I am not one for photo accessories, for the most part. It seems if I have one I will end up with a dozen, which end up in a drawer, (very) seldom to be used ever again!

I received the new Skout Sling Style Harness for cameras recently and have to say that this one may not “hit” the dark corners of that bottom drawer. I have only used it on a couple of occasions, but have quickly realized that the best use for the Skout may be on flatter surfaces.

On one of my outings I was walking through a canyon and quickly realized that if I happened to fall the camera would be the first thing to hit the ground. That said, as I don’t do much mountain climbing as I used to and spend most of my photo-time on more level ground, the Skout may very well end up in my travel pack.

I spent a good deal of time reading other reviews and found the majority of them to be of the same mind.

“I shoot birds and wildlife with a Nikon D500 and Tamron 150-600 lens which is a heavy combination. I had been using a shoulder strap but the weight was causing me to have neck and shoulder pain so I switched to this set up and couldn’t be happier! It’s incredibly comfortable and distributes the weight well. Additionally it makes traveling over trails with gear much easier. Couldn’t be happier!” (Cheryl, Amazon)

I agree with that reviewer, weight distribution is good and if you are a power walker, you can cruise at good speeds if you have a set destination in mind. But for just slow-walking and looking closely for “moments” it can be a bit cumbersome. In a couple of weeks I will be taking a few more excursions and will see what this tool can do and decide then where it belongs in my accessory stockpile.

Now, where it can be of great use is if you go out shooting for a couple of hours, and you decide to not take a camera bag, and just utilize one lens. You can just strap your camera in and grab your bike (left) and off you go, without having to worry if the $10,000 camera you just bought will stay on your shoulder. That’s a good thing!

Do I recommend it? As with most accessories, your personal usage will determine what you do with the Skout. I plan to keep mine away from eBay and carry it with me.

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