plafromboise wrote on May 18^th, 2007 at 7:45pm:

Handsome_Bill wrote on Mar 9th, 2007 at 11:12pm: [quote author=mntrehgr link=1173456405/0#0 date=1173456404]I have both a 60 and 30 litre barrel. Highly recommend them. I also use Headstrong harnesses for their cost/quality/comfort equation. Ostrom is a more costly choice, the Cadillac of harnesses I would say. Other than being more expensive, is there anything that makes the Ostrom harness "the Cadillac"? I do not mind paying more for an item if it is truly better. At least you can then attempt to justify the extra cost. However, visually and conceptually it appears to me that the Headstrong harness is more comfortable. Also, if anyone has used Ostrom's barrel organizers I'd be interested in your opinion on their usefulness. TIA!

Ostrom uses a lot of padding and their build quality is excellent. For those reasons they are ahead of most other harnesses out there. But for me, it's hard to justify the price. I think Headstrong has enough padding too. I don't have the opportunity to compare them side by side but am going from memory. Headstrong's design is unique to itself though. Main support webbing loops around the base of the barrel just like oldtime tumplines would, so it's a very intelligent design. I own a 60 litre model and am getting a 30 litre model next week to replace an unpadded, no-name harness I have.

Ostrom's purple barrel "cooler" is absolutely great. I use it as a pantry for all those items that you need to get to often. If you trip with a barrel, this will make it much, much easier to use. It's sized to fit a 60 littre barrel only. Again, why does it cost so much though? Not sure how effective it would be as a cooler as the insulation is not very good. The barrel organizers they make (with no lids) don't make sense to me. Tip the barrel on its side and everything is spilled. I hear Headstrong is developing their own barrel pantry so it will be nice to have some choice.