Review: Outdoor Vision Ridgetop™ Bino Harness & Sightline™ Rangefinder Pouch

willidru

WKR
Joined
Jan 12, 2017
Messages
577
Location
California
1st off, let me say OV (Geoff) have unbelievable costumer service. I originally had the XL for my Swaro EL 10x42 and it was nice, but a little bulky. After my September B-zone hunt I mentioned to Geoff that I really liked the harness, but wish the fit for my specific binos was fit better. He said OV is working on a 3rd size harness and he will get me one as soon as it comes out of production. We had multiple emails back and forth the response time was very quick, he even priority overnighted me the harness so I would have it for my 3rd season Colorado hunt. Now that's listening to your customer base. Thanks Geoff

My overall impressions and reviews remain similar with what I had posted previously above, except now with the great fit, 2 of my "Cons" are gone. On my trip I hiked between 3-7 miles a day, it saw snow, rain and sunshine. Also noticed after hunting for 7 days in country with aspens, sage and thick Oak brush it had no snags or tears just some mud and blood stains. In comparison I snagged and put some small holes in my attack pants, my chinooks and my FL chama hoody. I would still like to see Velcro keepers for webbing on the side to somehow be attached. I also try to keep the bino tethers on the sides when the lid is shut so the magnet gets better contact.

I was hunting in a base camp with 10 guys, looking at everyone else's harness and set-up I'm very happy that I went with the OV. Customer service, quality, functionality, a made in the USA tag and now a 20% off promo running for Black Friday, how can you go wrong.

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Condition after trip
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OP
UtahJimmy

UtahJimmy

WKR
Joined
Jul 6, 2016
Messages
884
Location
SLC, UT
My season officially ended on Saturday when my wife put down her first elk. I will put together a final review shortly!

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robby denning

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
14,992
Location
SE Idaho
My season officially ended on Saturday when my wife put down her first elk. I will put together a final review shortly!

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Great for her on the elk. Looking forward to the review too


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UtahJimmy

UtahJimmy

WKR
Joined
Jul 6, 2016
Messages
884
Location
SLC, UT
Season in Review

After putting over 40 days on the mountain with the Ridgetop and Sightline, I am thoroughly impressed. The harness looks no worse for wear than when it first arrived:

xyFK3kf.jpg


Having the side fabric on the lid is a gamechanger. It truly does keep debris out!

There was some discussion on the webbing keepers but I didn't have any trouble retaining all 4 of them all season long. I thought I would have lost one or two in some of the nasty scrub oak and willows. I put the loop side facing out which may have helped from it latching on to my clothing.

Once I found the sweet spot for where I wanted the harness on my back and chest, I didn't have to make any adjustments. That is amazing! I loved that I could just throw it on and hike, not needing to worry about fabric creeping around into a place I didn't want it.

I only used the cover a couple of times when it was really coming down. The fabric itself does a great job at repelling snow and a light drizzle, but the cover adds another layer of protection.

I also did not find the harness to be overly hot. I had initial concerns that such a large surface would result in excess sweating, but did not find this to be true. I wear a pack 95% of the time and the harness has nearly the same footprint on my back as my pack does.

The bino retention tethers are simple and effective. I had zero problems with them. Love how easy it is to detach the binos when I throw them on a tripod.

It was difficult to find flaws in this product, but as I mentioned before there is a little lid bounce if you are running or cruising downhill at an accelerated rate. This is more of an annoyance then a drawback. The other problem I had (which was user error) was that I forgot to close the lid on a belly-crawl stalk and managed to let my binos slip out. This happened twice in WY while stalking in on some antelope, but I was able to clean them up fine without damaging the glass. So just a word of caution: always close the lid when crawling!

The rangefinder pouch is so simple, I don't think it needs any more discussion. It flat out works, protects, and keeps your RF where you need it. The lock open feature is amazing!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I think the guys at OV really nailed this one. It is an important piece of equipment and they included all the necessary items but kept it streamlined and simple. If you are on the fence about this one, I give it my unrelenting recommendation!

My father-in-law kept commenting on how he liked mine so I got him a set for xmas and he was stoked.
 

hflier

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
Mar 18, 2012
Messages
3,293
Location
Tulsa, OK
After putting over 40 days on the mountain with the Ridgetop and Sightline, I am thoroughly impressed. The harness looks no worse for wear than when it first arrived:

xyFK3kf.jpg


Having the side fabric on the lid is a gamechanger. It truly does keep debris out!

There was some discussion on the webbing keepers but I didn't have any trouble retaining all 4 of them all season long. I thought I would have lost one or two in some of the nasty scrub oak and willows. I put the loop side facing out which may have helped from it latching on to my clothing.

Once I found the sweet spot for where I wanted the harness on my back and chest, I didn't have to make any adjustments. That is amazing! I loved that I could just throw it on and hike, not needing to worry about fabric creeping around into a place I didn't want it.

I only used the cover a couple of times when it was really coming down. The fabric itself does a great job at repelling snow and a light drizzle, but the cover adds another layer of protection.

I also did not find the harness to be overly hot. I had initial concerns that such a large surface would result in excess sweating, but did not find this to be true. I wear a pack 95% of the time and the harness has nearly the same footprint on my back as my pack does.

The bino retention tethers are simple and effective. I had zero problems with them. Love how easy it is to detach the binos when I throw them on a tripod.

It was difficult to find flaws in this product, but as I mentioned before there is a little lid bounce if you are running or cruising downhill at an accelerated rate. This is more of an annoyance then a drawback. The other problem I had (which was user error) was that I forgot to close the lid on a belly-crawl stalk and managed to let my binos slip out. This happened twice in WY while stalking in on some antelope, but I was able to clean them up fine without damaging the glass. So just a word of caution: always close the lid when crawling!

The rangefinder pouch is so simple, I don't think it needs any more discussion. It flat out works, protects, and keeps your RF where you need it. The lock open feature is amazing!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I think the guys at OV really nailed this one. It is an important piece of equipment and they included all the necessary items but kept it streamlined and simple. If you are on the fence about this one, I give it my unrelenting recommendation!

My father-in-law kept commenting on how he liked mine so I got him a set for xmas and he was stoked.

I agree with this. Really like mine. The only one I’ve owned that doesn’t have some annoying issue.


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fsuitw

FNG
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
21
Location
Arizona
Can anyone offer their experience with the lite OV harness? I imagine it's very similar, just curious if someone has the lite and wishes the had some of the extras.
 

GPATTI

WKR
Joined
Oct 6, 2015
Messages
671
Can anyone offer their experience with the lite OV harness? I imagine it's very similar, just curious if someone has the lite and wishes the had some of the extras.

fsuitw - For what it’s worth, I can tell you that 95% of what we sell are the standard RIDGETOP harness. We sell very little of the Lite version. Any questions feel free to let me know. Regards, Geoff
 
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