Originally Posted by
elkman30
No offense intended to either of you but it seems like you both have a different main feature in mind. Strut's make or break item seems to be a Thermocell holder while Cal's seems to be a hydration bladder. It's hard to stay hidden when you're swatting at skeeters and water bottles are never that quiet in the field. Since a lot of turkey vests don't have either, I can understand why each of you would wait to buy one that had your personal prerequisite feature, especially at that price point. For that kind of money, a vest should have everything you want in it.
Actually, we're both just looking for a new vest, haha! I know Cal does quite a bit of run-n-gun and is therefore looking specifically for something that has a water bladder. We both commented to Badlands during the R&D development of their vest - and the Nomad was new for 2019 and redesigned for 2020, which is why I'm trying it for $80. I also have a 14yo son who turkey hunts - so if I decide I don't like all the features of the Nomad, he'll get it to use until he decides to find one that better suits him.
And for me, the Thermocell pocket isn't a necessity because I currently use the boxcall pocket in my MO vest for this purpose - but a dedicated pocket is a nice feature and shows Nomad also listened to hunters when designing the vest. It's also something my son would absolutely require - we lived in the Caribbean for 3 years and mosquitos are his worst nightmare, I think he'd rather deal with a rabid grizzly bear than swarming skeeters...