I have a Pop-28. I've been lusting after a pop-up from when they used the tent-pole arrangement. I felt it would be good for the "go in light, come out heavy" philosophy...and the online reviews were great.
Sad to say, it's not working out for me. In typical MR fashion, the hip belt and shoulder straps are heavily buttressed and padded. Great if it fits you...not so great if it doesn't. The stiffeners and padding poke me in the wrong places. Not exactly great for sneaking and peeking. Under a basic load (about 25#) it's a 2 out of 5.
Deployed with weight (I use a 60# sandbag for training) it's a 3/5. Works ok, but I've got packs that do it much better. The pop-up 28 is a weight on my back that doesn't move with me if that makes any sense.
I liked the concept of the pop-up line and really wanted it to work. But sadly for me, the execution is lacking. I got this a few months before a hunt, and shook it down intending to take it on the upcoming hunt. In the end, I benched it and brought old faithful; my Seek Outside Evolution. Bigger pack, but filled the pop-up niche better than the pop-up did. Five day hunt, four deer, was able to get into bow distances with the pack on my back, no aches or pains.
My advice is to try one if possible before you buy. I can see it working well if it fits you, but in my case it did not.
I just bought a Pop Up 38 yesterday thinking I wanted a smaller pack than my Seek Outside Paradox. The SO works well for me but is a bigger pack than I need most of the time. The Pop Up feels fine empty but sounds like I need to wear it around the house with different loads before using it in the field.
