William Joseph Gear Bag Chest Packs....

[Crotalus]

I am seriously thinking of buying one and was wondering if anyone here was using one and what they thought of it?

Thanks
Joe

[Canoeman1947]

Joe,
I just bought one about 2-3 weeks ago, and so far I've only used it once. I had a Cabela's chest pack previously, and while it had plenty of storage room, it just didn't have any good attachment points for retractors or other gear, and I kept losing retractors along with the accessories attached when the pins would come loose and fall off. The Gear Bag Chest Pack has 2 large D-rings, several small vertical pockets for scissors, forceps, etc. There are a couple of small zippered pockets on the side that are handy for small items. There are a couple of built in pig tail retractors, and about 4 small rubberized tags along the bottom that you can hook things to. The chest pockets are big enough to hold four or five small to medium sized fly boxes, and there is also a tippet pocket on the front. The straps are very well designed, and you can achieve a very good fit with all the adjustments. It seemed a little awkward to get to the fly boxes at first, but I quickly became accustomed to it. It seems small after the Cabela's pack, but somehow I seemed to be able to get just about everything I carried in the old pack into the new one without really crowding it. Overall, I think I really like it. What I really like is the unconditional lifetime warranty. William Joseph offers to repair any of their packs whether you have a receipt or not. They say they don't care if you picked it up at a garage sale; they will still fix anything that goes wrong. Can't beat a warranty like that, which may account for the price. I got mine through Fishwest, at about $25.00 off suggested retail.

Larry Compton

[Pisco]

William Joseph = QUALITY QUALITY QUALITY

Nuff said.

------------------
Wild trout in wild places.

[alra195]

Joe,

I've owned and fished with the WJ Gear Bag Chest Pack for a little over two years now. In general I like it. You can carry plenty of stuff and it's pretty easy to access. I added a water bladder and on all day trips to the creek it's nice to grab a quick drink of water.

The only down sides I'll bring up is the tendancy of the front pack to ride up when a heavy load is in the back compartment and your view straight down is obscured by the chest pack. Minor difficulties but somethings to be aware of.

I like it well enough that I bought a mini II this summer to use on short trips after work.

------------------
Joe B
SW Ohio

"I grew up in PA, I work in Ohio. My heart still belongs to PA."

[SilverMallard]

I've been using one for a couple of years. I love it. I also have a CS2 that I've yet to use. The backpack portion is just huge on the CS2! I can't imagine needing that much cargo space.

If you can spend the $$$ on a WJ, you won't be sorry you did.

------------------
MERRY CHRISTMAS!