The Best Ways to Carry a Dog Training Remote in the Field
If you run dogs — whether you're hunting pheasant in the prairie grass or working a detection K9 through an urban environment — your Garmin remote is one of the most important pieces of kit you carry. It's also one of the most awkward things to actually carry well.
Most handlers default to a jacket pocket. It works until it doesn't. The remote shifts around, the antenna catches on brush, and when your dog gets into trouble 200 yards out you're digging through a pocket instead of making a correction. There's a better way to do it, and it starts with thinking about your remote the same way you think about any other piece of gear on your kit.
Jacket Pocket — Convenient But Not Ideal
The jacket pocket is where most hunters start and unfortunately where a lot of them stay. It's easy, it's free, and it works fine in controlled conditions. The problem is that bird hunting and K9 work rarely happen in controlled conditions. Heavy cover, cold weather, wet gloves, and fast-moving dogs have a way of turning a simple pocket draw into a fumbled mess. For casual outings it's fine. For serious field work it leaves a lot to be desired.
Lanyard Carry — Better Access, New Problems
A lot of handlers move to a lanyard at some point. It keeps the remote accessible and off your body, which sounds great until you're pushing through thick brush and the remote is swinging into every branch and bramble in your path. In warmer weather it works reasonably well. In heavy cover or dynamic environments it becomes its own distraction. It's an improvement over a pocket but still not a complete solution.
Belt or MOLLE Carry — The Right Answer
Mounting your remote to your belt or MOLLE kit is the carry method that actually makes sense. It keeps the remote in a fixed, consistent position on your body so you always know exactly where it is. No digging, no swinging, no fumbling. You reach for it the same way every time.
The key is having the right carrier to make it work. A purpose-built Kydex carrier holds the remote securely through brush, obstacles, and hard movement while keeping it immediately accessible when your dog needs a command. The best ones — like the Black Arch Garmin Pro 550 Carrier — are designed so you can operate the remote's controls without ever drawing it from the carrier. That's a big deal when you need to make a quick correction mid-flush and don't have time to pull the whole unit out.
The Black Arch carrier ships with an adjustable MOLLE Lock clip that works on standard belts and MOLLE webbing right out of the box, and it's compatible with chest rigs and vests for handlers who prefer a higher carry position. It's precision-molded Kydex built specifically for the Garmin Pro 550 — not a generic pouch, not a modified phone holster. Something made to actually fit the remote and carry it correctly.
Chest or Vest Mounted — A Solid Option for Handlers
For K9 handlers working in law enforcement or more tactical environments, chest or vest mounting is worth considering. It keeps the remote high and accessible without cluttering your belt, and it works well with plate carriers and chest rigs that already have MOLLE webbing built in. The same Kydex carrier that works on a belt transitions cleanly to a chest mount — no additional hardware needed.
The Bottom Line
Your Garmin remote is too important to carry as an afterthought. A dedicated Kydex carrier mounted to your belt or kit puts it where you can actually get to it — fast, consistently, without thinking about it. That's what good gear is supposed to do.
Leave a comment