Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Stone Glacier packs

Feels similar to many manufacturers that I have used. Honestly, while fitting it, it reminded me a lot of my old Kifaru Zulu pack, only with stays that were long enough. Much more comfortable than my Mystery Ranch. Durability? Well, won't know that for about a year...

I just got one to try out for the weekend. I borrowed it from a friend of mine. I will let you know what I think after a 3 day hunt.

Any feedback yet? Pictures, etc?

Rifle elk season starts for me on Wednesday.

I have not been able to test out mine any further due to having tendonitis in both ankles and one knee and taking the time off to at least get it to subside enough for hunting season to be tolerable. Having a lump on my achilles tendon was rather alarming.

I could take some pics and post them up if you guys like.

I did get his rifle sling and worked with that a little bit. I do intend to get the Kifaru sling and compare the two, but I haven't ordered the second one yet.

I dont have pics yet but I have some initial impressions...
Loaded up with my day hunt stuff it is lighter than my old pack is empty. The fit is very easy to adjust.
I really like the belt set up and the ability to add a holster for bow season, remove it for rifle season and put my shooting sticks/rangfinder there.
My only complaint so far is that it was about 14 deg on the antelope opener here. When it got cold the interior part of the pack material is a little "crinkly" sounding in the cold. I know that if it was made out of something else quieter it would be heavier and may not haul as much.
Overall it seems like a great pack.

I'm going to try this from my phone... Me on an elk hunt with a stone glacier pack... No elk yet

I demo'ed one this weekend. Used it to haul in camp, and this load of 115 lbs out:




My partner then used it to carry this load of 86 lbs out:



We were both impressed, especially considering how minimal the suspension feels. I've had a pile of Mystery Ranch's, a Kifaru UL5200, and I don't want to give this one back.

Carl, great to hear. Nothing really makes a 85+ lb pack feel all that great.

The belt still spooks me given my experience with the Arcteryx Altra... but I still want to try one.

Brad,

You know better than most how personal pack fit is. The straight frame the MR packs have has worked well for both myself and my partner, and this straight frame felt good to us too. The Kifaru bent frame feels good to me when I'm wearing it, but I usually wake up with a lower back ache the next day, don't know why.

The belt worked just fine for us, and as mentioned, far better than expected. I do generally prefer the MR belt, but not enough to not get one of these, as the package is perfect for most of what I do.

If you ever want to borrow one, you can try out what ever one I end up with, just let me know. I expect Kurt would be more than game to let you demo one as well, and the visit is worth it to oogle the sheep...

The more I look at this pack, the more I wish my MR Longbow had the weight and functionality of Solo. Still waiting to see what the Hill boys come up with, but Stone Glacier has been bookmarked for future analysis.

Great stuff Carl, those Stone Glaciers look sweet for sure. Just hope it works for my body style...

Thanks for the review Carl. Luke, if you get one, I'll expect a report from you too... grin.

Looks like they did well or they are sold out and on pre order until January. I like what I see as well and may bight after a few mre reviews.

Put more miles on mine in the last week, still nothing at all to complain about.

His weapon sling is a little different from others and takes some technique to use it, but once figured out it's really nice. I really like having my hands free and the rifle behind me but still quick and easy to get to if needed.

The pack seems to be holding up really well so far and still very comfortable and easy to use and adjust.

The stone glacier pack has worked great so far. The good: the belt set up makes it easy to add things. I put a handgun there for archery season and put my shooting sticks and gps there for rifle season. I also like the space behind the frame. I can slide a seat pad (for sitting in the cold glassing clearings). It is also a good place to secure the rifle when it's not needed anymore.
It's a light pack but roomy enough to carry what I need for the way I hunt. I use it mainly for long day hunts and carry a kelvin coat and jetboil for comfort along with the necessities
This is me and the pack in a little snow and cold at 7500 ft this weekend. I put the tenders in the pack but was lucky enough to have friends along. Cut him into several pieces and slid on the snow downhill for about 2 miles.

Congratulations DW.

Kurt loaned me his demo Terminus (6000 cu in model) for a recent Wyoming elk hunt. This wasn't a true backpack hunt, as we were staying in a house, getting up early, and hiking in several miles by headlamp each day, then getting back home to sleep in a warm bed (and have a cold beer).

But, we figured it would be a pretty good test of the pack as we'd have a chance to load it heavy, and, with three of us hunting, a good chance to get multiple users' feedback and comparison on the Terminus. Fortunately, all of us are approximately the same height and build (6'0" and 180#-ish), so we were able to swap packs around without much adjustment of suspension systems, even during a single carry.

Over seven hunting days, we killed and carried three elk; one mature cow, one raghorn bull, and one yearling cow. All animals were at least four miles from the truck and each involved an elevation gain of right around 3000' vertical.

We used four packs over the course of the trip, a Mystery Ranch NICE frame with 7500 cu in bag, a 2005-vintage Mystery Ranch G6000, and an original DANA Terraplane, plus the Terminus.

One of the three of us was in the processs of rehabbing a torn MCL (backcountry skiing), so the other two ended up carrying a bit heavy to compensate, and, after his kill, he stopped hunting and left just two of us to carry.

The lightest load carried in the Terminus was both front quarters plus backstraps and trim meat from the mature cow, which along with personal gear and rifle totalled approximately 85# on the bathroom scale once we got it home.

Since there were two of us on the carry on the raghorn bull, we ended up a bit heavier. Each load consisted of a hind and a front quarter, plus roughly half of the backstraps, tenders, and trim, plus personal gear. This load in the Terminus was right at 105# according to the bathroom scale, while the MR NICE/7500 combo ended up with a bit more at about 113#.

The final carry on the yearling cow again put the Terminus at about 98#, as I deliberately loaded both hinds, plus backstraps, tenders, and personal gear to give it one last workout.

During the last two carries, I loaded a hind quarter on the load shelf, with a front going into the pack bag along with trim meat and gear. So, even in a situation where one might be day hunting, the Terminus is a pretty good platform with the capability to get a lot of meat moved in a single trip.

The overall consensus was that with loads between 85-100#, the Terminus carried as well or better than both the Terraplane and the G-6000, but not quite as well as the NICE frame/7500 combo, even with loads between 85-100#. But, for 5+# pounds, I'm willing to make the tradeoff.

There were a couple things that the pack could use. First, water bottle pockets would be convenient and allow one to lash a rifle to the pack for a trip out. Second, a shelf inside the bag would let you get a heavy load to ride a bit higher.

If you are in the Anchorage area -or the Mat-su, and want to take the pack out for a test run, drop me a pm.

Brad, did you happen to give the Stone Glacier pack a try?
Thanks.
BBerg

Anymore feedback on these Stone Glacier packs?

I'm one of those less experienced guys who only own Badlands and Eberlestock at this point. Fortunately, I do have enough experience to know I want something much, much better.

A lot of what you guys are talking about doesn't do me much good. As I 'm not familiar with all the different types of frames, lumbar support, belts, etc from the different top pack makers. I'm afraid I'm just going to have to pick something to try and hope for the best. At least I have time to test things out.

Thanks

I was really impressed with the demo pack I got to play with, although I didn't haul any dead stuff with it. I did put 10 days worth of camp in it, with a couple of steel plates in the meat compartment, and took a walk down a few icy trails. It handled that nicely. It also highlighted that my sleeping bag is freakin' huge, and I should probably look for something that compresses smaller than the size of a 2 year old Lab.

I also buckled the old lady into the sling, and packed her around the house until she had enough of that. Didn't really prove anything, but it did make me laugh. Sorry TDL, should have probably mentioned that.

I expect an old man dressed in red to drop one down my chimney in the next couple weeks, and I'll do my best to abuse and report.

Where you at in Nodak?