Chief upland vest users

[bigbird]

This is for the users not the keyboard warriors that wanna talk about the price. We all know it's expensive so save your BS and energy (comments). So how do you like it? How comfy is it? And lastly what components work well for you? I've got an ol Tom and I wanna upgrade to something else. It's uncomfortable and kinda heavy but honestly I haven't ever bought a vest that I didn't have a problem with after you use it.

[mdmitchell]

Don't do it. I bought it last year and hated it. It's big, bulky and the pockets strange. The seat cushion is miserable.

[FLGobstopper]

Man I freakin love my Chief Upland turkey vest! I was surprised how much I like it and it is hands down the absolute most comfortable vest I've ever worn.

I think 90% of the pockets that come with it are great and the customizable layout I can get because of it put items where I want them and it's solid. Out of all the pockets that come with the package I didn't love the box call pocket for box calls, all though I have other uses for it when upland hunting. To be honest though I've never actually worn it in the woods with a box call or for turkey hunting so I could be missing out on something. I just like my boxes to be held a little more securely and quick deploy than what I think that pocket does for me. I ordered another molle box pocket from Nomad that fits nice and tight though.

Tip[, strikers fit great in the internal game bird pouch molle webbing. The electronics / Thermacell pocket is a winner because I can slide my phone in one side and the Thermacell on the other. I hunt in FL and SE more than anywhere, so it's a must. That pocket also works great for my gps/ e-collar remote for upland hunts. The seat is really comfortable, rides well when not in use and very quick to deploy. The hydration bladder pocket gets a lot of use and it's pretty easy to remove the bladder if I want to.

There really isn't too much of anything I can say that's bad about this vest as far as layout for turkey hunting. The only 1 thing that is a little out of place in this vest is my pruner. I just shove in the game bird pouc but it moves around which I don't like because I've poked holes in plenty of other vests from a loose prone in a game bag or random pocket.  So, I still need to figure out a solution there, but I looked at some little molle pouches online I think will work that I'll probably pick up in the off season.

PRO's:
Extremely comfortable to wear
Very customizable layout
It's built to last
Multi-purpose for me
It's an ALL DAY, hard hunting vest meant to carry a lot of gear for lot's of miles (but can carry as little as you want or as much as you want}


CON's:
Pricey
Hot if temps get in 80's plus (but what vest isn't)
Heavy when loaded down (but doesn't wear heavy)


I bought it as a versatile upland vest first that would be able to carry a heavy load for 5 to 10++ mile hunts behind fast and long ranging bird dogs. Honestly I bought it because I needed a really good upland vest mostly  and I wanted to thin my turkey vest collection also if possible. I've owned and sold more vest over the years from old cheap strap vest to MO Dixon's and pretty much everything in between. I was pretty very thoroughly surprised how much I like this vest for turkeys but it probably helped I put a bunch of miles on it bird hunting before I ever put a call pocket or anything turkey related on it.

For years I had been running the Cabela's Tactical Tat'r 2's for an All Day vest and bought several back ups after Bass Pro screwed them up. Lighter stuff I have Cabela's Tactical Tat'r Minimalist vest which I stil use in temps to mid 80's and quick hunts. It's it's uppper 80's plus these days I'm ditching a vest all together.

FYI, I'm not a big guy 5'8", 170ish #'s and went with a S/M size. As I mentioned it's NOT the one  vest that makes every other turkey vest obsolete for all circumstances, but it's a great vest and it has it's place for sure!  I think it has a lot going for and it should last pretty serious turkeys hunters who hunt long hard days and travel farily often, a long time.

[highball]

Man I freakin love my Chief Upland turkey vest! I was surprised how much I like it and it is hands down the absolute most comfortable vest I've ever worn.

I think 90% of the pockets that come with it are great and the customizable layout I can get because of it put items where I want them and it's solid. Out of all the pockets that come with the package I didn't love the box call pocket for box calls, all though I have other uses for it when upland hunting. To be honest though I've never actually worn it in the woods with a box call or for turkey hunting so I could be missing out on something. I just like my boxes to be held a little more securely and quick deploy than what I think that pocket does for me. I ordered another molle box pocket from Nomad that fits nice and tight though.

Tip[, strikers fit great in the internal game bird pouch molle webbing. The electronics / Thermacell pocket is a winner because I can slide my phone in one side and the Thermacell on the other. I hunt in FL and SE more than anywhere, so it's a must. That pocket also works great for my gps/ e-collar remote for upland hunts. The seat is really comfortable, rides well when not in use and very quick to deploy. The hydration bladder pocket gets a lot of use and it's pretty easy to remove the bladder if I want to.

There really isn't too much of anything I can say that's bad about this vest as far as layout for turkey hunting. The only 1 thing that is a little out of place in this vest is my pruner. I just shove in the game bird pouc but it moves around which I don't like because I've poked holes in plenty of other vests from a loose prone in a game bag or random pocket.  So, I still need to figure out a solution there, but I looked at some little molle pouches online I think will work that I'll probably pick up in the off season.

PRO's:
Extremely comfortable to wear
Very customizable layout
It's built to last
Multi-purpose for me
It's an ALL DAY, hard hunting vest meant to carry a lot of gear for lot's of miles (but can carry as little as you want or as much as you want}


CON's:
Pricey
Hot if temps get in 80's plus (but what vest isn't)
Heavy when loaded down (but doesn't wear heavy)


I bought it as a versatile upland vest first that would be able to carry a heavy load for 5 to 10++ mile hunts behind fast and long ranging bird dogs. Honestly I bought it because I needed a really good upland vest mostly  and I wanted to thin my turkey vest collection also if possible. I've owned and sold more vest over the years from old cheap strap vest to MO Dixon's and pretty much everything in between. I was pretty very thoroughly surprised how much I like this vest for turkeys but it probably helped I put a bunch of miles on it bird hunting before I ever put a call pocket or anything turkey related on it.

For years I had been running the Cabela's Tactical Tat'r 2's for an All Day vest and bought several back ups after Bass Pro screwed them up. Lighter stuff I have Cabela's Tactical Tat'r Minimalist vest which I stil use in temps to mid 80's and quick hunts. It's it's uppper 80's plus these days I'm ditching a vest all together.

FYI, I'm not a big guy 5'8", 170ish #'s and went with a S/M size. As I mentioned it's NOT the one  vest that makes every other turkey vest obsolete for all circumstances, but it's a great vest and it has it's place for sure!  I think it has a lot going for and it should last pretty serious turkeys hunters who hunt long hard days and travel farily often, a long time.

I agree with this guy,Well built with unlimited options.

[mdmitchell]

It's heavy and hot.

The water bottle holder isn't big enough for a Nalgene bottle - the most commonly used bottle on earth.

The seat cushion is the hardest thing I've ever used and made my butt actually sore from use

The pot call holder has no place for strikers

It has alot of space in the side pouches but because there's no separation, everything in there will find its way to the back of the bird bag.

They give you a pouch to fit a box of shotgun shells... tell me you're not a turkey hunter without telling me...

The seat deployment sucks.... It should just use magnets and not the weird strap system.

I was pretty dissatisfied with the vest and when I contacted the owner I was given next to no options. You would think spending $400 you'd be getting a refined product and at least a money back offer of some kind but he wouldn't take it back which I do understand but also... I don't.

It's an upland vest with camouflage on it - period. I sold mine and bought the M2 it was a night and day difference.