I have used Kifaru, Granite Gear, Stone Glacier and Seek outside packs. I wore out the Kifaru pack and the Granite Gear pack is a little heavy. The last couple of years I've been mostly using the Seek Outside pack and it has worked very well. But that said this fall on a whim I decided to try out the Stone Glacier pack and bought the minimalist. And at first I loved it. Way more compact and carried a moderate load better than the Seek Outside. But then we put elk on them and I hate to say it but the Stone Glacier failed. Like someone else who posted earlier, I too had the swaying thing going on - and could not get up without help. The pack is just too narrow, and there is no side to side lateral support. The stone Glacier was unstable with a heavy load (we are talking around 130 pounds). That said I think it is a GREAT deer hunting pack and good with loads up to say 110 pounds. But for elk and truly bad loads I think I'll stick with the Seek Outside. Patrick