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Greys GRX chest waistcoat

Reviewed by Terry Lawton

Fishing waistcoats, or vests, have pockets. Usually the more the better but sometimes you can have too many. The Greys’ GRX chest waistcoat has at least 18 main pockets.

Starting from the back there is a small, outer mesh pocket open at the top and a zipped pocket behind. Then on your hips – where your “love handles” are – there is a pocket either side, both of which have two-way zips. The main back pocket is large enough to hold a lightweight waterproof top but the mesh pocket is hardly big enough for a decent size fish.

Moving inside there are three pockets with zips, one with an inner pocket, one high-up suitable for car keys and the third, low down which has three small pockets on the outside ie the inside of the vest (described as tippet pockets, as they have a hole in them). The front has hand-warmer pockets, a pair of horizontal zipped pockets, with mesh outer pockets, and a pair of, again zipped, vertical pockets, also with mesh outers, one, on the left, with a zip, the other with Velcro closure.

There is a pair of straps on the front to hold your rod and a D-ring for a landing net on the back. At last, a waistcoat with only the one D-ring! Why most vests have more, I do not know. Instead of a zip to close the front of the vest, there is a single adjustable webbing strap and clip arrangement. This is quick and easy to do up or undo, but I wonder if it will provide enough stability.

After much searching, I have just discovered a pair of built-in retractors for tools such a forceps or leader clipper. They are to be found either side of the front opening.

A lot of thought has gone into the pockets, particularly providing the majority of them with two-way zips, all of which have good, handy tabs on them. The four main front pockets open across the top and down one side which is a good feature. I do have a couple of criticisms in that the “love handle” pockets open most on the side nearest the middle of your back, and because of them, the back pocket is small and the zip is quite difficult to find as it is right round your back.

The vest is made from lightweight, breathable System Nylon TM which is said to be shower-proof, dry quickly and is washable. The shoulder/neck panel is made from stretchy nylon so that the weight of everything in the waistcoat will be distributed evenly over your shoulders.

The GRX chest vest retails in the UK at £49.99 and the longer waist version at £55. It provides a lot of vest for a very sensible price. Excellent value for money.