i consider my vest to be essential... it serves two vital functions, one is to hold my decoys while i walk, the other is to provide me with some insulation between the cold/wet ground and my butt. i generally take my vest off when i get to a spot despite the fact that it's designed with a built in seat cushion that's intended to be used while you're still wearing the vest. i put a hodge-podge of calls in the pockets although i rarely use most of them. the only other important role i use the vest for is storage for all the crap inbetween hunts... i always know where my gloves, facemask, diaphragms, shells, etc are because i put them in the vest when i'm done for the day.