Byron, I have long thought these fly boxes looked funny hanging off the chests of other fisherman.....

But now, I have a Downs and I have also just ordered a 3 tray "Richardson-like" box..... I use the downs, loaded with patterns for my local streams, when fishing in NY and PA.... I see a lot of other fisherman in PA using these and decided to give the Downs box a try. I picked one up on *bay for cheap and really liked it.... I got rid of the vest for the most part and the lanyard too.... my "stuff" just hangs from the box. In Montana I wanted something to replace the big side-front pockets used for my flies that are/were part of my "fly-fishing pack".... I do lots of hiking and I always have the pack with me.... I removed the front-side fly pockets, which were always in the way both hiking and fishing. Now the box will hang in the front and the pack on my back while I fish..... with my lunch, water bottles, camera, rain jacket, FAK, etc.... I'm getting the aluminum box for the rugged areas out West and it's a little bigger and can hold a few more flies per tray. When hiking into my fishing areas the fly box rides inside the pack out of the way......