One of the first posts on this blog was about our deep lust for the products of Joe Goertzen of Goertzen Adventure Equipment. A few months after I wrote that, I ordered the fly box style landyard, thinking that it would help me pair down from my beloved, but terminally overstuffed, Orvis vest. 

Upon receiving the lanyard, I was immediately impressed. The two main innovations over other lanyards I have seen were the large fly box pouch on the front, and the "belly strap" that anchors the whole apparatus to your body and keeps it from dangling when you lean forward to land a fish.

The idea was to use the lanyard for small streams, and other situations where a full complement of gear was not required, but after a few uses I found that I preferred to take this rig even on complex tail-waters, which I previously assumed required a vest. Using a high capacity fly box, like this one from Irideus, I can carry more flies than are good for me, and anything else I might need can clip onto the lanyard or go into a shirt pocket. 

One of the best things about Joe's products is that they are each hand made and completely unique. He takes special requests and has adapted the design to include licence/tippet holders, and digital camera pouches. When I wrote him to thank him for my lanyard, I mentioned that I thought future lanyards might benefit from a "D" ring on the back of the neck strap to hold a net. A few weeks later I received a new neck strap in the mail, complete with "D" ring. 

Any product that contributes to a simplified style of fishing would be welcome, but when it is designed and made this well, it is so much better. Beyond the lanyard, Goerzen offers a variety of leather and canvas products. T&S Co-founder David is the proud owner of a Goertzen AE leather messenger bag, which helps him look especially stylish in grad school, and for those of you with rug-rats, you can preserve your manly image with a leather and canvas diaper-bag.

--Posted by Eben