As a young man I tinkered and sewed and built my own gear when the gear I wanted was not readily available. I build my first snowboard in the mid 1980’s before they were commercially available. I sewed my own gaiters and rain jacket because the nearest equipment store was 200 miles away and there was no such thing as eCommerce. When I purchased my first ATV I searched the world over for a cargo system that would suit my needs and desires. I simply could not find one.

The problem was that the ATV bags available to me were all a static design – there was no adaptability or adjustability. The fabric systems I tried were so compartmentalized that large items would not fit in them. Plastic boxes were either too big or too small. What made it worse, they had the capacity to hold my gear but were limited in use and application by a small opening. My tripod, for example, would have fit in the box if it could have gone through the opening in the lid! I instead strapped it on with bungee cords, exposing it to a rattling frame, mud and rain, flying rocks and tree branches and the elements. After I had meticulously packed my backpack for a hunt or adventure I had to unpack the contents into the box because it would not fit through the opening pre-packed. I had to take the items out and re-pack them before I set foot on the trail. I could have just worn it, but then where to put the rifle? And riding all day with a pack is tiring, and an unencumbered ride is a more enjoyable ride. It’s ridiculous to have to do all that –  a good system should hold a ready backpack that is prepped and loaded at home or camp. And I wanted it to hold my rifle, too. I wanted a system that would adapt to my changing needs!

I decided to design the CargoVise the day I was stuffing a blanket into my plastic box to protect a Swarovski spotting scope. The scope fit, but the tripod didn’t. Since the scope only filled the box to about a third it’s volume I had to pad the confounded thing so it didn’t rattle around in transit. I thought it was absurd that there wasn’t a better way.

I sat down and drew the first sketches of the CargoVise. I wanted it to be secure, adaptable and have broad application. I wanted it to hold everything from a sheet of paper to a pair of binoculars to a lunch cooler to my backpack and rifle. I wanted it to hold all of them at once, or only one of them at a time, or any combination of them. The system is now in Generation 2.0. My kids and I have hauled everything under the sun with it; bowling pins and poppers for the pistol range, ultra long rifles to the sniper shoot, tripods, booms and heavy camera equipment, farm and garden tools, spare tires, clothing, coolers. We know for a fact they will hold multiple bags of alfalfa and grain. My son harvested his first mule deer on Thousand Lakes Mountain in central Utah. We folded the legs under, strapped it under the wings of the rear CargoVise and hauled it 6 miles back to camp on a winding, rocky ATV trail. Even I was taken by it’s ability to haul such a large and odd-shaped load.

It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention and it was certainly true for the CargoVise. I hope the system works as well for you as it it has for me. I envision a day when the concept is the standard for ATV and side-by-side gear hauling.

Jason Stevens
Creator of CargoVise
Owner, Viking Threadworks