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I’d been working the gobbler all morning, repositioned three times, and was on my stomach crawling the last 60 yards to the tree I needed to be at. It had rained the night before and everything was still wet. I pushed my shotgun ahead of me an arm’s length at a time while the rest of followed through the wet leaves and mud. My binoculars rode underneath me the whole way, pinned between my chest and the muck in a Marsupial Gear bino harness I’d been using since 2020. Honestly, I never thought about my binoculars once.
If you want the short version that’s it. I’d been through enough with that bino pack to know that my glass was fine after crawling through the mud. If you want to know more, here’s the long version. What I liked and disliked, as well as all the specs and some of the accessories available for their binocular harnesses.
Five years in the standard pack
I received the standard Marsupial bino harness in 2020, size small in multicam, as a gift from my wife. Probably because she’d heard all of my complaints about the bino pack I’d been running the last few seasons. Since then, I’ve put that bino harness through just about anything you could imagine. It’s been rained and snowed on, drug through the mud and muck, worn in extreme heat and cold, and dragged across rugged terrain underneath me on numerous belly crawls.
The pack looks like it’s been abused and it has. The fabric is faded and scuffed, but nothing on it but the front zippered pocket had failed. The zipper was an easy fix. The magnets still hold like they are new, the lid stays in the position I want it in, and I’ve never had to worry about my binoculars falling out. The build quality doesn’t get much better than this.
My only complaints with that version of the standard bino harness was it didn’t have molle webbing anywhere except for on the two side pockets, it wasn’t fleece lined, and the open sides did allow a small amount of dust or trash to get into the pack.
Note: The lack of molle webbing and lack of fleece lining has been fixed on the new versions, having added webbing on the bottom of the harness and fleece on the inside of the pack. They’ve also released an enclosed version, keeping your glass completely protected from dust or debris.
Key Features of the Standard Bino Harness (Magnetic Version)
- Fleece lining
- Elastic pockets on each side
- Molle webbing on the bottom
- Rear mesh pocket (perfect for phone)
- Front zippered pocket
- Removable quick disconnect safety tethers
- Magnets on the top and bottom hold the lid open while you glass and shut while you walk.
One season in the enclosed pack
After five seasons running the standard Marsupial Gear standard bino harness I decided to get a new bino harness. I know what you’re probably thinking. Why switch after five years with a pack that wasn’t broken? Storage, the added molle webbing, and I wanted to try out the enclosed design.
I run the Vortex Viper HD 10×42 binoculars, meaning if you go by the Marsupial Gear sizing guide, you’d need a size small. The only problem with this is it doesn’t leave much if any room to store items under your binoculars. When I switched to the enclosed version I sized up to a medium, giving me room to keep my hunting licenses and a pen under my binoculars.
With the new version having the molle webbing under the pack I also added the Marsupial Gear down under pouch to keep items like my pen light, pocket knife, and milkweed for checking the wind while whitetail hunting. Along with the down under pouch, I started running the Marsupial rangefinder pouch and have no complaints with it so far.
The enclosed bino pack is a few ounces heavier and a boxier feel, but I’d say the improvements more than make up for this.
Key Features of the Enclosed Bino Harness (Magnetic Version)
- Complete containment design to protect from outside elements
- Magnets on the top and bottom hold the lid open while you glass and shut while you walk.
- Durable fleece liner
- Stretch side pockets
- Rear mesh Pocket
- Stretch front zippered pocket
- MOLLE attachment on the bottom of the pack
- Padded mesh harness comes standard with removable safety tethers
Which one should you buy?
My personal opinion is that you can’t go wrong with any of the Marsupial Gear products. As far as which you should buy between the standard and enclosed packs is completely up to personal preference. If you’re someone that wants that slim less bulky feel from a bino pack then take a look at the standard version. If you don’t mind a slightly bulkier setup and want your glass completely enclosed then the enclosed version will be your best bet. No matter witch one you choose I can confidently say you won’t be disappointed.
Back to the crawl
That gobbler I was crawling to get into position on ended up making his way into range after a couple of soft yelps. After it was said, and done I checked my bino’s and they came out clean. That’s the whole job. The best thing I can say about the Marsupial bino harness is that after a while you’ll forget you’re wearing it. I’ve been forgetting about mine since 2020.