Zimmerbuilt Tenkara Guide Sling

Since I have made the good decision not to use a fishing vest anymore I have been a satisfied user of Zimmerbuilt tenkara gear. Zimmerbuilt packs are very high quality, they are the result of great craftsmanship and they are not more expensive than what is offered by big outdoor gear companies and their functionality and quality is way higher in my opinion.

When the trout season started I decided to give the "Tenkara Guide Sling" a try and as its name says it is a sling pack, the kind of bag I had never tried yet. This cling pack has not been name "Tenkara Guide Sling" by chance or to match the growing interest for Tenkara in the West but because it has been co-designed with John Vetterli, Rob Worthing and Erik Ostrander of Tenkara Guides LLC. 

This is not the average cheap fishing backpack! It is totally made of dyneema, cuben fiber and cordura. 

This ultra light pack (10.25 oz) has been designed to carry what a tenkara angler needs for a day on the stream. It is divided in two compartments. The bigger compartment measures 19.5"x10"X"3 and this one is designed to contain your non fishing equipment. I personally put in it my rain jacket, keys, Go pro spare battery, etc. There is a cuben fiber zippered pocket to contain these small objects safely. It also features a hook to hold a water tank. 

This compartment is definitely enough for a day on the water. 

 There is a slot at the top of the compartment for the water duct to go through and the shoulder strap's daisy chain  features an elastic loop with a stopper for one can easily interlock his drinking system to the sling pack. 

The shoulder strap has a daisy chain on its  length for the user can easily add accessories or a Tenkara strap pack for example. The buckle can be moved easily and has an emergency whistle and what is more important the buckle strap is adjustable so the Tenkara Guide Sling is adaptable to any morphology. 

The front compartment (15"x8.6"x1.4") is designed to contain the fishing gear needed by a tenkara angler during a day on the water. It also has a zippered mesh pocket (7"x5.9") and its size is enough to carry your fishing license, a camera or a portable GPS. 

The two compartments have waterproof zippers.

The front of the sling pack has two sleeves that can hold 4 tenkara rods with their tubes and up to six tenkara rods without the tubes. The upper part of the pack front has a daisay chain with elastic loops to easily interlock tenkara rods to the Tenkara Guide Sling. This system is very functional yet simple. 

When you bring the pack on the front of your body the access to the contents of the two compartments is very easy. Compared to the Tailwater backpack that I also have the main advantage of the Tenkara Guide Sling is that I do not have to remove it or put it anywhere for example when I need to put on my rain jacket; thing that happens often in my area. The Tenkara Guide Sling is also going to be more handy for wading fishing because it is always a problem when you are wading and have to remove your backpack to take something within and keep your tenkara rod in hand at the same time. 

This great fishing pack is not ultra light, it is very comfortable and functional, it is one of the very rare fishing pack designed by tenkara anglers for tenkara anglers. One other good point is that they are made in the USA and not imported from where you know. 

European anglers can purchase this great piece of gear at TENKARASTYLE.COM and American tenkara enthusiasts can get it directly from the maker, Christopher Zimmer, on his website:  Zimmerbuilt.com

The Zimmerbuilt packs are very high quality pieces of gear which is not the case of imitations sold by fake tenkara "experts" so do not forget to check that the label shown on the picture below is sewn on your Zimmerbuilt pack.