Hello Everyone,

We recently introduced our new Duty Apparel MOLLE hunting vest at the Toronto Sportsman Show. The response has been amazing!! Here are some of the features of our vest:

Hunter Orange MOLLE Load Bearing Vest
Two Internal Pockets
Two Large Zippered Compartments
Adjustable Sides For Various Size
Emergency Grab Handle
Mic Loops
Padded Shoulders
600D Heavy Weight Cordura Water Repellent Fabric
Various Pouches Available
Ideal For Search and Rescue Applications

The vest and pouches can be viewed and purchased off our websites www.dutyapparel.com or www.onduty.ca

Roger Rondeau

On Duty Equipment Ltd - Duty Apparel

I don't know OnDuty, or anything about their products, but I want to throw out a few things on this particular item.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not sure if this post will stand, since I don't think advertising like this, even within the Hunting Gear Discussion forum is allowed, but in the event it does, I'm offering my thoughts anyway.

I know a lot of guys look at "tactical gear" and roll their eyes, but I'd encourage ANYONE that uses a backpack style hunting pack, or ANYONE that puts a lot of gear in different pockets on their coats to consider trying MOLLE compatible gear (I honestly don't care whether it's THIS product or some other brand - I actually highly recommend Mil-Surp).

I started using this type of vest a few years ago, and I'll never go back to a standard backpack or waist pack for hunting. Everything I need is exactly where I want it, and is accessible when I need it.

I've never seen or held a Duty Gear product, so I can't say anything about them really, except that the price is pretty fair. Similar vests, i.e. commercial tactical vests, can run up as high as $150, whereas this one is $80. My version I'll discuss below was army surplus, got the base vests for $15.

Since the Duty Gear product is MOLLE, it would be compatible with any MOLLE gear, not just that which is sold by Duty Apparel. In other words, it's a universal platform, much like the Picatinny rail on AR's.

Nomercy448's testimonial for using MOLLE vests for hunting:

For those that aren't familiar with it, "MOLLE" (MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment), or "PALS" (Pouch Attachment Ladder System) is that standardized nylon strap-ladder system for the attachment of different kit components: mag pouches, admin pouches (pen and paper), med kits, grenade pouches, ruck frames, large rucks, etc etc etc by interweaving retaining clips or straps between the component and the base - the vest in this case. This allows limitless combination options for the types of pockets/pouches the user wants, with almost limitless configuration for their locations around the vest.

Even growing up, I HATED traditional hunting packs. I got tired of putting on and taking off backpacks, and tired of not having my gear in a hunting pack well organized, and VERY tired of not having it all easily accessible. Waist packs weren't any better, because they were still on your back, and had to come off to let you sit down, get in the truck, etc, and they still just had one or two pockets. So around 16-17yrs ago I started using fishing vests for hunting because they had tons of pockets on the front. Wasn't pefect, but it was doable. I eventually tried using some military surplus "ALICE Packs", but they placed everything around your waist, so they weren't as handy as the fishing vests.

Then a few years ago, I converted over to MOLLE gear bought from my local Army Surplus shop (Alpha One Drop Zone in Wichita, KS - to which I am not affiliated) and bought a couple FLC's (Fighting Load Carriers) and several components:



The FLC's have MOLLE web all over the front which allows limitless options for mounting gear on the front. They have an open harness style back, which can be used in conjunction with a large ruck, ruck frame, or any number of other kit components, or used to mount additional MOLLE base "bibs", which doesn't make sense to me, since you can't reach it while wearing the vest anyway.

I know I'm going to leave out a few things that are tucked into the pouches on these, but here goes - only for those that are interested:

The desert camo kit on the left is my standard coyote hunting kit. Never gets unloaded. It consists of: a triple mag shingle on the right to hold my AR mags and my wallet, a triple mag shingle on the left to hold my shotgun "pull tabs" (see photo below) and a Foxpro remote. The first double mag pouch on the right middle holds a flashlight and lens pen, the second double mag pouch on the right holds my coyote drag, then a multi-purpose pouch (with 2 small side pockets) on the right kidney holds binos, rubber gloves, and spare batteries. The grenade pouch on the left middle holds a FoxPro BlackJack decoy head, the double mag pouch beside it holds the decoy motor unit (note the black tube that I improvised to hold the decoy rod), and the multipurpose pouch on my left kidney holds my FoxPro Spitfire or Wildfire E-caller, along with more batteries and the patch cables. the Grenade pouches on the left breast hold a rangefinder and my cell phone. The double 40mm pyro pouch on my right breast holds another flashlight and a windmeter. I have a knife tucked into the webbing on the left shoulder, which also serves as my "release knife" when wearing a harness in a treestand. (I wear my primary field skinning knife on my gunbelt). Across the back of the belt, I have a long pouch, and an attached flip down padded seat.

The green kit on the right is set up for archery hunting, turkey in this photo. My Turkey bow is left handed, so I have my right breast empty for string clearance. On this vest, I have a rangefinder and flashlight on the left breast, a double mag pouch on the right kidney for a box call and strikers, multipurpose pouch with slates rubber gloves and diaphragm calls, then left side waist has a triple mag shingle to hold my wallet and shotgun ammo, and a multipurpose pouch for binos, multitool, bow wrench. Again, a pouch across the back, and a padded seat (not pictured). I use that FLC for deer hunting, pretty similarly equipped.

For carrying shotgun ammo, I made a couple "pull tab" slides:



These are shown in a triple mag shingle. Shingles have MOLLE web on the front so more pouches can be mounted on top of them.

For range hunting, I have a ruck frame that mounts on the back and bolted on a flip down pack frame strut to carry quarters. I also have a large ruck sack that will mount on the back, in the event I'd need that much bulk storage, and have Camelback Hydroback bladders that integrate to the FLC straps.

I'm even working on "version 3" of a modified ruck frame that has kick-stand style legs similar to the Cabelas Speedy-yote kickstand vest, so I can lean back against the frame while sitting on coyote or turkey sets.

For handgunning, I have holsters (even a couple custom holsters) that mount to the front of the triple mag shingles.

I'll never use anything else for hunting. I can carry as much or as little as I want, take off the spare pockets when not needed, move things around, have EVERYTHING well organized and most importantly, EASILY ACCESSIBLE. The only thing that goes in my pockets are my truck keys, so when the hunt is done, it all comes off and stays in the kit.

So again, I'd HIGHLY recommend other hunters give MOLLE gear of one brand or another a try.

I did forget to mention - Component pricing:

This Duty Gear vest runs $80, then each component runs about $10-20.

The Mil-Surp FLC's I use cost $15, and each mil-surp component runs $5-10 bucks, I think I paid $15 for a couple items. The big difference is that the Mil-Surp stuff might be used, might be new, or might be well-used, and the Duty Equipment is blaze with black trim, rather than being camo.

If you peruse the "molle gear" section of midwayusa, you'll find a lot of component options, and you can see how NORMAL commercial product prices vary (5.11, blackhawk, SpecOps, etc).

(I wear an XL thin orange vest on top of mine for deer hunting, doesn't really seem to impede access to the gear.)

Duty Equipment's prices are REALLY competitive. I'd be pretty confident that they're the most affordable out of any of the commercial sector products, and are only moderately more expensive than mil-surp stuff.

MOLLE gear is great. There is a reason the military uses it for battle gear. If you want to get this type of gear, look into Govt surplus. They are bringing lots of stuff back from the Middle East and you can get it from the Govt for a lot less than you can buy it from civilian makers.

Looks like a great vest I could use but I wouldn't buy it for one reason all the Velcro, to easy to make noise even being carful but it is very functional.

That said I love my Molle scabbard for my 30-30.

Thanks for the comments, I just want to clarify one thing. Our blaze orange MOLLE vest has no Velcro on it at all.