Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting McHale Packs

All,

I received a PM yesterday A.M., accusing me of "stirring up trouble". The person who sent it did not elaborate but I suspect it was in reference to this thread.

I'm just going to say to that person who sent me that PM (and you know who you are):

I never contacted Dan McHale or anyone alerting them of this thread that was started a year ago. After this thread was brought back up by Dan, I chimed in with a friend's positive experiences using Dan's great packs.

So unless you have proof that I contacted Dan McHale (with the intentions of "stirring up trouble") directly or indirectly don't ever PM me again! I will simply delete your spineless PMs without ever opening 'em. And I am showing you respect here by not posting who you are.

MtnHtr

I want to borrow it Dave, so pm incoming.

I'll send you my measurements. (grin)

Anytime, man..I'll throw it in the mail on my way to work and you can have it for 28 days...grin. My MR has gotten around a bit that way...

Was a pleasure to talk to Dan, and I'm gonna order up as soon as I get back to the States.

I don't have Brad's ability to evaluate stuff I haven't seen or tried, so I'll have to part with the cash to form my opinion.

Welcome to the Back Pack hunting forum Dan! I think you'll like it here...

Thanks! I might like it here. I shoot once in awhile. On vacation last year I bought some 9mm rounds in Big Pine California and when I discovered they were Lugers and couldn't use them, I took them back but the guy didn't have money so I got 2 new wrist rocket sling shots in trade! I never did get to shoot and the rockets are still wrapped.

cool Dave, if this rib will heal up (and it will) and I can train some this summer, I want to put the MR thru the paces.

as I've said before I'm old school Barney's, but I'm not against lookin for a better mouse trap.


figure if you're really up to it, well just cross the packs in the mail, though would rather do it at a bar, and we can check out the different fit and functions of each.

though if I like yours better I may just move to Ester where you'll never be able to find me! (grin)

I know Don likes his really well, he hasn't asked if I'd sell the MR back to him!

it IS heavy empty, but handles a decent load fairly well.

but till I do the side by side training this summer I won't know for sure if that weight is worth it.

Dan, i took a look at your site and have a question for you about your Bypass Strap system. Is there a way to attach that harness to an external frame for packing meat? I would dearly love to swap out the harness on my Cabela's Extreme Alaska Outfitter frame with some more comfortable.

Can you email me at work? I'd like to see some photos of the pack. In short, I don't upgrade major competing brands of internals - at least not yet - I would have to start a repair shop and hire more people - I can look at an external utility frame though.

Will do Dan.

I've attached a Kifaru Univeral gunbearer to my McHale's pack, but it occurred to me that I could have asked Dan to help out with this. The gunbearer works well, just can't use the belt pocket on the side the rifle is on. My other carry option is to put the rifle butt into one of the waterbottle holders and stabilize the forearm under one of the side compression straps. The rifle is not accessible this way, but it is also not in your face (as it is with the Kifaru system). My only problem is that in the carry method with the rifle butt in the waterbottle holder, the barrel stick up quite high, catching on brush. I'm still fooling with it.

As an aside, Dan was so good to help me out when I bought one of his packs on ebay. It was a much smaller pack which compliments mine nicely. Only thing was it was white dyneema, and didn't quite fit me. Dan put another belt on it for me and dyed that dyneema in a pattern he christened "lizzard-horror". It's a perfect short trip pack, and I love the color.
Don

Well...I'm new to this forum thing, not new to backpack hunting. Thought I would look at something that I am interested in and found a pissing match instead! My questions to stillhunter are what animals do you hunt and where do you hunt(mtns, open country)? It would seem to me that it's hard to give my opinion with out some facts. In all the years I guided in the NWT I can count on one hand the number of internal packs I have seen. Looks to me like this would be a hard pack to tie a quarter of Moose onto. You are using this pack for hunting arn't you?

I have a friend that can't use anything but a internal pack so I will be passing on the McHale brand to him.

The pissing match is over, done. Everyone said what needed to be said, I thought both guys and 1AK made very good points and both are knowledgeable and worth listening to. When you get a number of guys together who are knowledgeable and have strong opinions, these things happen.

There are plenty of good internal frame packs to be had, some made specifically for hunters and hunting. Pass on the name Kifaru also: www.kifaru.net And the other names already mentioned.

LOL, I saw a pic of that pack on Dan's site. I'd love to get my hands on one of his packs but with the way things have been going in my life lately every time I save up a few bucks I have to do a major repair on my truck or I cave in to my oldest daughter and buy her a new snowboarding setup,...

Agreed, sometimes things do get a bit ornery here, but, the freedom to express oneself fully and the knowledge based on actual field experience makes it worth the odd fracas.

Kifaru IS another option and my favourite small hunting pack is a Kifaru Siwash which is more compact, lighter and hunting-oriented than any other similar size pack I have or had. For a geezer like me, this pack actually can do most of what I need, but, I cannot carry as much on it as on a MR NICE rig....horses for courses....

Ovis40,
I'm not stirring the pot, but I hunted with Stan Stevens outfit last Summer out of Norman Wells, and if I remember correctly, all the guides used internal frames. My guide used an arcteryx Bora 80, I believe. My goat guide out of Ketchikan also used a Gregory internal. My moose guide also used an internal, but they dropped in a strong man to move most of it, and he used an external, but we boned it out at the kill site.
Don

Regarding the internal versus external pack argument, I would think that in a trail situation an external pack frame would be more convienent for lashing a quarter to, but in an off-trail situation which is more likely, an internal frame pack would better from a balance on your feet stand point.

Those McKale packs are so nice and so expensive, I would have a hard time getting blood on one. Did you see his website, he was and still is an incredible climber, he is my contemporary we even practiced at the same place (Stoney Point) and with a lot of the same people, but he is far and away more accomplished, The Dihedral Wall on El Cap at age 20, climed with Fred Becky and Warren Harding. He definitly knows his stuff.

Back to backpack hunting; I prefer to carry an external frame pack when carying stuff in to set up base camp, then a large day pack while hunting during the day. If I drop an elk in the back country I would dress out the elk, strip the packbag off my frame and use it to haul out elk quarters. Wither I break camp and haul all of that stuff out before of after the elk would depend on the situation. For bivouac type hunting, I think a trim internal where you can hunt and shoot with your pack on would be the way to go. A pack large enough to carry your hunting gear plus food and water, no stove, maybe a half bag and tarp or fly.

docbd,
No you aren't stirring the pot. I find this interesting. It has been a few years since I guided and it can be hard to teach old dogs new tricks. The last time I compared external to internal with a sales person they asked me what I was going to pack that would weigh 100 lbs. or more. When I answered Sheep, Moose, Caribou they told me not a internal and I found my self standing alone in the store. That might have soured me on internal. Guess they didn't like hunters! I like the idea of buying from someone that takes pride in what they make, sell, and service. Oh and likes hunters! I suggest to people to buy the best equipment that they can afford. If $1600 boots or Nikes work for you then thats what you use.

I know I'm late in the thread but I'd like to respond to Brad's perspective. I bought a pack from Dan back in '92...an Alpineer Bayonet. Without going into to much detail it was a very expensive decision that was not taken lightly...I asked myself several times over if I was doing the right thing. After doing some Cascade climbing and overnight packpacking with a demo (single-buckle) and getting fitted by Dan at his (then) shop in Ballard and I took the plunge...$475 worth at the time. I have to say that I have found no other pack that could carry a load like Dan's. I have since bagged several prominent peaks in the Cascades with the pack and carried moderate to insane loads over many a mile with it. My only regret is that I didn't use trekking poles more back then. I also should have had him tweak a few things for me but I had moved away from Seattle which made it inconvenient.

I'd like to address the hipbelt. I think all the molded foam arguments are hogwash. Once you have carried a load with Dan's pack you will toss (I dare say laugh at) everything else. I was very apprehensive at the time. Dan had just recently started using the double buckle belt and it seemed like it was needlessly complex and overkill. After showing me how to adjust it and explaining it to me it made sense. I have to admit that the single buckle is faster and less cumbersome, but it doesn't fit as well. With the double you can adjust each independently and do a "double-tightening" sequence. There is no way to physically accomplish this exact fit with production foam molding...no way whatsoever. Put 50 pounds in the pack and the molded foam becomes a worthless liability. Might seem more cushy when you hoist it the first time, but down the trail it is not your friend.

Dan's belts are a saddle that rides on your pelvis, and the twin buckles allow a precise fit. The pack is then mounted on the saddle (it might be sewn on or bolted on...doesn't matter). Now when you think of saddles you think of horses, right? I'd like to know why horse saddles aren't all made out of high-tech molded foam these days. Using that logic, everyone would be riding molded foam at the rodeo. Some things work best counter-intuitively. The same goes for bicycle seats. Molded foam and soft padding are horrible...the old Brooks saddles are the most comfortable ones out there (once they're broken in...fortunately Dan's packs are made to fit and don't require breaking in). I know that may sound ridiculous, but it is case in point. Until you have worn one of Dan's packs with a load you will never know and will perpetually be guessing and very likely be dead wrong. You don't even know what comfortable is.

Would you rather be comfortable on the showroom floor, or would you rather be comfortable 12 miles and 6000 feet in (and back out again)? It's your prerogative.