Click here to goto our home page

Complete Harness Review

This article will be continuously updated with more harnesses as more companies send us their products.  We would like to thank Extreme Rage Sports, Flurry Industries, and Topstitch for sending us their products.  Packs listed in alphabetical order:

Extreme Rage Sports BULLET PAQ SYSTEMS are brand new.  These packs have a unique four strap locking system.  Before this pack the most that I've ever seen on the market was a three strap locking system.  What is the difference you might ask?  Four straps locks the pack down tighter to your body.  This picture shows the four strap system:

 

This pack is very comfortable to wear.  The pack didn't bounce on us at all when we were running around.  There are two tube slots on this pack that had no Velcro straps to hold the tubes in, but there are elastic cords to lock onto the flip-lids.  Once we properly locked the lids down the extra two tubes didn't move at all.  One of the best features for this pack is that when you are shooting out of a bunker, the pack doesn't hang out at all.  This pack actually makes you smaller because it gives an average built person the "V" cut as shown in the picture below:  

 

Another great feature about this pack is that it holds 140 or 100 ball tubes.  The way the pack is designed the ends are elastic so if you have longer tubes you can just push the tubes in harder and lock them down with the Velcro.  This pack sells for 55 dollars and is available in 3+2 and 4+3 ($5 dollars more) styles.  This pack is great for players with lower back problems as it gives plenty of support.  The only thing that I didn't like about this pack was at first it took me awhile to "find" the two tubes on my back.  Once I got the hang of how they were sitting this wasn't an issue anymore.  Overall, this pack is priced in the same range as other high end packs.  I believe this is the BEST pack on the market right now.  Available at http://www.extremeragesports.com/index2.htm

Flurry Industries has developed the only full body harness on the market that is made exclusively for paintball and holds 100 ball tubes. Here is what Flurry packs look like:

The pack looks awesome and the padding is very thick so it absorbs shots nicely.  The harness is fully adjustable on the shoulders and the 100 ball tube holders are connected in pairs.  You can move these up, down, left, or right.  You can adjust the tubes so they are side loading or pull down style.  There was two things we didn't like about this pack.  One of the disappointments was when I could only put 100 round tubes in the harness.  The second downside to this pack is when you are shooting out of a bunker the pack does stick out some.  This can be corrected if you flip the tubes vertically (which this pack allows).  One of the best features about this harness is all of the storage compartments located on the front of the vest.  There are pockets for grenades, keys, money, and any other item you need to store on the field.  This pack also has a vertical pouch for a co2/nitrogen tank on a remote.  Overall this pack is great for any player especially younger players and females due to the extra protection this pack offers.  This pack is best suited  for big game/scenario events versus tournament speedball where freedom of movement is critical. The pack shown above sells for 65 dollars on their site.  Here is a link to their site:  http://www.flurryindustries.com/

M-Packs are relatively new to paintball.  They have been around for three years now.  I have one of their initial packs and I love it.  This is their second generation of packs and it's even better than their initial pack.  Here is a picture of it:  

                                                          
As you can see from the picture they are very similar to the BULLET PAQ's seen above.  This is also a 3 + 2 system.  There are only two differences between this pack and the bullet paq's.  The differences are that on the MPack they don't have the 4 strap locking system.  They use the three strap locking system.  This pack still locks down very tight due to the elastic and Velcro usage.  The other difference is that on the MPack harness they don't use the small "hooks" made of elastic that the Bullet PAQ uses.  Instead MPack's tubes are tighter in the two holders that don't have the Velcro straps.  At first I didn't think that those holders used 140 tubes because they were so hard to get in, but once they were in they fit perfect.  I thought because they went in so hard that they would be a pain to get them out, but this wasn't the case.  They slid right out.  This harness is very comfortable to wear and doesn't bounce around at all during play.  The MPack belts are very thick which is great for players that suffer with lower back problems.  This also gives the average built player that bodybuilder "V" cut look, which makes it great for tournaments so tube shots can be avoided.  This can be seen in the picture below and also in the above picture.

MPacks are available in many different colors and the price ranges from 40 to about 85 dollars.  These packs are at the upper end of the pricing scale depending on how many tubes you need to haul.  These packs are built to last.  They are very thick and durable.  Check out their website at http://www.topstitch.net/
Overall, this pack is one of the best on the market.  I believe this pack is the 2nd best on the market right now, but it's very close to the best.  I liked the four strap locking system over the MPack three strap locking system.  That's the only reason this is the second best harness instead of tied for first place.  

This review was conducted by: Nick Palumbo and Rob Palumbo.
We would like to thank all of the companies that participated in this review.
All pictures remain property of A-1paintball.com