Just starting out, and I'm thinking that I may like a small chest pack rather than a vest. In general, I like packing light, so I'm hoping not to need a lot of capacity. Cabela's has a "low profile chest pack" (only $25) that looks pretty good. Any opinions?
my first thought is these packs can get jamed full of gear quick. usaly they get loaded fast i have a few a willam joesph creel and mini 2 . the creel is bigger then the mini 2 and it holds more. this is some time what is needed between split shoot leader wheels (me i tye my owen right in the stream) indys and 2 small boxes for flys and my mini is jamed full. then if i want a rain coat wich will make weight even worst same goes for fresh water brought along now their are a few that cabelas carrays but i cant name them off hand. i would look for some thing inbetween a vest and and a mige pack some thing with a enough room for your stuff.and also make sure their is a d ring on back for a trout net if that is what it's planed for. hope fully this helps best bet would be go to a local shop or plan on returning it right away if you gear seems to jam it full.
good luck and tight lines stonefly1013......... :whoa:
Not a big chest pack fan. As stonefly wrote, they tend to get filled up, etc. and I found they interfere w/ casting. IMHO, a fanny pack is a better way to go if you want to avoid the vest. I tend to use the fanny for salt and my 'traditional' vest for freshwater.
I guess it depends on the fishing situation. Chest packs are great when you need to carry a lot of gear, when for example, you are going to be tromping around all day and need water, spare reels etc. You can adjust your cast when fishing a single hander without sacrificing too much distance, although they are a pain when fishing a double hander, as it becomes difficult to sharply pull in the bottom hand when overhead casting.
Bought a chest pack years ago and retired it after a couple of weeks on the water. Found it to get in the way more often than not. I liked the "minimalist" approach but quickly found that my vest was a much better option.
I just bought the flytedeck (flytedeck.com) chest pack and like it a lot. It's very small--really just a step above a lanyard, but it doesn't get in your way like so many other chest packs. Basically, it's a medium-sized flybox mounted on a small frame with a built-in rod holder and with a comfortable strap that wraps over your shoulders and around your back. The frame has four zingers and two bottle holders built into it. I use one of the bottle holders for floatant. The other holds a small bottle filled with split shot and strike indicators. There's also a small pouch for tippets--it's designed to hold just two tippet spools and maybe a leader package, but you can fit four thin tippet spools in it (I thread two tippet tag-ends through each of the two holes provided for tippet ends--3X and 5X coming out of the left hole and 4X and 6X coming out of the right hole). Finally, there's a small pouch that holds the flybox, frame, and strap, but doubles as a little back pack. You can easily fit one or two extra spools, a leader wallet, and an extra flybox in this pouch. For minimalist trout fishing, it's perfect. If you want to carry more than what I listed above, though, you'll need something bigger. I used to have a larger chest pack, but it seemed bulky and in the way a lot. Also, the bigger package seemed to tempt me to always carry much more than I really needed. The flytedeck forces me to be disciplined and just carry what I really need.
I had a chestpack I absolutely loved but I believe they are out of business... Riversmith made out west about ten years ago or more.
In fact if anyone has one or knows where I can get another please let me know! My old one is old and moldy although I am thinking of hiring a seamstress to rejuvenate it.
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