Do I NEED a bino harness?

[ntodwild]

I agree with you. This is the biggest downfall of bino harnesses from my limited observations. I do quite a bit of still hunting elk in dark timber and I miss the simplicity of simply raising up the glass. Without a harness I may raise the glass several hundred times an afternoon. This has been my first year with a bino harness. My personal experience is as follows.

Almost every Bino harness on the market has the ability to either flip the lid open and keep it open or flip the lid behind the harness leaving the Bino's in the pouch or out of the pouch hanging on the lanyard/lanyards. Honestly I think this point is really a matter of just getting use to using a harness like any new piece of equipment (I always thought flip phones were the most amazing invention until smart phones came along). I have not found a single negative of a bino harness over a standard necklace stile strap yet. Once you have one it's like purchasing your first truck (you wonder how you lived without it before and can't see yourself every being without one).

just my .02

 

[Jbotto]

I started like most, with a single strap around my neck. Fine for sitting in deer stands, but not for hunting out west. Been using the cheap harnesses since to hold them tight against my chest when walking. They are ok, better than the single strap, but I’m in the market for a covered harness now. I’ll probably be hunting next year with an enclosed marsupial.

 

[BillDoe708]

Depends on what you have into them. I like to protect my expensive equipment, but I'm a cheap butt and I won't spend this much on glass again so I protect it a bit more.

 

[MJE2083]

I love having binos tight to my chest. I currently have a Marsupial and it's nice. The only thing I don't like about it is that I wish the straps were elastic. I find that mine shifts around just enough to be annoying. I have an old elastic harness that fits me really well, but it doesn't have a pouch/bag.

 

[LuketheDog]

I've been rifle hunting for 40+ years without a bino harness.
I like the instant access of having binos hanging from my neck.....
take a step, glass, take a step, glass, etc.

On many kills, my success was due to the ability to instantly glass something that looked out of place,
None of my rifle hunting partners use a bino harness either
and we are all relatively successful and happy with our big game hunts.
Do we NEED a bino harness?

It sounds like you don't want one, so then do we NEED this thread?

 

[Pucky Freak]

I use a harness (no case) for my cheap binos and it’s waaaaay easier, more ergonomic, keeps them from swinging/moving, and it’s fast, compared to slung around my neck. You couldn’t pay me enough to part with it. It would be like taking away my gun bearer and carrying my rifle in my hands. When I get expensive binos I’ll get a harness pouch, but I’m still keeping my current set up whenever hunt conditions favor switching to the no-case harness.

 

[Sytes]

Need? No. Useful? Hell ya.

 

[SG25]

I mean like others have said, if you have gone 40+ years without one, you definitely don't NEED one. You could always get one try it out and if you don't like it return it or sell it.

 

[Bambistew]

How do you keep the rain/snow off the lenses?

 

[Tradewind]

If it ain't broke.....

 

[kylemcintyre67]

I used the shoulder strap rig that came with my vortex for the first two years. It always kinda sucked. The straps would ride up on my neck and and start digging when I have my pack on. I decided to try a pouch harness, but wasn't super excited about it. I found one made by eyeskey on Amazon for 20 bucks. I gave it a try on a couple hikes and it was definitely worse. I ended up using the pouch as the basis for a drop leg set up. Now I keep my binos on my right hip and it is much better all around.

 

[Jwill]

Yes you need a bino harness. Next question.

 

[Franky'sFolly]

How do you keep the rain/snow off the lenses?

My binos come with a cover which slides up/down the strap. It is mostly adequate in light snow/drizzle. I rarely see these covers on other straps however

 

[BearFoot]

I've been rifle hunting for 40+ years without a bino harness.

So have I, 40+ years. Took many animals, simply hunting like you have done. Couple of years ago, I purchased the Alaska Bino harness setup. I am older now, but like the extra's.

 

[dcopas78]

I went without one for the majority of my time since I started hunting. I got my first one when I went on my first western hunt and I won't go without on again. It saves a lot of strain on your neck.

 

[ponderosa11]

If by a bino harness you mean a $100 piece of equipment, then definitely not. I think the $20 Rick Young elastic bino harness, if that counts as a harness, is essential for my hunting!

 

[Sytes]

I had a Crooked Horn harness for a good while. Worked great! I valued it over the standard single strap mainly because it hugged my chest. It did not swing out when I knelt over to inspect, p/u an item, etc.

I hunted with a HT friend some 7(?) years ago as the bino harness case system rolled into the mainstream of hunters.

Why I value the bino harness case setting over the harness setting:

1. Keeps weather (rain, sleet, snow) off my lens and generic cover that seemed to drop water or snow residual when slipping the cover off.
2. It's a valuable storage location for items I used to have to reach various areas such as cargo pant pockets, jacket pockets, pack pockets, etc.
Inside the case:

• Stores meds taken every 6 hours for a neck break back '12
• Stores my hunt license / Tags
• Elk mouth reeds inside the pouch
• Stores electrical tape wrapped 4 spare bullets (not really essential location though it works with the spare space)
• Phone for quick access photos, video, Oxmaps, etc
• Chewing gum
• Oh, and of course comfortably houses my 10x50 Vortex binos

On the outside:

• Deer call / Elk "Hoochy Mamma" one side
• InReach other side

Right side IWB holster clips on the case strap pressured between the strap and my left side chest when I carry a firearm.

I'll toss a bino case dump pic into this post later.

This is how I transitioned from the standard bino strap to a full bino chest case system. As the saying goes, more space = more clutter. To each his/her own. I find it works for me.

I have the Badlands bino case. Lifetime warranty - Company brags on their website, even if purchased from a garage sale - the lifetime warranty stays with the item. Send it in. They'll repair or replace. Keeps them informed how their items hold up and where to improve.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Thanks for all the replies!
So a bino harness has 2 basic functions: 1) a container that protects the binos and allows for accessories also to be packaged. 2) comfort

As far as comfort, I like this style of bino straps Remi Warren has in this hunt:

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[AndyPOW]

Complete noob question here. . . why not get a case that attaches to the shoulder straps of your hunting pack, and avoid the second harness of the bino harness?

 

[Seamaster]

If you are adding layers of clothing or taking some off a bino harness is a huge pain in the backside.