Sling Steady is a rear squeeze bag that weighs 9.5 oz (Pro 9") or 6.3 to 6.8 oz (Sport 7"), goes on with no tools, and rides on your rifle sling or attaches directly to the rifle. Nothing to pack, nothing to dig out: it is Sling Steady Ready. In our testing, shots landed 28% closer to the bullseye with Sling Steady under the stock. Muzzle rise was about 75% lower. It also helps manage recoil. This is the story of how Sling Steady came to be, from one idea on a long drive home to a hand-stitched prototype, about a dozen versions and a U.S. patent.
A first squeeze bag, and an idea on the drive home
By 2012, Duncan Jones had been shooting for more than four decades. That year, at a private long-range training session, he used a squeeze bag as a rear rest for the first time.
On the six-hour drive home, he had the idea that became Sling Steady: attach the bag to the sling.
The logic is simple. A sling goes everywhere the rifle goes. A bag that is part of the sling goes there too, and it cannot be left in a range bag, a truck or the bottom of a pack.
If you are new to rear bags, our post on what a rear squeeze bag does covers the basics. This post is about the idea, and where it went.
Hand-stitched prototype to a dozen versions
The first question was how to join a bag to a sling. Duncan settled on sliding the sling through the bag.
Within days he had a hand-stitched prototype. Over the following years he built and modified about a dozen versions.
The core of that first idea is still the core of the bag you can buy today: the sling passes straight through it.
2022: building a bag any shooter would carry
In 2022, Duncan took his friend Kenn Fritts shooting. Kenn is now his partner in Sling Steady.
The two set out to make a rear bag any shooter can carry without thinking about it. That is a short brief with a hard test. A bag you have to remember, pack and unpack is a bag that sometimes stays at home. A bag you have to weigh up against everything else in your pack is a bag that sometimes gets cut.
So the finished bag had to be light, simple to fit and always on the rifle. Today the Pro 9" measures 9" × 2.5" and weighs 9.5 oz. The Sport 7" measures 7" × 2.5" and weighs 6.3 oz in Black and 6.8 oz in the other colors. Both ship filled with SteadyFill, and fitting either one takes no tools.
Sling Steady is a veteran-run company.
What makes it different
Most rear bags are separate pieces of gear. Sling Steady is not. The sling passes straight through the bag, so the bag rides on your sling or attaches directly, and fits most sling widths. No sling is included, because the bag is made to go on the one you have.
No sling on the rifle? The bag attaches directly to the rifle's stud or QD point, or to the All-Stock Adapter on stocks without one.
Once it is on, the bag travels with the rifle. When you get into position, it is already there when the shot presents itself.
That is the whole idea in one sentence: a rear support bag that attaches to the sling itself. We know of no other bag that does this.
Fitting it takes a few minutes. Our install guide walks through it step by step.
Patented and made in the USA
The idea Duncan had on that drive is now protected by US 12,339,095, granted on 24 June 2025. The inventors named on the patent are Duncan Jones and Kenn Fritts.
Our patents page lists the products under it: the Pro 9" and the Sport 7" in every color, the Y-Clip Sling Adapter and the Y-Clip Full Length Sling.
Every Sling Steady bag is made in the USA.
Where to go next
Two sizes carry the same idea. The Pro 9" is for bolt-action, sport and hunting rifles. The Sport 7" is for AR-platform rifles. Both come in Black, Sand, Digital Camo and Woodland Camo.
Not sure which one fits your rifle? Our Pro-or-Sport guide puts them side by side.
Related reading: What is a rear squeeze bag? · Pro 9" or Sport 7" · How to install Sling Steady
Sling Steady is Ready When You Are.