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Joined: Apr 2013
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I am needing info on Kelty Cache Hauler vs the Alps Commander vs Cabelas Alaskan outfitter. If you have any experience with any of these packs please reply. This is my first backpack elk hunting trip.

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Experience for what purpose? Just hauling meat, moving camp, hunting with the pack on?

I have a Cabelas frame. I use it with various bags to carry in/out base camp and meat. I stuff my sleeping bag into a day pack and lash everything to the frame. Once in camp I use the day pack until it is time to leave. The Cabelas frame will carry a ton on stuff but is squeaky, and doesn't ride as nice or tight to the body as an internal frame. It is a comprise and works fine for how I use it. The straps could be better. The Kelty is about the same in my opinion. No idea about the Alps.


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I have an Alaskan but it's at least 15 years old so they might have corrected the problem which is the waist belt. 2 problems...for one it's too stiff, thick, and bulky for a good fit. For 2, the belt fabric is so slick that I can't keep it tight. I put rubber cement on it but it still slips through the buckle.


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I wanna use it for multi purpose. Packing camp in and out. Hauling meat. Any one ever use slumberjack hauler

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I've carried 100+ on a Kelty Cache Hauler.
I wouldn't hunt with it, but I wouldn't hesitate to haul with it.
I've been experimenting with other pack and the KCH plays backup.
The waist belt on the Kelty will be easier to cinch than any other.

I'd entertain offers. I've got the cache hauler and a pack bag that attaches. The pack bag was only used once.
PM if you're interested.

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Get a Barneys and be done thinking about it smile

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I've used a Cabelas pack as strictly a meat hauler for several years and it worked fine until last year when it was too loose and unbalanced with 100 lbs of frozen meat. I picked up a wilderness pack specialties frame and bag this year hoping to have a better frame for hauling meat that might function as a one pack for hunting.

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Originally Posted by BCJR
Get a Barneys and be done thinking about it smile


I love my Barney's frame. (I have the kevlar Pinnacle bag on it.) I have used it a lot for over a decade now and it has held up great. I did wear a hole in the mesh along the frame, they sent me a new one. I also wore a hole in the gun carrier boot with the sharp edge of my bow cam.

It has hauled out several caribou, moose, Sitka deer, mule deer, whitetail, elk, bear, and a goat and sheep. In the past two weeks it has gone into a mountain lake fishing and two short deer trips. It carries weight great and I can't imagine a better external frame pack.

I actually always hunt with it. My buddies give me a hard time about hunting with a giant pack, but it rides so well I don't care. Plus, it has my Kifaru Gun Bearer on it, which I also really like. I shoot over the pack from prone and sitting, so I might as well hunt with it!

These are the only pictures I have on Photobucket. With the goat, the pack is on the right.

I wish I would have bought it when I first started hunting!

Here is the pack with half a camp and half a boned-out spike elk in it, four miles from the truck:
[Linked Image]

Here is the pack on SW Kodiak, a long way from where the float plane is going to land!

[Linked Image]


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Originally Posted by slingblade
I wanna use it for multi purpose. Packing camp in and out. Hauling meat. Any one ever use slumberjack hauler


I just received a Slumberjack Bounty 2.0.
Loaded it with a 50lbs bag of grain and walked a few laps around a park with some mild elevation change.

So far I like it better than my LLBean Hunter Carry All because the suspension is adjustable and I'm tall. It is very close to the same overall size though. The SJK rides a bit higher and the load lifters are at a better angle for me.

Still need to tweak the stays.
More detailed review to come later.

Sorry, Google's not playing nice with the forum.
Link to photos: https://goo.gl/photos/1uCfw1PgcBuU3Hgi6


--Karl






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I like my Kelty Cache Hauler. Comfortable belt, and generally good harness. My son fell carrying a rear elk quarter last year and bent the shelf, and it's nice to know parts won't be a problem if it comes to that. It was something like $99 with no bag, and I consider that a bargain.

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I too have an LLBean Hunter Carry All and it is a decent light-weight hauler pack. I wish it had an adjustable torso but, while it is just a bit long for me, it is still very useable. A couple of years ago, I packed my Eberlestock J34, nearly fully loaded in the Carry All pack and it worked surprisingly well. I hiked several miles with this combination and it was moderately comfortable. If I ever attempt a backpack hunt again (not likely at my age) I may try it again.


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I've got a Kifaru 26" Duplex with a Cargo Panel

and a Granite Gear Chief Flatbed. [Linked Image]

I recommend both. The Granite Gear has shorter stays, so is more nimble in tighter brush and snags less, but with more than 70#, the duplex is superb.

(disclaimer: I'm kind of a Kifaru geek...)

I'm hunting the last 2 days of Colorado muzzle loader deer this weekend west of Steamboat Springs, will be carrying my Kifaru ZXR. Any pack that has the bottom zip sleeping bag compartment can be a hauler, especially if you've got straps and buckles to add on. Here's last weekend deer hunting, cinched down. What you're looking for is flexibility to transition to carrying as much meat as you can. It's a crappy picture, I got so used to being in the service berry bushes, I didn't notice when I took the pic.
[Linked Image]


Here's another Kifaru (Molle Express, which has 21" stays) that shows how to make a (beer, deer, elk) hauler out of a pack with that bottom zipper compartment. This would easily haul a bone in hind elk quarter and not be too huge. Hopefully that helps open up your options...

[Linked Image]


Last edited by RobCollins; 09/15/16.
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Rob,

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