Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Mystery Ranch Crew cab.....again

OK here are the pics. I tried to get the void of the CC to show all the space. The other pack is the Nice 6500 to show the difference. Just for kicks I threw in a shot of the new sweet pea quiet.







[img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/kenaiking/DSCN0205.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/kenaiking/DSCN0208.jpg[/img]

I am gonna give one of the NICE 6500's a try, but I have a question for you guys, are any of you familiar with the design they had on the old Dana Terraframes where you could cinch the load lifters down by the waist belt on the sides, and take all the weight off your shoulders by lifting the load, and then pull in on the load lifters by your shoulders to suck the load in closer to you to where there was little weight being applied to your shoulders. That is my all time favorite features from a pack when hauling heavy loads, and am curious if the NICE 6500 has something similar since I have never seen one up close.

I have never seen a terraframe but my wife has a terraplane. I will take a look at it and see if it has those.

You might want to give Dana a call at MR and ask him about them. He will be able to help you for sure

Yeah I intend to give Mark a call tomorrow, I PM'd him but havent heard back, guess he's taking a break from here for the weekend.

I think Mark is traveling. Did you try to email him? He may be out of the shop.

Yep that's me! I absolutely realize the point of the load lifters is to suck all the weight in and pull the load close to your body. The problem is that on my rig, it puts all the load on my shoulders and does nothing to let my hips carry the weight with pack pulled in to me. My bora 70 rides perfect as the belt sits on my hips and carries 99% of the load. The lifters suck the ruck to my back and there is an incline of the shoulder straps up so no weight is carried on my shoulders. The shoulder straps only keep the load pulled forward, not up. The nice frame feels more like a body harness that holds weight. Another problem is the CC is to damn short so you cannot stack high before you run out of straps so you get the freaking horizontal spread where weight goes aft and obviously creates mor torque which pulls the load away from you. Don't misunderstand, I like the CC for the hunting, just not the loading.

Thank you! I get it now.

KC

Btw, Thanks for not calling me a fat boy!!! lost 12 pounds since that trip. I realized I was a fat body, but that really has no bearing on the load's riding position. I have always put my hip belt on my hips as opposed to my waist.

I've found a couple of things that mitigate the load lifter issue.

First, when carrying extra gear, beyond what can be carried in the pockets and inner cavity, I always go up or down and not out the back. Putting gear out the back shifts the center of gravity back further, and forces you to lean forward as a counter balance. MR does offer a strap extension package to get more out of the top straps.

Second, with the extra gear on top I can run a second set of straps to the shoulder harness at a more appropriate angle. This helps with the load distribution on the shoulders and pulls the top of the pack in further to your body.

No, I don't mean to offend ya.... its just that I read your thread and analyzed those pictures for a long time. Packing 120#'s is no easy task and you did it! Congrats on that bull and getting it out!
I was just trying to figure out what could have helped with that situation and what the fix is. I was waiting to hear it come out on your thread.

If you start with the hip belt that low does it travel even lower with a load? I can lengthen my yoke until the shoulders are as lite as I want. As long as the hip belt stays put.

Maybe that 6500 is your fix? With the yoke set right I have been able to dial it in with the just a tug on the load lifters give the shoulders a break - I am the dealing with some circulation issues in my hips after a while though so alternate it.
I have been doing a few miles a day with 70+-. I think I'm getting things adjusted pretty well and move up in weight. Today it was out with the CC with weight...


Good Luck!

Well I have the entire set up that I just purchased with Mark's suggestions. Mark is a huge advocate of the top lid. He explained to me it is useful with akward loads. The pictures that were posted with the load so far away from the pack would be tough to pack with any pack. I try and and keep the weight close to my body and stack it higher to accomodate the extra gear, that is where the top lid functionally can handle the highest of loads because it has fairly long straps. The CC should be able to handle any five day trip and packing out your game if loaded and strapped correctly. The hip belt must ride higher than what was pictured and for the "load lifter straps" I think that is a mis representation to what those straps do on this pack. They are more of "load stabilization straps" as they are just to pull the load into your body, stabilize it from swaying, which will essentially transfer more of the weight onto your hips. This pack has some trial and error in both packing it correctly and getting it adjusted correctly. But when both are done, I done I am not sure it can be beat. The guys that have the 6500 also probably have the best set ups going. The CC and the 6500 may be the only two packs you will ever need for any type of hunting. Also, don't hesitate to call MR, I have spent countless hours on the phone with them regarding their packs and they always seem enthusiastic about answering my questions and helping out.

is the NICE 6500 big enough for a 8-10 day DIY sheep hunt...doesn't look very big?

When I spoke with Mark from MR, he explained to me that the CC and the 6500 would be the two he would pick, although he can pick them all. The 6500 bag is huge. I have handled one, but don't own one yet, just the CC and all the accessories for it. I think the 6500 would be perfect for the 8-10 day sheep hunt. If you can try and PM "Oak", that is what he used and he has several picture of it in action.

Depending on how compact your gear is I would say no problem. The 6500 is a pretty big pack. Check out the pic on there site with the moose in it.

The 6500 is what I used for a 10 day Stone Sheep hunt w/ Bryan Martin of Canadian Mountain Outfitters this past August..... if you can't fit all of your gear in a 6500 bag, you might be taking too much stuff!

In all fairness to Mark, I'm going to meet him in Fort Worth in March and get his help on tricking this beast out. I figure to go vertical with a mongo load, what I need is some straps that can attach at the bottom of the bag and go all the way around the bag and over a higher load and possibly the top bag and then attach to the shoulder straps where the load lifters usually fit in. I was unprepared on my trip to go higher as I had no more strap capacity in the organic setup. Mark, what's the story with the extra straps?

Thanks,

Conrad

Unless you are in "Special Forces/Navy Seal Shape", and even then......If you are thinking of strapping on things to the 6500, dude.
Call me BTDT

in the past I have used an Osprey Crescent...very big pack and filled it up. Just want to make sure I have enough room in the NICE 6500

Well said Doc.
Here's my BTDT photo with a full NICE 6500. Pain is a great teacher.



BTW, as a reference point I'm 6'3", so the 6500 looks smaller on me than it might on others. It's a very large pack, and should haul everything (or more) than you'll need. I had two weeks of supplies with me in that photo, including a bunch of gear I should have left home in such rough country. Did I mention the pain?

Well in the last 48 hours I have managed to read about 10,000 responses on a half dozen different forums with testimonials relating to the Mystery Ranch packs. And in closing, where I was sure that I wanted a NICE 6500 , I have decided that I am leaning more on picking up a G6000 instead. I want a super comfortable, well supported sub 8 lb pack, and that appears to be it. I can only imagine that with new innovative ideas and materials that the G series packs have to at least be as well made as the Dana Design Arc Flex packs were, yet not quite military grade in material make up and or designed to carry heavy military equipment. I think that for the day hunters that plan on hauling out there meat the CC is probably an awesome setup, but it is not a set up that will work for my uses unless I load another 2-3 lbs of gear bags to it, and then with the shotness of the frame I am gonna end up like the fella hauling out the elk with all his gear stacking back and away from him as opposed to in line with his spine. Its clear that many of our uses are different when talking packs, when I use mine it will be to haul in all my camp and gear and then haul out whatever I kill too. I have spent thousands of dollars shaving weight with the finest lightweight hunting/camping gear money can buy, and adding at least 2 more pounds in pack weight is just not something I can swallow, and appears to be regression in my quest. Will be calling the boys at MR tomorrow to get a G pack coming. Been interesting reading soo much about these packs in the last few days. So ......anyone have any experience with the G6000 or G7000?....grin