Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting MR Crew Cab in Classifieds?

Lee24? Is that you....?

Scenar,
If you think you want a Longbow check out the NICE Skiritai BVS bag.
I can't pronounce, had to cut and paste it for the spelling but think it is a super cool pack. I am a complete gear whore, going to get a tramp stamp above my arse that says, "Will Dance for Cool Hunting Gear".
After Hardcore test drives my Longbow and refuses to send it back because he loves it so much, and of course pays me 15% over retail because he will be able to tell everyone I hunted it, I am gonna go buy one of these!

Good Pic of the pack off of the frame.


This thing has more pockets than a fertal marcupial!


Here's a pic with a Lid riding shotgun!

Check out the side pockets on the bag, place for my water bottle, or better yet they work great for the but of my gun to rest in. My daughters Bighorn have these and she like to strap one of the top compression staps over the forearm of her rifle and let the butt ride in the pocket, works like a charm.
Hmmmm...

Looks like an overweight, ill-concieved POS to me.

Here is a Longbow for a comparison...

280Rules,
You are right dude, what was I thinking, Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!

Greenie,
I will give you 500 bucks if you throw in those gals that were packing your spotting scope around in those pics you had up a while back!

No way. They carry all my stuff, find game, shed antlers, set up camp, cook, etc.

Damn!

OrvisHunter -

I was all set on a Bighorn and then you went and posted that link - which led me even further down the rabbit hole.

That NICE Skiritai looks awesome, but still a little short of the cuin I was hoping for (+/-3K), however that new SATL Assault Pack looks PERFECT! Just like my bud's NICE Wolf Alpha with less weight and more space than the Bighorn!

I'm not 100% sure if the BVS system will work without armor (as it was designed to be used with it), but if it does....

I hate this site - and I'm only on post 3.

NXP

But Ovis, how well do you think the loadlifters work?

NXP,
My daughter has a Bighorn and like any good Dad I have tried it out for her. I like it A LOT. It "rides nice", I really like the way the pockets are set up on the side, very similar in layout on the inside to my Longbow. It is a couple pounds lighter and if you are planning on not packing some major heavy loads is a good choice for sure. It does have some more space to get clothing etc inside too.
I really like the NICE frame set up. If you go with the Longbow and use it for your daypack, car a set of long straps and a couple meat bags you are set to make a major load out when you wack something.
If you have a 14 day sheep hunt lined out, you can grab a 6500 or 7500, swap out the Longbow and you are ready to climb Everest if you want.
If you go with the Skiritai you can get a regular NICE frame with it as opposed to the BVS. The BVS "fill" can be removed and it is the same as the standard NICE. I am gonna check out the Skiritai next trip through Bozeman if they have one in stock, let me know if you want me to email or post some more pics. Casey

PS If Seacat is reading this, maybe he can offer some expert insight... the guy knows these packs inside and out, I am just a Padawan, he is a Jedi Knight.

Calvin has represented Alaskans well.

I went and looked at a Badlands 4500 and the Blue Widow today at SW. I can see that maybe you could use them on a flyin hunt.

I am not berating the bowhunting crowd as I have a great deal of respect for bowhunters. However, I don't think it would work well for the type of hunting that many hunters in Alaska are used to.

They would not work for a walk-in hunt more than three days. Even with a partner. They are not big enough. A Lowa internal frame pack would be better than what they are.

A Mystery Ranch cc/Kifaru longhunter/Barney's special are the only options for long treks of 12 days or more. You can go real old school and get a pack frame and find a silnylon drybag with bungies and parachute cord and probably do ok.

I am not berating HCH but I do think that it is not easy to try to convey what our hunting is like up here. I am not talking about guided hunts with porters that are cheap college students conditioned from firefighting. I am also not talking about special drawing permit areas. I am talking about the equal to the unlimited areas in Montana where you have to outwalk your competition and go to very bad places for treks of 60-80miles. You have a 25 mile packout if you get a shot but the sheep and the country is worth it. Population is down right now but mountain griz population is great and corned grizzly tastes better than beef in beef stew.

I am not a bowhunter. I have shot 2 grizzlies DLP and I believe that meeting a mountain grizzly in the Alders with a bow in my pack would be not on my favorite to do lists. Maybe I am not as brave as others but I have bumped enough of them off of the trail and had enough nighttime visitors that I just don't have enough ninja skills to grab my bow at night and arrow 1000lbs of muscle bound brute in the dark. I guess that smart ones could carry a large handgun which is ok. I hunt solo as partners have pretty much given up on me. That is ok. Stuck with school chain for another five years and then I will hunt all forty and I will be on middle mountain for the whole duration.

Sincerely,
Thomas

ovis, Thanks, I'll take a look at that when I get there today.

Are you guys doing the unlimited thing this fall?

With all the molle webbing and extra pockets, how can that be lighter than the longbow w/NICE? Spec on the website show it's a little lighter?

I'm a big Mystery Ranch advocate and want to give my opinion on this load-lifter brouhaha.. and though I'm no "backpack expert" like many on here, I do use them often and have felt pain and pleasure with many over the last 25+ years.

90% of my backpack use is for one-day outings, sometimes 24hrs in a row, sometimes just 6hrs. but even without overnight gear, I tote around about 30 lbs of crap. There's probably 1000 packs that will feel just great with my 30lbs of crap, though they'd be of varying durability. I used to carry a small daypack, the DD Hoodoo Spire, a great and simple design. I used that a ton & packed plenty of animals out with that pack, with my gear, as small as it is - miserably. After a night packing the head and cape of a moose with it.. I decided enough of that - my pack for day trips needed to have real suspension. I switched to full-sized top-shelf, internal frame backpacks. They worked great, but were a little much for the day in, day out hunting, mostly packing 30lbs, but wonderful when it needed to ramp up in weight. For me, the NICE 6500 works for any multi-day backpacking trip, heavy going, and will comfortably carry anything - better than any I've personally tried, and it's bombproof. There are no "loadlifter" issues and it's simple to position your crap right where it needs to be. When it comes to the crewcab or longbow, you've the flexibility to unsnap an expedition bag, and snap on a 1500-2500 daypack that's flexible and convenient, albeit short. So now, there's this little cult of people that think a 1500-2500 cubic inch pack is expected to feel just like a full-sized expedition bag (that's way bigger and taller) with 100 lbs or more in it. Howso? Please show me another bag of comparable size that feels better with weights like that, is 1/2 as flexible, and allows you to drag it behind a car on asphalt for 10 miles without wearing a hole in it. When I hear comfort falls short at 50-60lbs with the crewcab or longbow... I'm thinking... COMPARED TO WHAT? I've packed a lot of heavy trips out with both bags and though 100+lbs is never lovely - what's better at that size? They're more expensive and a little heavier than other comparable packs.. but way tougher and much higher quality, which is worth it to me.

Misery, with packs that weren't stout enough..

Whole whitey in this one, early 90s..


Part of a muley in this one, late-90s, as I knew what I didn't enjoy.. but I had to walk an extra 6 miles to make the second trip. I don't have to do that now, and use a small kick-ass little pack that doesn't bog me down on day trips.

Another thing, I think people who pick a 2400 cubic inch or less bag for multi-day hunting trips are using the wrong bag. They'll work, but in my opinion, there's better choices.

I asked MR about that a week or two ago. The website is wrong. The skirtai is more than a bit heavier.

It only gets worse....
And welcome......

x

Greenhorn

I'm not sure if I am giving piss poor explanations:), but what I'm trying to convey to everyone is the fact that to have a true expedition/load hauling pack, you would need the load lifter angle.
Like I had said on the Bowsite thread, the Longbow will hold more then any other pack that I know of and will do it with more comfort, but if you are buying it for a "load hauling" only pack....You should look at the 6500 or something that is built more for that type of use.

As far as the Crew Cab...That pack is in a league of it's own. It can handle any amount of weight and the options for strapping things to it are endless. FOR ME, I would prefer to use a pack like the 6500, but if you are using it for day use (like you are talking about) then the 6500 is not a option and the CC would be a better choice.

One of the problems with the Bowsite thread, is that the total posts on the pack reviews are over 1,000 and it's hard to filter through all of the info and some only take in what they choose to or what they want to hear.