Once upon a time I was slogging one way with a dana terraframe, and met Kaboku68 slogging the other way with a dana longbed. The meeting point was at the very least a LONG and hazardous day's slog from the extraction airstrip, if not carrying an animal. At the rate I was moving, more like a 2-day walk.
A "3-day elk hunt in the mountains" can't likely occur too far from anything, so gear failure ain't going to ruin the hunt. On one of the multiple trips to the truck, fix your broken gear. Not so for where I saw Thomas. I've done that hunt four times with older dana packs. No question they work. I carry an extra waistbelt buckle, figuring that it's the only thing that could hamper a packout if it went. It hasn't gone yet.
If you want to fiddle-fart around with every new lightweight foo-foo boutique camo pack on the market, feel free to hand over the big dough and have at it. If you want a pack that works, ebay an older dana terraplane or external frame, doll it up with appropriately colored krylon if needed, spend your big money on optics, and train like a world-class rugby player.
