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Originally Posted by Tanner
Originally Posted by Jordan Smith
If you want the best, I'd be looking at Kifaru and SG, like Tanner said, and I'd add Seek Outside as well. I've been extremely pleased with my Evolution. I sold a Kifaru to get the SO. A buddy was a die-hard MR guy and he sold his Grizzly and now uses the Evo, as well. Neither of us regret the change.


I need to try one of those Seeks and see what the heck. I can't see me switching from what I'm using anytime soon, but it's nice to know! They certainly look like a quality Ruck.


They are quality. CFVA used one to haul some good-sized loads this fall and said it was comfortable. I have one too and like it up to about 45 lbs but for whatever reason, with heavy loads I like the Kifaru better, guess it fits me better with the beefier hip pad.



A wise man is frequently humbled.

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Yep, fit is everything when comparing the top brands. With my body shape, the full-wrap belt fits me so much better than the lumbar pad style that the Kifaru Duplex uses.

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Originally Posted by KC


A 2,200 cu. in. pack is small. OK for day hunting deer. It's too small to haul out the hind quarter of an elk and not big enough for multi-day backpacking. The Badlands 2200 weighs 6# and has a volume of 2,250 cu.in.



I've hauled out many many elk quarters with my old BL 2200 and it does this fine actually....though it leaves little room for clothes and other items which is why I now own a J107m


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Put me in the Kifaru and SG camp, as well. I prefer Kifaru by a little bit, but could use the SG for a long time and not complain.

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I have used Kifaru, seek outside, stone glacier, and Mystery Ranch. They are all great and would have no problem using any of them. Though mystery ranch packs are needlessly heavy and the last I would choose.

The waterproof fabric the seekoutside packs are made out of it pretty darn nice for extremely wet environments or packrafting.

The Kifaru EMR 2 is my preferred setup as it can be a day pack or haul super huge awkward loads though is a tad on the heavy side.

I feel Stone glacier has best balances the feature to weight ratio and could see me using one again.

Hope that helps.

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Originally Posted by KC


The Seek Outside Unaweep Fortress 4800 looks good but it also has a max torso of 22" and it's materials are not all that quiet. It's pretty light at less than 4#.





Ordered with 4" extensions the Unaweep frame is 28" tall and can easily fit 23-4" torsos with the proper adjustments. If you buy one in Multicam, Olive, or Slate and legit spoke an animal because the fabric was too loud I'll buy you a beer.

Cheers,
Dave @ Seek Outside

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I have an outdoorsmans optic hunter and you don't see too many people using them, but I love mine. It has done everything I expected of it and more. I am planning on getting one of their long range bags for it in the near future, as both will work on the same frame. I really like the external frame that is a little flexible, it rides really nice, even packing out bone in moose quarters.

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I'm not sure exactly what my torso measures, but i'm 6'3" so fair to say it's not too short.

So I bought a Unaweep 4800 with the 4" frame extensions. I kept cutting a little bit off the extensions until I got it right for me. Ended up with about 2.25" extensions.

The frame is plenty high to get the pack up off my hips, and get a good geometry to use the load lifters.

The most I have carried is about 60 lbs, and that carried well, even with past L4/5 disc surgery.

Here's a couple pics to give an idea how it carries,

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


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I would look a Kifaru also very comfortble and lots of options with the different bags, I have a Mountain Rambler with the load sling and works great for packing quarters or boned meat!

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Originally Posted by Jordan Smith
Just admit it. You had a problem. Good thing I held that MR intervention for ya grin
Huh. You misremember... It was me who held a intervention for you... Pretty sure you tried on a certain pack and had made a switch by the following sheep season... Which shows what a smart and open minded fella you are. 😜 wink

Last edited by Wrongside; 01/06/17.

Originally Posted by Llama_Bob
I've seen more well-shot game lost with TSXs than any other premium bullet.

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Originally Posted by WV_Airedale
One, for hauling clothes etc... And two, for hauling game out

Looking for recommendations and experiences. please?


First, pack fit is so individual. What one guy loves, will leave another with bleeding hips. But lLots of great choices out there these days. Great time to be a backpacker. That said...

I've been fortunate enough to own or use most of the big name hunting and mountaineering packs. Except Stone Glacier, gotta try one of those...

99.9% of my under pack miles the last few years have been with a Seek Outside Evolution. It's just so versatile and light, my other packs rarely see the light of day. Carries weight awesome, while being so light it's not worth carrying something else, likely less capable, as a day pack. Seems like way back when I was fortunate to demo a preproduction Evolution... I've made 3 big pack purchases since then, all SO packs. No regrets.

Best of luck finding the best pack for you!


Originally Posted by Llama_Bob
I've seen more well-shot game lost with TSXs than any other premium bullet.

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Originally Posted by Wrongside
Originally Posted by Jordan Smith
Just admit it. You had a problem. Good thing I held that MR intervention for ya grin
Huh. You misremember... It was me who held a intervention for you... Pretty sure you tried on a certain pack and had made a switch by the following sheep season... Which shows what a smart and open minded fella you are. 😜 wink


I had to hogtie you to get that Grizzly off your back. Thank me later grin

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Put me in the SG column. Nothing unnecessary and its built to carry a lot. I started with one of the only military surplus wooden packframes to a Kelty external frame to a Lowe Alpine Contour iV which I used for many years. I then shifted to K2 Longbed and I hunted that for a long time then I searched and tried many. I got to Kurt's SKY 7400 and I am home. If anything I probably will buy another one just to make sure that they last me for a while.

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For multi day trips I use an older Arcteryx Bora 80. For me, it has great suspension and bag.
You can find them barely used for $100 - $150.


“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
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Originally Posted by Wrongside
Originally Posted by WV_Airedale
One, for hauling clothes etc... And two, for hauling game out

Looking for recommendations and experiences. please?


First, pack fit is so individual. What one guy loves, will leave another with bleeding hips. But lLots of great choices out there these days. Great time to be a backpacker. That said...

I've been fortunate enough to own or use most of the big name hunting and mountaineering packs. Except Stone Glacier, gotta try one of those...

99.9% of my under pack miles the last few years have been with a Seek Outside Evolution. It's just so versatile and light, my other packs rarely see the light of day. Carries weight awesome, while being so light it's not worth carrying something else, likely less capable, as a day pack. Seems like way back when I was fortunate to demo a preproduction Evolution... I've made 3 big pack purchases since then, all SO packs. No regrets.

Best of luck finding the best pack for you!







Used a Seek Outside Unaweep 4800 for a 57 mile trip this summer and it performed flawlessly.

Money well spent.

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I get a lot of use out of an early-90s vintage Dana Designs Alpine, bought on craigslist for $50. It squeezes down to a good compact size, and will tote some serious mail. Once, out of sheer curiosity and opportunity, I filled it from stem to stern, collar extended, with loose moose meat. With that weight (advertised pack volume 6000ci, well north of 150#) it was more than a bit noodly, but with some heavy cinching and a herculean standing effort from the solo turtled strap-in, I carried it the flat 1/4 mile to the creek. The side pockets, compression straps, and beavertail allow multiple options for strapping on a rifle or Beverly hillbillying bows and drybags of clothes and such. There are better options for one-tripping a deer/sheep plus camp, (camp weight, limited as it may be, pushes the dana arcflex internals over the edge a bit) but this will do it. A dana external does it better.

If you are hellbent on spending half a thousand for a lesser pack, then this approach will surely disappoint. I do grant that I blew probably $1 of potential garage sale earnings spraying various leftover drab krylon on my pack to dull the bright green color. Keep the krylon off the compression straps - they get a little stiff and tough to cinch when painted...

If you want to one-trip a good deer or sheep plus camp, and you bring all of the meat out instead of capping meat poundage at 60lbs and claiming the rest lost to bloodshot or lazy boning, then some trials with some heavy haulers of repute are in order. That means full framed SG, Kifaru, MR, and possibly others of the rocky mountain boutique packs mentioned in this thread. I use an old dana external for those times when it's not practical to 2-trip the packout for whatever reason. I have a kifaru bikini in hand but don't have a suitable bag for it yet. We'll try that one next season, possibly.

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Originally Posted by MadMooner
For multi day trips I use an older Arcteryx Bora 80. For me, it has great suspension and bag.
You can find them barely used for $100 - $150.
Still fantastic packs! Especially at that price. Miles ahead of the ILBE.


Originally Posted by Llama_Bob
I've seen more well-shot game lost with TSXs than any other premium bullet.

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Im gonna have to chime in and say that my Arcteryx Bora 80 is still the best heavy load pack Ive ever owned. Im 6' 220 pounds and have carried 80 pound loads miles and miles comfortably. I have had Kifarus, badlands, Eberles, and Mystery Ranch. I keep going back to my Bora for big load trips.

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My Dana Designs Astraplane is still the best monster pack I've used.......

Casey


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Not being married to any particular political party sure makes it a lot easier to look at the world more objectively...
Having said that, MAGA.
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After using a heavy bombproof Blacks Creek Canadian for years I was able to try all the above mentioned packs at the Western Outdoor Expo on the same day. I went with a Stone Glacier 6900. It just fit me best. used it to pack out 2 elk and a deer last fall. One elk was on a multi day back pack hunt and the others were on day hunts in the smaller mode. Nothing but good to say about SG.

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