How To Carry Your Cameras
Storing your camera in your backpack means it’s not out shooting. Thankfully, the days of traditional neck straps are over. When I first started documenting hunts I always had two cameras around my neck. It was uncomfortable and often strangling. Today there are some great options for carrying your camera.
1) Cotton Carrier:
I use Cotton Carrier almost exclusively. They make a range of harness options including a chest mount harness, shoulder strap harness, hand strap and holster.
When I’m documenting a hunt I always have two cameras on me. One is mounted to my chest with the Cotton Carrier Skout, and the other to the shoulder strap of my backpack via the Cotton Carrier Strap Shot. I also pair my cameras with the Cotton Carrier Hand Strap. I prefer Cotton Carrier over other camera carry options because of how quiet and simple the design is. With hunting, sound is of utmost importance and Cotton Carrier is completely quiet. Other options made an audible ‘click’ when attaching or detaching the camera which could be detrimental to the hunt.
Cotton Carrier works by attaching a round Cotton Carrier baseplate to your camera. That baseplate then slides in and locks into the harnesses. With the baseplate on, you simple rotate your camera 90 degrees, slide it in, then rotate back to secure it into place. To remove, simply rotate the camera 90 degrees and pull up.
For users who also want to use a traditional baseplate for use with a tripod, Cotton Carrier makes a Universal Tripod Adapter.
2) Peak Designs:
Peak Designs offers a similar product offering to Cotton Carrier with the addition of camera straps and lens carrying options. Peak Designs is sleeker and lighter than Cotton Carrier but Cotton is much quieter and offers a chest harness for those times when you’re not wearing your backpack.
3) Chest Mount and Sling Packs:
Another option is an enclosed padded camera pack that you can wear on your chest or side. These options allow for better protection from dings and weather and are what I typically use in especially snowy conditions. The best one I’ve found is made by Clik Elite. Unfortunately they’ve gone out of business and aren’t producing them anymore. Ebay is your best bet there! Other options from Lowe Pro and Think Tank are linked below.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1077484-REG/lowepro_lp36774_toploader_pro_75_aw.html
https://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/digital-holster-harness-v2
https://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/multi-mount-holster-20