Vest recommendations

My wife and I are off to Costa Rica in February. I have a Tamrac backpack for transporting my equipment en- route, but I'm thinking a vest would be useful in the field. Artie extolled the virtues of a particular vest in one of his bulletins, but I don't remember the make. Also, I believe Fabs was pictured with a new vest from Vested Interest. What'cha think? Recommendations?

roger

The one I found was BPN #239. Artie talks about his custom designed
Magnum Xtrahand Vest made by Vested Interest.

The site: www.vestedinterest.com

Doug

Roger,

I had an older vested interest Magnum vest and sold it more then a year ago. Problem I had with it was no waist belt that caused all the load to be on the shoulders. A real drag. I think they came out with a version with a waist belt however but not sure - I just tried to log onto their website and it was down so could not verify.

Now I am using the Think Tank Photo harness system and LOVE it. The waist belt distributes weight to your hips and the harness to you shoulders. I don't fatigue nearly as fast as I did with the magnum vest. Since it is a modular system you can set it up with just the pouches you needed. A very well thought out system. Before it I was using the Lowe Pro Street&Field harness system. I liked it but not nearly as much as the Think Tank system.

I use a similiar system that RA uses.

I use the Think Tank belt system. I also use an "outdoor" (the only term I can think of right now) shirt
that has multiple pockets, including zippered. In those pockets I store the light stuff, like cleaning tissues,
blowers, lens caps. Because the pockets are big enough, I can stuff a converter or flash in their if needed
in an emergency, or temporary situation.

Doug

Thanks for the comments. I re-read Artie's comments in Bulletin 239 and visited the Vested Interest and Think Tank websites. Interesting products. The Magnum would be way too large for my equipment needs, but the Slim is a possibility. However, I like the idea of minimum body coverage in the 'Rainforest and the VI would, I think, be much cooler and more comfortable. We'll be hiking and birding most of the time and the vest could get heavy by the end of the day. The VI system also provides ready access for a quick conversion from tele to macro to capture those wee critters. And, given the climatic changes here in Minnesota, it should fit nicely over heavier clothing in the Fall and Winter months. Sounds like a good overall solution. Doug, I plan to wear a shirt with pockets as well as cargo shorts for additional storage options.

Thanks again.