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[Danny Coombs]

So I hate wearing a vest when fly fishing a river, and right now I have simms dry creek flat pack. As it turns out I need something a little bigger.

What's people using out there and any suggestions are welcome!

Appreciate!

[wallygator24]

I was in the same boat for a while.  I got a FishPond Tundra Tech pack and have not looked back since.  It has plenty of room for all my gear.  I just try to limit how much stuff to put into it, but you can never have enough gear.  It came with a small chest pack that attaches to main back pack or you can wear the chest pack on its own for day short outings.  Good luck with your decision. 

[bald_seagull]

a good friend gave me a fishpond flint hills vest for xmas last year
i love it and its quite small when compared to most others but it has enough pockets to get you through a day on the river or lake easy

[DRP79]

I've been using a Swiss army sling pack that was about 20 bucks at the mall. It fits a water bottle, protein bar and maybe a sandwich along with whatever tackle I need. It's not too heavy and has served me well for the past couple months.

[tylerab47]

i just started using a William Joseph "Surge" hip/waist pack.  It fit a surprising amount of gear, has room for a snack,drink,  and is pretty comfy. There's no zippers to snag anything on, as it uses magnets to close.

[clarkii]

You just opened up a can of worms.

Couple options.
I use a small chestpack from fishpond, the san juan.  To give an idea what it fits I can take two fly boxes on the inside, or one on the inside with my other material like random spools (dont fit the brand i have most of), and some other things like my license and phone in an inner zip pocket.

now I also have a ton of flies on a drop down bench that i meed to re-organize as I have gotten lazy when changing.

Now one of the best things you can do is maximize the space on the out of the vest.  I carry 5 tippet spools on an external tender, forceps, nippers on a zinger, a fishpond trash can, and also a leader straightener on a zinger (I may or may not keep that on though).

Now I love my chestpack when I know I can take one or two fly boxes and be good for the day.  It is small though so spare spools (if needed) often wind up in my wader pocket.

I like a vest for when im carrying 3+ boxes, spare spools, replacement stinger hooks, fertain floatant bottles etc.  The vest also has a rear pocket for water, a jacket etc.

Vest styles are vastly different.  Mine is a no name mesh vest from 10 years ago, and is more traditional in its design.

If I was to get a new one I'd be looking at Simms, Fishpond,  or William Joseph.  Personally the William Joseph Exodus is an interesting pack, as it has an integrated backpack but can be removed from the vest portion, leaving you with a chestpack/vest hybrid.  I recently got to look at one as my dad ordered it, however at $200 or so it isn't cheap.

Whats your budget?

[Danny Coombs]

Gentlemen, I appreciate all the insight.

The Simms headwater small sling pack is in the running but I will continue to research all your suggests.

See ya out there!

[mvelasco]

The Simms small sling pack is great and so is the large sling. The large allows you to carry food,water and anything else you find essential very comfortably.  Right now I have the guide hip pack and love it, I just lay my spey rod across it when it's fully open and it allows me to work freely.

[A Frayed Knot]

I like the Gale Force Backpack by Orvis a lot, holds two rods comfortably it's a bit on the pricey side but I think it's well worth the price for a waterproof pack (though not intended to be submerged for long periods of time but worse case thats what 1$ dry bags are for) It's pretty Spacious interior and its welded and combined with water-resistant, non corrosive zippers. It's about $189 USD. 1930 cu-in

Patagonia Stormfront Backpack isn't to bad, it's about 1526 cu-in. $299 (I assume also USD though you might get it cheaper in canada)

I like these particular backs because by design they will hold large capacity & micro chest packs without adding much weight and still move fairly freely, Also with rapid weather changes, knowing my spare cloths will stay dry inside is a nice feeling.
The Gale Force Pack I can fit a 3 days of clothing and still have room for fishing gear, I still need to get chest packs

[Flytech]

i just started using a William Joseph "Surge" hip/waist pack.  It fit a surprising amount of gear, has room for a snack,drink,  and is pretty comfy. There's no zippers to snag anything on, as it uses magnets to close.

I Checked these out at Fred's custom tackle this week. I am quite impressed with this model, it may be my next pack.

[bigblockfox]

i got the simms bag and its ok. i think its the dry creek model. keeps stuff kinda dry. that william joseph bag looks cool.

[Spawn Sack]

I've had a few different hip bags and will toss in my 2 cents. Well, to take an extra step back I started out with a vest. The black ubiquitous "Vedder" vest that a lot of guys use/love. I still have it and use it from time to time. I like it more for spey/fly fishing where I am generally carring much less tackle than when I gear fish. I was finding when I used the vest for gear fishing it was giving me a sore back as a lot of the weight is in the front. Anyway, I decided to switch to a hip bag and bought a Simms Dry Creek for about $100 bucks. It was great in the fall when I bought it, but when I started using it in the winter for steelhead I realized it was junk - it leaked!

I contated Simms and they more or less said, yeah, it is waterproof, but the zipper is more water resistant. Well after an afternoon of fishing in the rain the pack would have 1/2 a liter of water in it! And it would not drain as the body of the pack is rubbery/waterproof. Shortly after I returned this pack and bought a Patagonia Stormfront. It is AWESOME! 100% watertight. When the zipper is fully secured you can squeeze the pack and not a fart of air escapes. The only downsides are there is not much in the way of internal organization, just a few small zippered compartments. So your gear needs to be well organized to find things quickly. Looking on Patagonia website I see they have improved the pack and added an external zipper compartment, and shoulder strap. If you spend some time online you can find good deals. I got mine from I think it was Caddis Creek or something like that for $175 USD taxes in and free shipping to a US address (I used Package Express in Sumas, WA).

I've had this Patagonia pack for 2 years now and would give it a 9/10 only because of the lacking internal organization. Also, when the zipper is fully shut you have to give it a pretty good tug to get it "open." You almost have to hold the bag with one hand and pull the zipper with the other. Because of this I typically zip it almost shut unless it is raining or I am wading. Most of my gear goes in this hip bag and I keep some small stuff in my jacket like my camera, snack, line nippers, etc.

If I am venturing out for a full day I will use my Simms roll top backpack. The hip pack just does not have enough room for a decent lunch, water, etc. But normally I just go out for 3-5 hours so the hip pack is more than sufficent.

Looking on Simms website is looks like they totally changed the dry creek hip pack! I looks a lot better than its predecessor. In fact, it looks almost like the Patagonia one I have! Perhaps after enough complaints they decided to do away with the old design. Here are a few useful links:

http://www.patagonia.com/ca/product/stormfront-hip-pack-9-liter?p=48146-0

http://www.simmsfishing.com/shop/vests-packs.html

[zap brannigan]

maxpedition colossus pack, love it.

[Flytech]

I Checked these out at Fred's custom tackle this week. I am quite impressed with this model, it may be my next pack.

Picked it up today, love it.

[tylerab47]

Picked it up today, love it.

Awesome, yah haven't found anything I don't like so far.  Maybe only that I can't fit as many munchies