The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Match Aerial wrote:The best one in my opinion was the john Wilson, shame they don't make them any more.

I bought one but don't know which one you mean. There is a Masterline promotion video with him where he is wearing just that. I will report when it arrives.

I have a number of them but only one fits now

a Wychwood fly fishing waistcoat

a generic olive green safari / photographers waistcoat

and my favorite, a "vintage" Banana Republic safari / hunters vest, wonderful ting with more well thought out pockets than you can shake a stick at ( google is your friend here )

I also have a tweed shooting gilet but haven't tried it fishing yet.

OldTackle wrote:

Match Aerial wrote:The best one in my opinion was the john Wilson, shame they don't make them any more.

I bought one but don't know which one you mean. There is a Masterline promotion video with him where he is wearing just that. I will report when it arrives.

The one I liked Christopher was the "corduroy" one. He did a lightweight mesh type as well made my Masterline.
Like a lot of John Wilson gear it was well thought out, top notch stuff at the right price.

I use two- for flyfishing (ie deep wading) a Simms job . Top end pricey but beautifully made and sits beautifully on my shoulders , even with lots of flyboxes , scales, nylon ,net and lunch . For summer coarse fishing a cheap Orvis long waistcoat - takes a huge amount of gear and bait. Not really a fishing waistcoat but the sort of thing ageing American tourists often wear .

Thought the idea of a waistcoat was the minimalist approach John ?

It is but what I call a huge amount of gear is minimalist by most standards. So my coarse waistcoat when stalking for carp will contain some spare line, camera , scales , binoculars, polaroids , forceps and terminal tackle (hooks and controllers ) . Add in some bait and a can of pop and that's it

I don't like a lot of pockets mainly because I cant remember which pocket I put something in and have to search through them all to find it.
I got one of these from Orvis, four pockets only.
http://www.orvis.co.uk/p/montrose-moles ... tcoat/14z0

This is by Orvis and is more of a safari / photography design but ideal for the roving angler

Mark wrote:And on that note Grazy I have just ordered myself a Snowbee waistcoat as per my first post in this thread.

Mark, How are you getting on with it? I've considered buying one as I think it would enable me to leave the tackle bag behind. I carry so little actual fishing tackle that it would easily fit in a waistcoat. If/when you are sitting in it how comfortable is it with pockets of stuff?

Beresford wrote:

Mark wrote:And on that note Grazy I have just ordered myself a Snowbee waistcoat as per my first post in this thread.

Mark, How are you getting on with it? I've considered buying one as I think it would enable me to leave the tackle bag behind. I carry so little actual fishing tackle that it would easily fit in a waistcoat. If/when you are sitting in it how comfortable is it with pockets of stuff?

For me Tim it is perfect, plenty of pockets and still comfortable when they are full. I can never stay in one place for too long and this is ideal for me when on the move. Over the years I have had a couple of waistcoats and this has been the best by far. It is expensive for a waistcoat but it looks like it will wear well, only time will tell.