Fox, sir, I think the chest carry would be a great idea. In the winter months, with my avy bag, avy beacon, other misc supplies I carry, the weight hampers my riding ability, then the added weight of an edc, is no Bueno. The ingenious concept of carry on the sled is novel, however when I stick the dam thing, sometimes to unpin the heavy bugger, results in rolling over the transportation machine. In some cases I have had my tunnel bag come loose. In certain weather predicaments everything gets wetter than wet. We also have wolf tags, I might add, that requires a longer barrel.
Ill add a little story here…a few years ago, we were riding our favorite area, and because we share trails, there was a bicycle race on some of the same trails we use to get into the back country, and then we can traverse cross country with gps. These bicycles have large fat tires. Picture this scenario, riding a fat tire bike, uphill, in the snow, in a race. Great for some people. On this particular day the temp was going to drop to -20 or more at night. I cant remember what had happened but we had to tow one of our sleds out, and as we reached our parking lot, when of the dads of one of these riders came over to us, and wanted to rent our sleds. As a wannabe detective sleuth, and many questions later, his son had not arrived at one of the check points. Picture this, dark, -20 degrees or more, dudes and dudettes riding bikes, We refueled, suited back up, got directions, and headed up the trail. The race promoters had no back up plan, and the last bicycle rider was 25 to 30 miles from the parking lot. Picture this, each of these riders were not dressed for super cold temps, as riding a bike in the snow is physically demanding. We shuttled out on the back of our sleds 6 to 8 riders, 20 miles from their last check point. (our sleds are made for one rider not two, but we got the job done). At the last check point, it was so cold the race promoters couldn’t get the propane heaters to ignite! (I think the temp there was -25 or -30) Yes we made several trips and rode those dudes out, the last dude was almost frozen. Luckily we carry spare gloves, etc. Now the point…dark, colder than dry ice, wet dudes, exhausted…area adjacent to Yellowstone park, wolves, cats, than can prey upon exhausted victims, and yet the exhausted victims could freeze to death. We finally got the last dude out by I think after midnight. Did any of us have a firearm? Are you kidding me? Over the years we have done a fair amount of riding at night, but we are dressed for the weather, however with the growing wolf population, and the wolves becoming less timid to humans, no Bueno.
That was too long of a dissertation. In the summer months, we always carry firearms when we ride quads and bikes. The serpa works great, but pinches my fat tissue. Bottom line, I and we will look into chest rigs. On the quads we can carry long barrels. I don’t want to get into a discussion about the wolf population and the decreasing elk population. Big bore ammo in the backwoods, condition yellow, lets ride on!