Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Ultralight Kifaru

Vek,

Yeah, any photo you see of me from the side with a pack on is going to look a little off.

The stays are not bendable. Patrick said that they will fit most people well with the exception of those with a flat back. While I have a lot of forward curve in the upper back, my low back as little curve yet this pack fits me better than a LH with the stays formed to my back.

Thanks Ed, when I got to buy mine maybe I will have both sets of stays sent so I cant figure out what works best for me. Then send the other ones back.

Do you think Kifaru would do that??

I carried a 44 mag in Alaska when I lived there, now I carry a Glock 32 in 357 Sig. I'm rather more afraid of being bitten by a tweaker.......and they travel in packs!

I'll bet they would.

If thats true and I have no reason to believe it isnt coming from Ed, I may have to get over my pod phobia and enter the age of versatility. Thanks for taking the time to share.

I once disarmed a crackhead/methhead while being held gunpoint on the Lower Rogue. He wanted our axe and all of the food in our totes. We just wanted to setup camp and fish for Steelhead, and we did. I'll take bears everytime.

I guess Kifaru will launch the UL website on Thursday instead of Wednesday now. Understandably so:

"Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that there will be a one day delay for the ultralight program launch. We will be launching on Thur the 16th. There are 2 reasons for this. As some of you might have read here on the message board, we lost one of our longtime members and a good friend to many here yesterday. Timberline passed away suddenly yesterday on his 58th birthday. He was a very close friend of Patricks and this loss understandably has slowed progress down just a bit for our launch. "

http://www.kifaruforums.net/showthread.php?23909-Kifaru-Ultralight-Packs!!!/page11

Thanks for writing up such informative reviews on the packs. Not sure it was mentioned (although I may have missed it). Are the UL pods and pockets double thickness as well?

Hey man, that's a story I'd like to hear the details of!

The KU page is now up over at Kifaru. I just ordered a KU5200, KU E&E and other accessories. So in 12 weeks if anybody in the central WA area wants to take a look at it or test it out, send me a PM. I am in the Seattle area about once a week also.

A buddy was daring me this morning to take the plunge.. We both are a bit worried about the pack holding up in our environment.

Theres that "Alaska Complex" again. What do you think we are hunting in candy land down here. Its not just gumdrops and candy canes here in Washington ya know. We got slide alder, devils club, shale and all that good stuff.

To be specific, we are worried about tearing that material while coming down through helo logging units, clearcuts, acres of blow downs, and beach fringe.

I not worried about the durabilty with careful use, but we will have to wait and see. Sounds like they were tested pretty good and if you have any problems Kifaru will fix it. I am probably going to baby this thing compared to my Longhunter. That doesnt mean i am not going to use it though. Hopefully i will draw a spring bear tag so i can put it to the test.

I'm going to give it a little while before I buy the whole pitch. ;-)

For kicks today I did some crude puncture tests of Kifaru's fabric, (2) layers, compared to some 500d Cordura I have. The Cordura was noticeably stronger. Really no surprise there as the the Cordura runs in the 6 to 8 ounce per yard range and I'm guessing the Kifaru fabric for (2) layers would be 2.5 to 3 ounces per yard. Another thing I noticed was how stretchable the Kifaru fabric is compared to the other. This characteristic is apparent in many of the photos.

In the end I think it is going to come down to whether the Kifaru's (2) layers is strong and durable enough for people's uses over the expected life span of the pack. I have a new pack in 500d Cordura and Spectra/Dyneema that WILL be handed down to my son. Time will tell how these new packs holdup. Hopefully, they will work just fine and we can all dump our heavy packs and save a few pounds.

The Dyneema is hard to beat. For an Ultralight more puncture proof fabric I think the Cuben is better, although not as handsome

...and 10x the cost.

I don't think that Alaskans are snobs when it comes to durability but we don't want to second guess whether or not our gear will survive.

This pict is from a glacial moraine on barnard glacier.
Basically you have to travel on a river of rock over a river of ice for miles. It wears the living daylights out of everything.
More than 5 different hunters have died there due to rock slides avalanches, crevasses, and just nasty country in the last 100 years. This picture is 15 miles from the take out landing strip and about 12 miles from either good goat hunting or sheep hunting in two different directions. It is a roughly 35 mile tramp. In general when you see this stuff and alders, you choose the alders.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Cuben. From what I've read, it can be somewhat difficult to work with. Now that I have a pack with some Spectra/Dyneema on it, I can see why people like it - the fabric is very strong and durable and has a good texture to it.

I'm in the Eburg area and would be pretty interested in hearing how that works out for you. I'm currently using a MR but haven't had it very long. I like it and will be sticking with it through next year (and probably will just keep it if I get another pack.) However, I like the idea of a pack as light as the Kifaru pack but still able to handle a lot of weight.

Hope you get that spring bear permit, get a chance to load it up, and post up a report on how it works out for you. I expect it to be a pretty positive review given the nature of the company producing the pack.