Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Opinions on Eberlestock packs

I am looking for a pack for use in wilderness area hunts from a larger spike camp. Typically it has sparse food for one for two days and just the bare essentials, plus my rifle and ammo.

I am seriously looking at these Eberlestock packs, but would love to know your opinion of the packs and the construction.

Thanks.

http://www.eberlestock.com/

I like mine so far, and consider it very well built.

Chuck

Great pack, highly recomend it!

I'm a Kifaru fan(I have 3) but I am considering trying one of Eberlestock 105 packs after a few of my friends have raved about them. I've spoken to Glen Eberle several times on the phone and he is an A-1 good guy. I work at Sportsmans Warehouse here in Missoula and we carry a few of the Eberlestock packs. I have a good amount of experience with packs and nylon gear and the Eberlestock packs appear to be well thought out and constructed. Hope this helps,
John

This all helps a loy guys thanks!

Mine works great as well. It's really nice to have your rifle out of the way but still readilly available. Works great for hauling salmon too.

I bought a Eberlestock yesterday from work(Sportsmans Warehouse). I've been hiking all day with it and like it ALOT. I covered about 8-10 miles scouting an area out for bow season. I hiked up/down super-steep grades, though bushes and climbed a little rock cliff. I had the pack loaded with about 30lbs and a custom M70 winchester with a 20" barrel. With a little practice the rifle can be drawn out quickly and quietly and also put away with relative ease. It was too quick for a Coyote that I nailed at about 50 yards! Having your hands free is a real treat. I had no problem with either my head or feet hitting the rifle while it was in the pack. I've been using Kifaru's stuff, which is also great gear, but Glen Eberle might be on to something here....

I follow along with most of the posts here, but am not yet a serious backpacker.

What I would like to know from you, is a comparison.

Most Kifaru users will use nothing else and talk the products up to the nth degree.

If you have both, tell me or us what the F makes the Kifaru "hands down" so much better........

Really, it is only a backpack

I will make it simple, when you spend 2 weeks on foot and travel over 50 miles in rugged wilderness and you feel that the pack served you well and was comfortable, well then it is tough to find another pack to match. This is especially true when you have meat packed in and a head caped out and strapped on the top. Maybe they are not the best for everyone, but they were for him..."hands-down." My question is why people get so irritated or defensive on these sites? Hell I hate WSM RUM WSSM RSM.......but I don't piss in everyone else's pot that like them either.

The things that make one item of gear OR maker of gear really stand out among the horde of competing products are somewhat different for different folks, although comfort, quality and price are generally important to all of us. As you get, if you do, more involved/expert/dedicated to hardcore backpack hunting, alpine lake fishing or just wilderness trekking, you will develop your own set of standards for various items of equipment.....and you will talk it up as well!

On a site such as this, the participants have a wide range of both experience and activity levels and the really credible posters are quite easy to spot; guys like JimF, Brad, EdT, Ovis and Okanagan very obviously know their schitt. I think that some sound info. is available here and this can help anyone, novice or whatever, to choose gear that suits them.

I have never even seen an Eberlestock pack, so, cannot help; I finally have ENOUGH bloody packs and hope to hell that I don't ever have to buy another one.......although I WOULD buy a McHale Super Inex if I were 10-15 years younger and thus would get enough use out of it as well as what I have now.

The Kifaru thing is a bit of a cult and a group of largely friends who enjoy the Kifaru site and the generally high level of commentary and camaraderie that exists there. That site has some VERY knowledgable guys on it and is very worthwhile, IMHO. BUT, Kifaru packs are everybit as good as they are claimed to be and are one of the best choices possible for a hunting pack, I will keep and use mine until I go "tits up".

I started using Kifaru packs several years ago while I was active duty. After using various other 3-day type packs/rucks and the issue Alice/CFP-90 type packs from Eagle, London Bridge, and Blackhawk I was taken with the comfort of the Kifaru suspention/frame/belt system. In addition to this the overall construction, design, and stiching are exceptional...Kifaru packs held together better than others in the field. Another plus is they are made by hand in the USA. Most well made, best-of-the-best stuff has a "cult" following whether it's cars, guns, or backpacks.
Now that I'm back in Montana and spend my days off in the Mountains not much has changed with my pack choices. I've humped a bunch of boned out animals out of the woods in my Kifaru and they have held together with loads that would have blown the seams out of some of the other packs. I've tried a few brands and found Kifaru's stuff to fit my needs better than the rest. The Eberlestock packs are innovative and also appear to be well made. I'm going to try my new one out this season and see if it holds up.

Montana?????? And you don't own a Mystery Ranch pack??????

Ya GOTTA try one, especially the NICE Frame, it is so comfy under heavy loads that only my Kifaru Longhunter compares. I alternate them every day for conditioning walks, 40 lbs. in the Kifaru and 70 on the NICE and boy, I would have given up BEER to have had these when I was young and humped really heavy loads as part of my employment.

I gotta agree, many personal items we own, use and cherish tend to have "cult" followings, the most obvious is the P-64 Mod. 70, Oberndorf Mauser and other classic Euro. sporters such as the original Brno and FN models; as with Kifaru and Mystery Ranch gear, these are "the best of the best" to serious rifle hunters and so many of us get REAL enthusiastic (and broke!) about buying them.

I don't know anything about backpack hunting, except that it looks like a lot of work!), but Sierra Trading Post has (had?) Eberlestock Quickdraw X1 packs listed in their mid-summer 2006 catalog for $79.95. That may, or may not, be a good price, but I thought that I'd throw it out there in case anybody was looking for that pack. Stock #78227, www.sierratradingpost.com.

They also have a lot of Beretta cothing for sale.

Jeff

JJ:

I have been in various aspects of the sporting goods/outdoors recreation business my whole working life. As such, even when working in ski shops or a sales/product development guy for a ski company, I have always been "connected". But! I pay retail for Kifaru packs.........why?

The needs of a pack for big game hunting is different than other pursuits. Sure, you have to carry your camp and have the pack do a good job of supporting the load comfortably. Internals do a better job of this in rough country, but externals CAN work just fine. There are a lot of good packs out there, and depending upon fit etc. anybody can find a pack that fits well for probably less money than a Kifaru. The difference comes in details that are thought out by a hunter.

Personally and of course YMMV but.................

Patrick Smith knows his way around pack suspension. He has won "Backpacker" design awards for his former company Mountainsmith at least twice that I know of. His suspensions are at least as good as any I have tried and I much prefer his concept of a very wide, thinly padded waist belt over the narrower but very thickly padded designs.

The gunbearer system is to me superior to the back scabbard rifle carry set up. I rigged up a backscabbard for the old CT freighter set up that I carried goat hunting in AK in the 70's. I used it one trip then got rid of it. The rifle butt was always snagging on something. The GB is just "right"

When game is down you have to do something with your camp. I like the function of the "camp chair" (which is really a fold out cargo shelf. I place boned out meat in the pack bag, then pack the light but bulky camp items bag, pad, clothes, shelter etc. on the shelf. This keeps the load narrow.

Other details like converting the top pouch into a butt pack and good accessory pocket options make good sense.

So............why are Kifaru users so dedicated?? I think it comes down to function. When you find something that really works and solves problems for you, you stick with it.

Are Kifaru packs the best?? I can't say, because I have not used ALLLLL the other good ones. But they do work exceptionally well, are durable, and solve problems that only hunters have. That's why I'm a dedicated user.

JimF

I've had the Kifaru LH and Eberlestock 105. Technically they are not in the same performance class even though they are in the same weight class. A better comparison would be between the 105 and a Kifaru medium-sized pack, in terms of size and load capacity.

The LH rises above the shoulders and has shoulder lifter straps that pull the shoulder straps off of the shoulder. This is a big advantage with heavy loads or long hikes. The disadvantage is the high pack catches on brush.

I've noticed that heavy loads transfer more weight to the shoulders on the 105. With a Kifaru medium sized pack this may be true also but I wonder if the belt/frame connection of the Kifaru is more solid whereas the 105 gives-way more, being more "loose", and so the heavy pack moves down more before reaching the limit of the waist belt connection.

As mentioned, the Kifaru utilizes a thinner belt that contours to the hips and sticks to the body. The 105 is thicker and stiffer and needs breaking-in.

The Eberlestock 105 has a significant compartment between the frame and the main compartment. This moves the weight in the main compartment away from the body which could be a bit of a disadvantage, again, with heavy loads or long hikes. With this compartment empty the heavy load would compress closer to the frame and body.

The Kifaru systems are simpler in terms of compartments....basically there are none so they are very efficient in terms of space and weight. The 105 has many compartments which means more material for separation, more zippers, etc.. If you need compartmentalization with the Kifaru then you use separate pouches to separate and organize gear so you are then adding material, zippers, etc.

As a bowhunter I needed a quiet pack. I found the Kifaru LH to be too noisy, whether the pack bag was on or off of the frame. The pack material is tough cordura but noisy. With the pack bag removed the frame is exposed which is heavy, stiff plastic, again noisy. The 105 is more quiet with its soft material and I have to admit that I fell for the cool camo look which probably is not necessary.

The LH bag can be removed leaving the frame to be used for hauling or for day use with the main bag top pouch reattached to the frame as a day bag. This all works great. I found myself tying on more bags for more cu.in. capacity for spotting scopes, survival kit, food, water, etc.. The 105 does not have a removable bag but instead transforms from a big day pack to a full sized backpack so you have all the capacity in day-mode, maybe too much....I find it just right for my needs.

The 105 will not carry the same weight as the Kifaru LH, period, but neither will the medium sized Kifaru packs.
There's a significant price difference between the LH and 105, not so much with the medium Kifaru's. In comparing the 105 to the medium Kifaru's I would forget price and I would consider them all to carry weight with similar comfort. With the Kifaru's the noise would be less of an issue than with the LH so the comparison comes down to the looks (camo), compartments, quality, and customer service. Pretty close match, really.

I'll chime in on this one since I have both the Kifaru LH and the "Just One". I used the Kifaru on my backpack sheep hunt in AK last year and it did a great job. I'm not a full time backpacker, but this back carried a full, heavy, wet load for me with very little discomfort. The pack carries heavy weight very well and if I had to go on another "backpack" hunt, that would be the pack I would take. The rifle bearer worked very well in most areas. I was really suprised how well it went through the thick alders without getting hung up. The only problem I had with it was when we were rock climbing. When I had to start using my hands to climb, the rifle got in the way big-time. I had to attach it to the pack for serious climbing. The biggest complaint (only complaint) I have with the Kifaru is its lack of pockets to organize your gear. That's not a huge deal, but for a "hunting" pack I like to have certain things in its own spot and that led to me get the Eberlestock pack. I consider the Eberlestock as the ultimate "hunting" day pack. It has lots of pockets for tripod, scope, LRF, maps, snacks and such, but it also can open up to easily carry out a quarter or more of meat. I don't know how well the Eberlestock would carry heavy weight for long distances, but for a western, day hunting pack it is really nice.

I hope this helps some.

I have two Eberlestock packs, the 105 Just One and the Slingshot. I am mainly a bowhunter and like the quiet fabric and the camo pattern. The slingshot is a great little pack that is comfortable and will hold a bow or rifle and plenty of other items. I bought the 105 for elk hunting this year so I could carry out meat. As such I haven't used it yet. I will say they are very well made packs and the workmanship is quality. I also like all the well thought out pockets and features. I was considering a NICE pack frame and crew cab bag but it was more $ than I could swing with the rest of the items I need to buy. With two young boys there will be time for me to upgrade in the future.

I just got back from another day of scouting and hiking using the Eberlestock. Doc's right, I like the compartments and quietness of the Eberlestock over the Kifaru. As for hauling out meat I'd go with the Kifaru as a first choice but it is nice to have the explanding-pack option with the Eberlestock. I was packing a spotting scope and tripod with the Eberlestock J105 today and it worked very well for this purpose.

Kutenay: I've thought about the Mystery Ranch packs and have drooled uncontrolably over a Mystery Ranch BDSB (Big D's Special Blend)pack my buddy got from uncle sam but I have a Kifaru EMR that works very well. I'm a recovering gear-junky and I'm trying to break the habit.

I have the BDSB, waited for months to get mine, have a Kifaru Combat Gunbearer fitted to it plus the Fliptop Pocket and a set of Longpockets; this is an absolutely superb, heavy duty, longtrip pack and I expect mine to outlive me!

I only buy what gear I can/do actually use, but, being retired, I use one of my packs almost every day and firmly believe in getting the best available. For me, that's MR and Kifaru, even though neither is inexpensive and I would happily carry an EMR. I find that your VISA bill REALLY helps in "gear-junky recovery"!

Wow!!! If my 'puter was faster I could copy the quotes and make points, but I think something got misconstrued. All I did was type an F. It's my normal speak, and had we all been sitting around the campfire in person, I would have actually said it. The only one getting irritated is you. I simply was asking a question as I know several people here have the LH pack.

Kute may have said it better, in a "cult following". My interpretation may be more like the owners are never short on telling non Kifaru people how great their stuff is. Many use "hands down", which I do not find offensive.

I read the Kifaru board as well, but never type as those guys are very serious.

In my reading, I do not recall anyone stating that they had both packs and was anxious for a real test between the 2, which it looks like is coming to fruition.

This will get way off topic, but I cannot afford the best of everything. A $1000 tent, a $500 stove, and a $500 pack is too much for me.

I have the 105, and like it for it's only trip out. Should I get the opportunity to use a Kifaru product some day, maybe I will change my tune, maybe I will say they are hands down the best hunting pack I ever used. Who knows.