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After several years of testing frustrations, has Adrian actually found a turkey hunting vest that she is going to hunt with more than one season? Could the Tethrd M2 Turkey Vest finally be the perfect turkey hunting vest for her?
I think Adrian has been through about as many turkey hunting vests as most women have pairs of shoes.
I will say that she has at least used them more than once, and she has given them all a fair shake before putting them in the corner of the closet! In the past 5 years, I think she's tried at least as many turkey vests. So why are we writing about this one?
And to me, that is something to tell the world about! Imagine your wife finding a pair of shoes and saying that she may never have to buy another one. Wouldn't you be excited too?
That's how I feel. Could the guys at Tethrd and The Hunting Public have created the perfect turkey hunting vest that will stop Adrian from ever going vest shopping again? If so, sign me up and let's buy two of them just in case!
But before we go purchase another one, let's give you all the details on this piece of equipment.
*Even though I am the one writing this, keep in mind that most of this information is from Adrian's point of view as she is the one that has spent the most time scouring the hillsides in search of weary gobblers while wearing this vest.
We're going to break this up and look at each piece of that statement.
The way the M2 vest fits definitely creates an environment for mobility. Adrian has always wanted a turkey vest that is comfortably snug and stays in place, and this one does just that. Most vests that she has tried in the past are too big and just flop around if she's moving fast to get in position, likely because they are made for the average sized male.
If you have seen Adrian in our videos, you know she is smaller than the average sized male! The S/M belt (which is the size she got) is sized for up to a 34" waist and the Large says it is for >36" But since there are people in that 34-35" range, we would likely say that the Large is for >34" waists.
The M2 yoke and S/M belt fits Adrian better than any vest she has tried in the past several years. And because of that, it doesn’t move around much when she's sitting, crawling, climbing, or running.
I'm 5' 10" tall and about 180 lbs with a 34" waist and the neat thing about this vest / belt size is that I can still fit into it comfortably. So there really is enough extra strap material to fit up to a 34" waist like their sizing chart states.
The vest is compact and lightweight, keeping everything close to your body that really allows you to be mobile, maybe even the most mobile like they advertise!
This is a key component to the M2 that really sets itself apart from other turkey hunting vests.
This is different than other vests that are designed so you have to put your stuff where they’ve put the pocket for it. In other words, if you don’t have a box call, you just have an empty pocket. That's not the case with the M2.
First, as you're choosing different options on the website, you can get this vest with either a bird bag or a hydropack. OR you can get both and switch them out depending on your situation. Adrian stuck with the pack option because she likes having a place for storing layers as the day heats up. And the pack option also gives you room for snacks, toilet paper, and more snacks.
There is MOLLE webbing on the chest straps and the belt as well as the sides of the bird bag. This means you can easily attach any of the Tethrd MOLLE accessories, but more importantly, you can attach ANY MOLLE accessory that you may already have or want to order.
On one side she attached the horizontal pocket that came with it, which is where she keeps her snips, pot calls, strikers, AND MORE!
But on the other side she wanted to a water bottle holder (which she found on Amazon). In doing that, she is able to take a drink when she wants without using up the water bladder space of the pack.
However, the placement of the water bottle MOLLE attachment meant there wasn’t room for another pouch. So, she ended up using a smaller pouch from her K4 pack from EXO Mountain gear for which she loads up with snacks, chapstick, or whatever, and it worked perfectly.
AND, as if you needed more modularity - the insides of the pouches can also be switched around to your liking. The included organizers are velcro, so you put them wherever you want inside the pouch. And she could even turn the striker holder vertically for it to become a shell holder if there was no need for the striker holder.
One last component of being the most modular vest kit on the market, the seat can easily be removed if you wanted to use the pack / vest for something other than turkey hunting. Or if you were headed to a blind with comfortable seats on your next hunt.
So, in case you haven't guessed it by now, we'd say it may just be the most mobile and modular turkey kit so far!
They say it is quiet as a church mouse, yet tough as nails. So far it seems just that. It definitely is quiet, trust me, I couldn't take it if it wasn't! I don't like any of my (or my hunting friends') equipment to make extra, unnecessary noise in the woods.
And, it seems extra tough. She used it all season last year and did a lot of turkey hunting - crawling, going through brush and briars, as well as climbing over rocks and fallen trees and it held up to all the punishment she gave it.
There's really a lot more storage on this vest that you may think. As I mentioned, you can choose between the bird bag or the hydropack. The bird bag is large enough that you could store extra layers and a decoy in there. But keep in mind, if that's where you're carrying your decoy, that gobbler you just killed may not fit in the bag also!
The hydropack obviously has the pack, but then it also has extra pouch on the outside of the pack. While you're not likely going to carry your whole camoflauge wardrobe in this pack, the extra pouch and webbing straps across the back came in handy to store extra layers quickly.
Keep in mind, you can also have two large pouches on the front of the vest that zipper close and have organizers within to keep all your calls and accessories ready to use at a moments notice. Now that also means that you may have to put stuff back where you got it, but this vest can hopefully help keep you more organized!
I can't believe we haven't mentioned the seat on this vest yet. It is also really well designed.
The bottom of it has a very tough, durable, and waterproof material. Adrian was able to sit on all sorts of hard ground, gravel, dirt, whatever, and it still looks basically new.
The pad is also adjustable, so you could remove some of the foam padding if you want it thinner, or even switch it out totally if you have something you like better. Thankfully, Adrian found this pad to be comfortable just as it came.
And, with the way it attaches, you can either flip it completely up to get it out of the way, or, like Adrian, just leave it down most of the time so it's ready when you want to rest or get ready to shoot a turkey.
First up, the mouth call holder seems to be a bit too tight for actually getting the standard size mouth call into it. And, there is no cover for it to keep debris off your calls.
Now there is a MOLLE attached, magnetic closure mouth call holder, but we really like not having to carry the plastic cases with us while in the field. That makes for quicker access to calls and I don't know about you, but I've busted several of those plastic cases while crawling around anyway.
And secondly, I know we shouldn't read directions, but we usually do when we're testing products for you because we want to use them correctly.
We basically had to look at several different videos and pictures from their websites to get started. Of course the problem is the modularity I guess. How can you give someone directions on where to put things when they may not want them to go there?
Either way, it would have been nice to have some general direction to start. Then we could have always changed the locations of the pouches later if we wanted to add or take away based on personal preference.
Overall, the lack of directions doesn't change how much Adrian likes the vest!
A: As of right now, you can only buy these directly from Tethrd or from The Hunting Public website.
A: There's no way to tell! With all the different MOLLE attachments out there, you really can make it fit whatever you actually want!
A: For your sake, we hope she reviews more of them. For our sake, we hope there are no others!
I know that by the time we get to this point in most of our articles you're ready for the same old answer..."It depends."
According to her, there is only one reason you wouldn't want to take a serious look at the Tethrd M2 Vest and that's if you're only turkey hunting from a blind. If your plan is to walk to a blind, sit in that blind until you're ready to leave, and hopefully shoot the gobbler when he walks in front of you, then you may be better suited to carry your equipment in a backpack just like deer hunters.
But, if you turkey hunt on the go - hiking, running, crawling, climbing, and whatever else you need to do to get to the turkeys, then this vest could be exactly what you want.
An MSRP of $299 is not cheap, but it is completely made in the USA which you know we like. It is made of really high quality materials, and when you think about the money we've spent on all the other vests Adrian has tried, we've way surpassed that number.
Thankfully, it seems to be regularly on sale for $269 and we even saw it once a few weeks ago for $209.
For everything this vest does, for as perfectly as it fits Adrian, and our turkey hunting needs, we'd say it’s totally worth it.
*All opinions are ours. We are not paid for any of these reviews. We did pay for this item and did not receive a discount on it. Our goal is to always provide a thorough, unbiased, and honest review with no fluff - just facts and our opinions - so you feel like you can make a well-informed buying decision.
Robbie has enjoyed the outdoors since he can remember. His earliest memories include hours upon hours of squirrel hunting and learning how to enjoy all aspects of hunting season in God's wonderful outdoors. Now he is always working hard and testing gear in the field to give you the best review and most thorough information he possibly can.
All opinions are ours. Some items we receive for free, borrow, or purchase at a discount, but this never impacts our opinions or freedom to report them.
Also, most product links you see are affiliate links - meaning that we may earn a small commission if you click it and make a purchase. (We greatly appreciate your support in doing this!!!)
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