Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Did any of you every hunt with a Kelty external frame?

I was the designer for Kelty from 1970-74. I designed the original Tioga, Serac, internal frame Tour Pack amongst lots of other products. It was an awesome job and I’m super proud of my work. I’ve also been hunting since I was 14, 1964 but only during archery Elk season here in Montana do I combine backpacking and hunting, and I’m way too old to be carrying loads of meat out on my back. I still use my Kelty’s for packing in a lightweight camp, but I’ll hire horses to pack the elk out. During general rifle season I typically use a sled to drag the animal out.

I used a Kelty pack a lot back in the 60s and 70s when I was doing a lot of climbing. They were great external frame packs for carrying loads on trails. I moved to internal frame packs because they were easier to use in rough terrain where an external frame can move around and affect your balance. Kelty's are still great packs for hauling loads though.

I guided with Ralph, the sewing partner to Barnie back in the '80s. I had a Barney's Moose packer bag from the first batch sewn overseas (the wedge in the partnership) and he basically took my bag apart and resewed it with every bell and whistle they had at the time. Ralph died in the very early '90s of pancreatic cancer and the bag lived on. Riley took the pack on many hunts in his early years. Then he went on a day hunt and left the mostly empty pack in the boat they were pulling. At Girdwood they stopped for fuel and snacks. At some point they noticed my pack was gone. They may have not seen it blow out or it was stolen while they were in the store.

That pack had hauled a lot of sheep, moose, and caribou by then. It was before my serious addiction to Sitka blacktails....

The Barney's Freighter had replaced an old Kelty. At my weight limits these days the Kelty is probably more than I need.

I found an older Kelly at what my wife calls the “Mall”. (Give and take at our local transfer station). Got it to use hunting. But never needed to haul out quarters. But last year we had a long three week job hand cutting on a power line deep in the Mountains. 1.5 miles mostly up hill. Hauled saw gas and oil, saws and water with that pack frame. Flawless. Great early design that was just as comfortable today as it was when I hiked in school back in the early 80’s with a club loaner.
Timeless design Glacier John

I still have an original Barney’s pack. I have no idea what it will hold, but I know it’ll haul a moose hind quarter that I recall was in the 125lb range.

Kelty Cache hauler here. Bought one new a few years ago. Used it twice so far in Alaska on diy drop off moose hunts. Has worked great for me.

I have the bag off an old Cabela's Alaskan pack that I sometimes use as a removable storage bag. Kind of a hybrid system. Love the solid meat shelf.

I have a Kelty 40th Anniversary frame pack from many decades ago. Last used by me 24 years ago to carry quarters of a NH bull moose about a mile to the truck. I've used internal frame packs for hiking and camping for more than30 years now but the frame pack was much better for hauling the big loads. Any moose I shoot now will be close to a road so I won't be using the Kelty. If anyone is interested in it, please let me know.

Got two (B-5s ?) from late 70's in the basement now. I think they were the immediate predecessor of the Tioga? or maybe they are Tiogas. Bought them from Barney's, anyway.

Wife's is in fair shape yet - mine (second one- done wore out the first one.), is - um - used, but still maybe usable for what little I'll be doing with it for the rest of my life. A few more moose hopefully - but done with the alpine stuff, sheep and goats. That welded up frame is doing nicely......

Last used it to pack a couple caribou out a mile and a half 4 years ago. Been using the ATV's since, in that spot, anyway.

They fit me better anyway.

I haven't used mine much recently, but about 10 years ago I backpacked in for a mule deer hunt here in Washington with my son. The old Kelty did just fine. I was in my mid-late 50's in this photo he snapped on our hike in. We set up for a few nights and hunted, but didn't get a buck.




That pack has been mine since new in the 1970's. I'm thinking that it was called the Serac? It can carry an awful lot of stuff! Used to backpack a fair bit, but not so much anymore.

Regards, Guy

COLO western: I remember my first back pack Hunt in which I used (made do with?) a Trapper Nelson pack frame.
I have used Kelty stuff over the years and my favorite for a while (for Mt. Goat hunting at least) was a big bagged pack frame that also unfolded into a cot to sleep on!
Kept me up off of the wet on several trips.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I still have a Kelty Super Tioga. Thing is super comfy with a heavy load compared to an internal frame pack.

My guide in AK has a couple in his outbuilding along with about 25 other packs - mostly donated by disgruntled hunters from the lower 48. We use an old Kelty to haul in moose meat 6 years ago - simple and efficient. The loft is sort of a graveyard for modern day packs that didn't work out.

I too had a Kelty Super Tioga and used it for a backpack Dall sheep hunt with Gana River back in 1995. It was an awesome pack.

I was in the Deschutes Canyon recently with a guy that had an old Kelty external frame.
I have an Alpenlite which is a "Kelty-Improved" (better weight transfer to hips).
Both good packs.

I use a Cache Hauler and love it. It's a great setup that I prefer to some much more expensive packs. I'm not saying the materials and construction are the best in the business, but the hipbelt is phenomenal. The older Super Tiogas and Trekkers are great, but it's getting harder to find one that isn't suffering the effects of age.

I haven't tried a Barney's pack, however. I'd love to.

Dad bought me a Kelty D4 for my first pack when I was 14. I used it on many backpack trips growing up and quite a few times to pack animals. Every pack I’ve had since then has been an upgrade. The present Seek Outside is the best I’ve had yet.

I started out with a couple used Kelty pack frames. Don't recall which models. The first I gave to a coworker. The second I swapped out bags to a cabelas bag. Still have it in the garage as a loner. About a decade or so ago upgraded to a Barney's pack.

You really need to ck a pack for fit like you do a pair of boots. I bought a Cache Hauler and it nearly crippled me as it didn't fit my long torso at all. It's long gone now but I still shudder when I think about it. Went Seek Outside with the load lifter extenders and it's been a very good fit.

I hunt with a Frontier Gear of Alaska Moose Pack on a Freighter Frame. Better known as a barney's pack. If I know I will be packing out an animal I always take it. The first trip might be in my MR Cabinet, but once to the truck I grab the external frame pack. They are much better under heavy loads.

We use the old Kelty packs for guiding and think highly of them. They are as light as the latest, greatest internal frame packs, tough as can be, and personally I find them as comfortable as can be had with big loads of moose meat or bear hides.

Barneys has surpassed them in popularity with guides but some of us prefer the lighter weight, simple, rugged Keltys.

Taj Shoemaker
www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.com