I just came up with another idea to compromise. First, I love the harnesses Alan referenced...looks like awesome hardware but don't think they'd be quite right once I have the yellow vest on for visibility AND a backpack.

I was thinking about my previous post about putting stuff on my belt instead and I realized that this too is a bad option as I could need to wear my backpack and it has a very wide weight supporting belt which would interfere.

I'm now thinking about supplementing my load bearing needs with MOLLE drop legs so that I don't need so much load bearing out of the vest. They also seem to come in a much wider range of colors and aren't nearly as expensive.