Sure a Barney's can haul a house, but its no nimble light weight thing....
Barney's isn't the lightest sure, but I have mine now setup for hunts starting with just the Barney's frame is down to 4.25 pounds. The frame with 3700 cu in is 5.5 pounds. Frame with 5600 cu in is 6.1 pounds. Frame with 8100 cu in is 7.5 pounds. Frame with 9900 cu in is 8.1 pounds. So while I can haul a house with it at 8100 cu in I is still over 2 pounds lighter than my Mystery Ranch 6500. On pair weight wise with the Kifaru LH 8500. Same weight as the Arctery Bora 95L (5600 cu In).
So if you know how to dress down the Barney's frame for pure function you can get the weight down to the competing top internals and likely hands down hauls 100+ pounds better than most any other pack, and likely the most proven "sheep pack" in Alaska. Have used Barney's and a number of the high end hunting "internal frames" and really haven't found myself saying "man I am glad I have this internal frame on the side of this mountain instead of an external."
The Kifaru UL packs are, for now, in a class of their own as far as weight. They haven't been proven really yet as only a few choice people have used them for but a year or two so time will tell how they hold up over time. Great packs if they can stand up to years of shale scoots and rock slides though, but I am skeptical on that.
Bottom line the pack only has to work for you. Be a CF pack frame that could possibly shatter if dropped in the rocks with weight on it scares me a bit. Hope it works great, but stuff happens.....
