Packs. Whether you carry yours on your sling, chest, or fanny, dozens upon dozens have been engineered for fly fishers. Why? For years, anglers have been trying to find the perfect piece of gear to carry their gear. In a sport that is so smitten with gadgets, gizmos, and Gink, the contemplative angler is confronted with a conundrum.
Should I be comfortable?
or
Should I carry the whole fly shop with me, fishing like a burdened pack mule?
The fly fishing industry has heard your questions. And it has answered. And that answer is vest.
Admittedly, the latest and greatest vests didn’t make many catalog centerfolds. Few bloggers have taken the digital space to profile the minds behind vest-innovation. If it is any indication, few Instagram models are wearing anything tan or multi-pocketed these days. But the humble vest deserves to carve out a niche in the contemporary fly fishing scene.
Why? Just take a look at some of the highlight reel of a modern fly fishing vest:
- Lots of pockets (for stuff)
- Ample rear storage (for big stuff)
- D rings and tether points a-plenty (for stuff you can hang)
- Weight distributing designs inspired by the article of clothing worn by virtually all people since recorded history began (the “shirt”)
- A thoughtful, if not impractical, Velcro-strap rod holder
Obviously vests have function. Hundreds of years of fly fisherman and safari aficionados can’t be wrong. However, we can’t ignore the real reason that most fly fisherman will be sporting the vest in the 21st century. The look. In a culture where form reigns king and determines function, the vest is eyeing a large swath of land to plant it’s khaki-colored flag upon. Like the flat-brimmed hat, the vest will once more have it’s day in the sun.
I myself own at least two vests. For various stretches of time, they have been my primary gear-storage apparatus. Without a doubt, they excel at carrying all of my essential gear: a rain jacket, flies I will never use, snacks, water, a wader repair kit, knot-tying tools I don’t know how to use, lots of the little plastic tubs you get from fly shops, jerky, old licenses, piles of spent strike indicators, matches, granola bars, and lots of much less useful stuff.
Vests can’t not be the next once-more big thing. They have one foot firmly planted in fly fishing’s past, another stepping into the future, and a third kicking down a door into the present. Sacheting around with a lanyard, bits and pieces flailing about you is cute. Dropping a fly box into a jean pocket is fake James Dean cool. Neither of those approaches allow you to open up an almost-hidden pocket and find the hand warmers you packed for last year’s steelhead trip. Or the sandwich from the same outing.
Most importantly, you’ll have the joy of shopping for an procuring another piece of $100 fishing equipment.
This above article was an update/refresh on an older piece. Gear Review: The Vest was originally posted in October of 2015. It was one of the posts that was on Casting Across on day 1. Revisiting older articles gives me an opportunity to see how my writing has evolved. More than that, it gives me a chance to see how I have grown. This post is a great example of that. Thanks for reading.