Cotton Carrier’s Skout camera harness lets action shooters wear their camera on their chest

Jan 29, 2019 by John Aldred 1 Comment

Harnesses and slings for carrying your cameras seem to have become quite popular over the last few years. And it seems that every few months a new one comes out. Aimed at active and travel types who want to keep their camera out of their hands but ready to go at a moment’s notice, this is the Cotton Carrier Skout. A sling-style harness which lets you carry your camera on your chest when you’re not using it.

There are so many different styles of strap, sling, holster and harness out there now that you’d think there would be no more left to make, yet here we are. Cotton Carrier says that the Skout is designed to carry your camera in a stabilised position to prevent your lens from banging against your body while you’re running, riding, climbing, or whatever you happen to be doing.

In their description, they say that it has an ergonomic one-size-fits-all design with, apparently, an “elastic waist strap to seamlessly adjust when adding or shedding layers”. Now, I’m no a doctor, nor have I ever really studied human anatomy for the purposes of art, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t his waist it’s stretched around.

But you can see the “patented twist & lock” mount that attaches the camera to the harness and keeps it in place. The strap connecting the camera to the harness is also a nice touch. Sometimes, when you’re scaling a cliff, you’re getting ready to shoot a photo and, well, quickly grabbing the rock may be more important than holding onto your camera.

Personally, I’m still using the same regular camera strap that came with the Nikon D2h back in 2003. I’ve just never seen any real benefit with anything else. Of course, I’ve added Peak Design anchors to it so I can use it with all my cameras. But for many others, such harnesses and slings can solve a lot of issues folks have with regular camera straps. Perhaps this is the one for you?

If you want to get a Skout for yourself or a friend, you can buy one now for $79. Or, if you want to find out more about the Skout, check the Cotton Carrier website.

Do you use a sling or harness for your camera instead of a regular strap? Which do you prefer? And why?

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

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Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.