[Tested] Best Chest Holsters For Hiking & Hunting

Inside the waistband and outside the waistband holsters get all the attention. When are chest holsters going to get some love?

Right now!

If you have a magnum wheel gun, a pack full of backcountry hunting gear, or a handlebar between you and the open road, carrying on your chest makes a lot of sense. Picking the right one can be tricky, though, so that’s where we come in.

I tested the best chest holsters you can buy to see how well they perform, where they each excel, and who should consider buying one. By the end of this article you’ll have all the information you need to make a smart purchase.

THE QUICK LIST

1. Best Overall

   Gunfighters Inc. Kenai

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2. Best for Concealed Carry

   5.11 Tactical Skyweight Utility Chest Pack

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3. Best for Active Sports

   Alien Gear Cloak Chest Holster

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4. Best for Hunting

   Eberlestock Recon MOLLE Panel

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5. Best for Heavy Handguns

   Galco Great Alaskan

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Chest Holster Comparison Chart

	Holster Material	Harness Material	Optic-Compatible Options	Light-Compatible Options	Weight (As Tested)	Price
5.11 Tactical Skyweight	N/A	Nylon	N/A	N/A	16 oz	$55
Alien Gear Cloak	Boltaron, neoprene	Nylon	Yes	Yes	16 oz	$149
Eberlestock Recon	500D nylon, stretch fabric	500D nylon	N/A	N/A	16 oz	$158
Galco Great Alaskan	Leather	Leather, nylon	Yes	Yes	14 oz	$189
Gunfighters Inc. Kenai	Kydex	Nylon	Yes	Yes	12 oz	$139

How We Tested the Best Chest Holsters

For this article, I put a heavy emphasis on chest holsters that support a wide range of pistols, revolvers, and weapon lights. That includes a few options that are chest-mounted platforms for an IWB holster or OWB holster you already own. That doesn’t mean every make and model of handgun will work with something on this list, but you don’t have to have a Glock or Ruger Redhawk to find something that works for you.

Proper retention is critical for any holster, so I tested these by holstering an unloaded firearm and trying to shake it out. If the pistol stayed secure, the holster was allowed on this list. I also considered how easy it is to draw and fire, since time is of the essence in a defensive situation.

Finally, any chest holster I put on this list has to be comfortable because you’re not going to wear something that makes you miserable. Everything you see here made it several hours without making me want to rip it off and roll the dice on a Yogi encounter.

Best Chest Holsters

1. Gunfighters Inc. Kenai – Best Overall

Specs

• Holster Material: Kydex
• Harness: Nylon
• Optic-Compatible Options: Yes
• Light-Compatible Options: Yes
• Weight (As Tested): 12 oz
• Country of Origin: USA

To land the best overall spot, a chest holster has to excel across the board and work for a wide range of users. That’s exactly what the Gunfighters Inc. Kenai did during my testing. 

The Kenai is probably the most popular chest holster in the country because Gunfighters Inc. has a massive catalog of supported pistols. The list of ready-to-ship holsters on the company’s website includes 35 manufacturers – that’s not even getting into individual models.

Gunfighters Inc. also offers light-bearing holsters, bear spray holsters, and ammunition carriers. If you want something unique, you can custom order a holster with whichever Kydex, pattern, and harness you want.

The holster itself is very straightforward. It’s two pieces of Kyedex held together by eight metal rivets. Retention is not adjustable, but the one I tested (a non-light-bearing model) locked onto the trigger guard securely enough that it required deliberate effort to draw.

The harness uses broad nylon straps that distribute weight comfortably and allow full range of motion. An elastic portion on the strap let me pull the harness nice and snug without restricting my breathing while huffing and puffing up steep mountain trails. 

It’s worth pointing out that you can buy holsters and harnesses separately. If you have multiple firearms in the rotation, you can buy individual holsters and use the same harness for all of them to save $70 on each subsequent purchase.

Chest holsters generally aren’t intended for concealed carry, but the Kenai slips out of sight easily enough with a button-up shirt or light jacket. 

A lot of hunters wear the Kenai underneath a bino harness, which keeps the pistol mostly out of sight and still within reach. This adds more mass on your upper chest, but the pistol doesn’t extend over your stomach like it would if it were mounted to the bottom of your bino harness.

When I interviewed professional outfitter and MeatEater host Jordan Budd, she recommended that approach because it lets you drop your pack and binoculars without taking off your holster.

2. 5.11 Tactical Skyweight – Best for Concealed Carry

Specs

• Holster Material: Nylon
• Harness: Nylon
• Optic-Compatible Options: N/A
• Light-Compatible Options: N/A
• Weight (As Tested): 16 oz
• Country of Origin: Vietnam

If you’re carrying a pistol in a chest holster there’s a good chance you need to keep other gear accessible, too. The 5.11 Tactical Skyweight utility chest pouch has room for lots of EDC essentials in addition to a pistol. 

While the Skyweight chest pack has a CCW compartment, you supply the holster (or go without). That opens up all kinds of options and makes it one of the most versatile options you can get. 

I was able to fit a Springfield Hellcat Pro with an enclosed Vortex Defender-CCW in a Tenicor Certum3 holster with room to spare. If you skip the holster, you can go as big as a full-size 1911. The only pistol that didn’t fit for me was a rather large PDP.

The nylon bag is very light but ventilated padding in key areas makes it surprisingly comfortable and supportive. In addition to the CCW compartment, there’s a main compartment with all kinds of pockets, mesh pouches, elastic retention straps, and a snap ring for your keys. 

Outside, there’s a large zippered pocket and a stretchy open pouch. These are great for things like your hunting license and a pair of gloves.

Fit is widely adjustable, and the straps kept the Skyweight in place while I was driving, hiking, and scrambling over rough terrain. If you don’t get carried away and stuff too much weight in this chest pack, it’ll stay comfortable all day. If anything, I think it helps balance out a backpack.

This is the only setup here that’s designed specifically for concealed carry. It’s super nice to have a bag of this size that I can grab and run out the door without thinking about whether or not my clothes are appropriate for an IWB holster.

Draw times will be slower since you have to unzip the CCW compartment first, but 5.11 put quick-pull tabs inside that compartment that you can stick out of the zipper for quicker access.

If you’re passionate about preparedness, having a 5.11 Skyweight staged with a pistol, basic first aid equipment, tactical flashlight, and some kind of comms gear is a serious asset.

3. Alien Gear Cloak – Best for Active Sports

Specs

• Holster Material: Boltaron, neoprene
• Harness: Nylon
• Optic-Compatible Options: Yes
• Light-Compatible Options: Yes
• Weight (As Tested): 16 oz
• Country of Origin: USA

Hybrid holsters promise the best of both worlds: the durability and positive retention of Kydex with the comfort of leather or synthetic padding. If that’s what you’re looking for, the Alien Gear Cloak is my pick for you.

Without knowing what you carry, I’m pretty confident Alien Gear has you covered because there are options for 30 different manufacturers. Got a Masada or Desert Eagle? Yeah, they actually have holsters for those.

The Bolatron shell offers great maintenance-free protection. The neoprene base is plush and breathable for you, with a high sweat guard for your pistol. Rubber spacers in between let you dial up just the right amount of retention.

Like Gunfighters Inc., Alien Gear lets you order harnesses and holster shells separately. Pick up multiple shells at just $25 each to use multiple pistols with the Cloak system.

From an ergonomic standpoint, this is one of the better holsters I’ve used. The neoprene base, shoulder pad, and back panel feature breathable padding that I definitely appreciated on warmer days. The straps even have rubber woven into them that held the harness in place when I was moving around – hooray for less chafing! 

This is another option that works well for concealed carry, even if that’s not its primary function. It’s a little bulkier than the Kenai thanks to all that padding, but a zip-up hoodie will still keep it out of sight. A flannel might work, but the full-size grip on the Glock 45 from this test printed with just an overshirt (as you can see in the video).

What do you think of the Alien Gear chest holster? Rate it below!

4. Eberlestock Recon MOLLE Panel – Best for Hunting

Specs

• Holster Material: N/A
• Harness: 500D Nylon, stretch fabric
• Optic-Compatible Options: N/A
• Light-Compatible Options: N/A
• Weight (As Tested): 16 oz (bino harness and MOLLE panel only)
• Country of Origin: Vietnam

The Eberlestock Recon system is, in a word, phenomenal. One of the things hunters love about this bino harness is the ability to add all kinds of handguns. It’s more of a mounting solution than a holster, but it needs to be on your short list.

One of the accessories you can get for the Recon is a MOLLE panel that securely fastens via hook and loop. From there, you can add any holster that’s compatible with a MOLLE mount. In this case, I used a Safariland 7378 7TS ALS with an MLS adapter.

Sure, you have to provide your own holster, but the plus side is being able to run your favorite OWB rig as a chest holster.

As a bino harness, the Recon is as good as it gets. The system is well-built, comfortable, and doesn’t make a sound. Magnetic closures on the binocular compartment and optional rangefinder pouch are fast and silent to open.

You can actually run multiple accessories underneath the bino harness, so you’re not locked into just a holster. Eberlestock makes a delightful hand warmer that I’d be keen to add when temperatures drop. You could even put it in front of the holster for a little bit of concealment.

The broad back panel helps distribute weight evenly, which I found particularly helpful when paired with binoculars, a full-size 1911, a rangefinder, and extra ammo. I walked seven miles with this setup one day, and I never noticed the weight.

Concealing a firearm with the Recon is tough. Like I said, adding the hand warmer is probably your best bet. That’s not really the intent though, since this is gear built for the backcountry and you’re probably going to have a hunting rifle or shotgun, anyway. 

5. Galco Great Alaskan – Best for Heavy Handguns

Specs

• Holster Material: Leather
• Harness: Leather, nylon
• Optic-Compatible Options: Yes
• Light-Compatible Options: Yes
• Weight (As Tested): 14 oz
• Country of Origin: USA

Chest holsters are particularly popular among people who carry big iron. If your favorite cartridge starts with a 3 or 4, the Galco Great Alaskan will fuel all your aspirations of big-mountain adventure.

Galco offers the Great Alaskan for popular revolvers and full-size pistols. Supported revolvers include models from Colt, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, and Taurus. Supported pistols include options from 10 manufacturers and various 5-inch 1911 configurations.

The holster is all leather (quite rigid and beautiful leather at that) but the harness uses a combination of leather and nylon straps, metal fasteners, and plastic connectors.

Would it be nice if it was all leather and brass? Sure, but this design is better suited to the elements and it keeps weight down – a welcome feature considering most of us are going to use it with a heavy handgun.

This is one of a few chest holsters that uses active retention. A leather strap snaps in place to keep your handgun from slipping out, but it pops off easily with a flick of the shooting-hand thumb. Make that motion part of your draw stroke, and it’s not meaningfully slower than passive retention.

This is a very comfortable chest holster, even with considerable weight in it. Broad leather straps distribute weight nicely, and the lower strap keeps it from sliding around. Metal fasteners keep fitment adjustments locked in, with the exception of the nylon strap that lets you adjust tightness around your ribcage more easily.

There are also two ways to wear the Great Alaskan. With the strap  over your dominant shoulder, the pistol or revolver will ride diagonally across the bottom of your sternum. Move it to your non-dominant shoulder, and the holster sits vertically on your non-dominant side – almost like a shoulder holster.

That versatility is a huge selling point for me because it helps spread the load when I wear it all day and it gives me options for concealment.

Even though the Great Alaskan caters to large handguns, it’s still possible to conceal it. You’ll need a puffy coat because the holster doesn’t sit particularly close to the body.

How to Pick the Best Chest Holsters

Chest holsters come in all shapes and sizes, but we can narrow your search with a few key criteria.

Materials

Like other holsters, chest holsters use leather or synthetic materials – typically rigid synthetics like Kydex and Boltaron.

Leather is gentler on pistol finishes and some people find it more comfortable. It can last a lifetime but you have to be careful around water and harsh chemicals, and you may need to treat it with leather conditioner every so often.

Kydex (and similar materials) offer excellent rigidity, which contributes to smooth draws and easy reholstering. They might wear through the finish of your pistol in certain areas, but they offer great protection from the elements.

Off-body carry bags like the 5.11 Skyweight and Eberlestock Recon give you the option to use a holster of your choice, as long as you have a compatible system to make them work together.

Retention

Holster retention falls into two categories: passive and active.

Passive retention relies on friction to keep your pistol holstered. That’s what you see on the Alien Gear Cloak and Gunfighters Inc. Kenai. You can typically adjust how tightly the holster squeezes your pistol with screws on the edge of the holster.

Active retention uses a secondary mechanism that you have to defeat before drawing. For example, the Galco Great Alaskan uses a thumb break to strap the pistol or revolver in; pop the snap loose with your thumb and you’re ready to go.  

Concealed Carry vs. Open Carry

Most people who use a chest holster probably aren’t concerned with concealing their handgun. If you’re hunting in the backcountry or lugging around a large-frame revolver, there probably isn’t anyone around to hide it from.

There are times when it’s nice to conceal a pistol on your chest, though. The 5.11 Tactical Skyweight Utility Chest pack will do that on its own. The Alien Gear Cloak and Gunfighters Inc. Kenai are easy enough to conceal under a thick flannel or light jacket (depending on your pistol).

Revealing a concealed chest holster feels like this:

As always, figure out what works for you and then train with that system regularly to stay proficient.

Meet the Experts

Editing this article is Scott Murdock. Scott is a Marine Corps veteran who competed and qualified as a rifle and pistol expert while in service. In addition to shooting, Scott has written for a variety of publications, testing, researching, and evaluating guns and gear. He brings that knowledge and skillset to this article, editing and fact-checking for accuracy.

Editor-in-Chief Jacki Billings runs our experienced team of reviewers. She is a National Rifle Association Basic Pistol Instructor as well as a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, ACES: Society for Editing, and the Professional Outdoor Media Association. Jacki has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has worked as a media professional for close to 20 years, specializing in gun media for almost 10 years. With 2,000+ articles to her name, she uses her professional journalism and editing experience to set testing protocols and editorial standards for Pew Pew Tactical.

Final Thoughts

In the interest of handgun variety and holster customization, it’s hard to go wrong with the Gunfighters Inc. Kenai.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t times when you should look elsewhere, though. Each of these holsters are solid picks for certain situations, and you wouldn’t be wrong to own more than one.

Latest Updates

October 2025: Complete rewrite with new products, testing, and supporting content.