Gun Dog Forum

I'm looking to buy a new upland vest. I currently use a filson strap vest. The LL Bean technical hunting vest looks good. Wondering if anyone has used it. Please give me some input or advise on the vest you wear.

It depends on how hard you hunt, terrain, number of dogs (water) etc.

The best strap vest is made by Wing Works, but I hunt chukar.

This will be my fourth season using the bean vest pack. It's pretty well made and can hold quite a bit of water between the bladder compartment and the two bottle sleeves. One of the main compartments is Velcro which doesn't work at all with any weight in the compartment. The shell packets are Velcro as well so you have to be diligent or risk losing the occasional shell. The vest carries a lot of weight nicely. Bean's return policy is excellent.

I use the LL Bean Vest as well and I really like it. I like how the front pockets are not big and do not limit mobility. Meaning you don't lift the pockets with your leg every step you take up a chukar hill.

There is a lot of room to carry water, first aid supplies, birds and it fits and carries the weight nicely. At this point I have not found a vest I would trade it for.

Only con: They should do something better to secure those front pockets, if you aren't careful you will drop a shell or two when you bend over. That would be my only complaint, otherwise I highly recommend it.

I have the bean vest aswell and I bought one for Hubby last x-mas. I love the vest. The shell pockets rock and the whole box of shells fit right in them so when you are done you just remove the box.

I must have a newer version because I havent really had any of the issues mentioned. I hunt about 2-3 a week during the season. SO maybe the other guys are harder on theirs then I am on mine.

Price point was fair and it was very comfortable to wear. I have a back injury and this vest takes the weight off of my back.

I wish Mother still made there vests, they were light held up and the Mother Day pack had I think 8 pockets....
Bladder for water storage, was a nice vest.
Might look at the Quilomene, Filson, or Wing Works vests

lvrgsp wrote:I wish Mother still made there vests, they were light held up and the Mother Day pack had I think 8 pockets....
Bladder for water storage, was a nice vest.
Might look at the Quilomene, Filson, or Wing Works vests

If you are talking about the Mother pack I'm thinking of, they are close enough to the same for their to be a legal battle over it.

http://seattletrademarklawyer.com/blog/ ... gains.html

yoou see the Bean vest to the right in the picture? I could never figure out what those straps are for across the back. ???

There was a big legal battle over that vest back in "04 I believe, actually Bean started selling the Mother vest a year later they made there own version, and the court battle ensued....I still use my Mother vest and am looking for another one used in good shape to buy and put away. May look at the Bean vest at some point. I kind of like the looks of the Quilomene vest too.

Munster wrote: I must have a newer version because I havent really had any of the issues mentioned.

It looks like Bean re-designed the vest since I purchased it three years ago. It looks largely similar but the shell pockets are definitely different. Mine has that same buckle and I've not once touched it.

lvrgsp wrote:There was a big legal battle over that vest back in "04 I believe, actually Bean started selling the Mother vest a year later they made there own version, and the court battle ensued....I still use my Mother vest and am looking for another one used in good shape to buy and put away. May look at the Bean vest at some point. I kind of like the looks of the Quilomene vest too.

Keep an eye on ebay. Saw a new one go for 65 bucks or so a few weeks back.

Munster wrote:

lvrgsp wrote:There was a big legal battle over that vest back in "04 I believe, actually Bean started selling the Mother vest a year later they made there own version, and the court battle ensued....I still use my Mother vest and am looking for another one used in good shape to buy and put away. May look at the Bean vest at some point. I kind of like the looks of the Quilomene vest too.

Keep an eye on ebay. Saw a new one go for 65 bucks or so a few weeks back.

On a Mother Vest?......I will keep a look out
Thanks

yup. i was out bid but didnt care cuz I had the bean vest.

Thanks for the input fellas! I own am quailomene vset, however the "Y" shape strap bothers my neck. The filson vest has worked well, but im ready to try something else. I hunt quail and chukar mainly. I will give them LL Bean vest a try and check back with Y'all.

Quaildawg wrote:I'm looking to buy a new upland vest. I currently use a filson strap vest. The LL Bean technical hunting vest looks good. Wondering if anyone has used it. Please give me some input or advise on the vest you wear.

You do not say what you will be hunting the majority of the time....quail?
But, if the Filson is not wore out, stick with it.
If it is, buy a new one and request one w/o the fabric treatment...it will be cooler.

A lot does depends upon the use and time of season for a vest.
While I prefer the oldest and most basic Filson strap, in late January on the plains, more vest is appropriate and appreciated.
Others with different specifics will find their own path to a vest.

The downsides of most vests today are the increasing number of pockets, gimmicks, mesh and blaze orange....and many try to be a WingWorks vest to capitalize on that Internet word-of-mouth success story.
I avoid WingWorks as I avoid the latest popular latte at Tim Hortens.

No doubt, the LL Bean vest offerings will work as well as any....and you will look up-to-date when wearing one.

I just got my Cabelas UPLAND PRO FIELD DOG VEST yesterday and have mixed feelings about it. It will get returned. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas- ... l+Products

The issue is it is designed to have 2 hydration bladders in it, one for me and one for the dog. However, with 2 full bladders it slides backwards to the point it is trying to strangle me even with a box of shells and an e-collar remote dumped into a front pocket to try to balance it out.

It needs some internal structure like a day pack would have (waist strap, shoulder strap, etc) instead of trying to carry that much weight in a simple vest.

I also think I shot a little high vest-wise on the amount of crap I need to carry. I go pheasant hunting and am away from the truck for a max of 2 hours or so. I like the idea of a hydration bladder for the dog for ease of use. However, I don't really need a bladder for me, just a small water bottle is more than enough. I just need pockets for some shells, empties, water bottle, and first aid kit. A provision to hook the e-collar remote to the vest would be nice too. I don't care for shell loops, just a pocket works fine for me.

I'm looking at some of the other options listed.

I use the orvis waxed strap vest and love it.
It's very light weight , has two spring loaded shell pockets plus two Velcro gear pockets , dual water bottle holders and mesh bird bag.

I got a Wing Works vest for my birthday. Have only worn it once or twice, but it was sure comfortable those couple times.