5 inch pockets rather than the little slash pockets will work. I'd carry a larger folding knife in a belt sheath, 5-10 cartridges in the top small pockets on the vest, some toilet paper, matches, and a very small light in the bigger pockets. Generally an extra handkerchief, too, to wipe off my scope lenses. Just drink out of the creek .. nobody took giardia very seriously back then and we had this old wives tail that water flowing over gravel didn't have giardia, so we didn't worry about it. I'd wear the vest over a long sleeved flannel shirt. If it was going to rain, I'd put my neoprene over the top of it. There are times I miss that simplicity, but I've seen two friends deal with giardia .. I like water bladders and filters. That also lets me hunt places I wouldn't have in those older days. Now days we carry 'nocs a lot more for glassing rather than using the rifle scope. And I prefer skinning and boning out a critter and carrying it out in meat sacks to the risk of getting shot. Y' sorta pays yer money and takes yer chances. Everything has tradeoffs.
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Here be dragons ...
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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I've tried some commercial lumbar packs, like the Browning Billy 1500 and 1700, and mil-surp Molle vests with a variety of different pouches attached.
I like the Molle gear better than the commercial lumbar packs. I keep a commercial "tactical" vest in my truck from Airsoft that is made for paintball shooters that is cheap and functional, but maybe not rugged enough for hard wilderness use. The Airsoft vests sell for less than $40, so if you buy one and don't care for it, you're not out much.
When I hunt in New England, I like to carry a small wool daypack from Johnson Woolen. It is a little smaller than I prefer, but as an old mech infantryman, I live by the philosophy that it is better to have and not need than to need and not have, so I tend to carry more than the minimum. The small size of the Johnson wool pack prevents me from over-packing, not matter how much I might want to..
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4 years ago or so I bought an Osprey Viper 9, a mt bike pack that was the smallest pack they made that held their biggest water bladder, 3 liters. About 10" wide 16-17" long, pretty flat, and about 500 cubic inches of storage. Has a decent stuff compartment with straps for cinching down a rolled up jacket or bulky item. https://www.osprey.com/us/en/category/hydration/cycling/Doesn't look like they still carry my exact model, but it would be between the Siskin 12 and Siskin 8. Mine still has more room than I need, but the pack is small enough to not get in the way. I use it for just about everything but overnight trips.
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