GOOD OLE BOY

I hate krptic camo with a passion so if it didn,t come any other way I,d pass on that account alone.Sides,that,s way to pricey for me and I use my own made up setups.But I,m glad that their are Companies caterin to us Bird chasers.

elkman30

It kind of depends on how you hunt turkeys and whether this vest checks off all or at least most of your needs or not. It's pricey for sure. It's also a compromise of all the feedback submitted by hunters.

CalHunter

So has anybody actually held one in their hands yet? I'm curious to hear what you thought.

JW

Well you made go look for the vest I thought I spent way too much money on but am still using today.
It's a Bob Dixon vest. No longer get made and is worth more now today than when I bought mine in the early 90s I think.

It is well thought out pocket wise.

I saw where one Ebay sale was $735.00!
Hmmm...



JW

Strut&Rut

The actual vest (in black and tan) is now previewed on the Badlands website:

https://www.badlandsgear.com/product...IaAohEEALw_wcB

I've had the same Mossy Oak NWTF vest since (I think) 1999. It's time for an upgrade, it's either the Badlands or an Alps Elite 4.0 (~$65 on Amazon or Midway). For me it's down to these 2 factors:

1) I like the Alps because I'm a big fan of the Obsession pattern on my vest, I usually hunt in May when it's green so it works well, plus the green on the best breaks up the brown bark pattern of my Woolrich coat.
2) The ability to add a 3L bladder is really appealing because it looks like this vest has the potential to be used for bowhunting either whitetail or elk - but the 2L (which is all they currently have in stock) is another $30 - which puts the vest at $200. That's a sizable chunk of change for a vest

On the other hand, the Badlands has an unconditional lifetime warranty to fix or refund, and their products have a huge following on the West Coasts, hunters absolutely rave about the quality of their packs and clothes...

Strut&Rut

Cal - I asked this same question on their website. Badlands has licensed dealers, but it's the dealer's decision to carry the vest - so some have the vest, some do not. Regardless, you can punch your zip code into the 'Find a dealer' locator on the Badlands website to find the dealers closest to your location. Once identified, you can then obviously stop in/call the dealer to see if they have or plan to carry the turkey vest.

Strut&Rut

I just ordered the Nomad vest, version 2.0. They currently have them for $77 in RealTree on their website.

If I don’t like it I’ll give it to my son - its design is based on the Dixon vest.

CalHunter

The nearest dealer for Badlands is about 45 minutes away. Just haven't made it down there yet. I've bought 2 Badlands packs for deer/bear hunting and they're well made. I was one of the guys who submitted suggestions to Badlands for their turkey vest and am honestly curious to see how they implemented all of the input. I looked at the Nomad vest on their website and they're running $130. I still prefer to hold gear in my hands and look it over before buying it instead of ordering online and having to hassle with shipping it back if I can. I have a turkey vest that's okay but it's not hydration compatible. I'll be interested to hear what you think about your Nomad.

Strut&Rut

Cal - the vest in RealTree Edge is on sale for $77. The vest in the other 3 available patterns (MO Obsession, etc) is still regular price at $130.

For $80 I couldn’t say no, especially when I saw the Thermocell holder. I usually hunt until the end of May and deal with mosquitos for 3 weeks, having a dedicated Thermocell pocket (for me) and upgraded features sealed the deal.

CalHunter

Found it. Have you received yours yet? The description says water bottle pockets. Like for a water bottle.