Has anyone had a chance to compare these packs head to head?

No, but the Crew Cab that I bought from MR made me donate my Eberlestock to my favorite charity (my broke ass brother)

Hands down the most comfortable pack I've ever owned

I don't have a spike camp but I have a late season and did have a NICE frame that the guys at MR fitted for me when I picked it up(my older son has now claimed it). The LS is a very comfortable pack up to 40 lbs for me. I can easily go beyond that with the NF. The NF belt doesn't slide down over my hips with heavier loads. As mentioned many times before, all depends on how the pack fits.

I answered you on the bowsite, but what Rockhopper said was my almost identicle experience and the frame is below your shoulders making it almost impossible to get the load on your waiste. Huge weight difference as well. My aviator I am wearing the CC.

Rockhopper,hunting1,I am leaning toward the MR LB. Thanks for the input.

I've tried on a few packs, and actually have waaay too many right now (need to have a big sale). There are several load haulers out there that are comfortable, but the NICE frame feels like a Porsche seat on my back, and most others feel like the bench seat in a school bus; the trade off is the increased weight.
To answer the question, I've had a spike camp and it's a great pack, and I haven't looked at the weights, but am guessing that it weighs half the long bow with NICE.
Don

Since the current Kifaru Spike Camps use the same basic load bearing design as their Late Season's, I can tell you that both will handle well over 40 lbs. for me. They are the only soft designs that I've found to be both comfortable and stable with loads over 40 lbs. That includes off trail and moving through heavy cover.
What impresses me about them is how well they lock into place and stay put when under load throughout the day. If I go for another, larger pack, it will be their Siwash. E

The Siwash is awsome! I have carried 90-100 lbs with my spike before selling it. I only sold it due to I have a Late Season as well. They are the best money I have ever spent!

Cant say on the Kifaru as I have never used one but the longbow is SWEET! Its a very simple pack that was well thought out. It has exactly what you need nothing more and nothing less. I swapped it out for my crew cab and will be using it all this year for hunting. Just from messing around with it I think it is going to be my primary bag.

It weighs 6.5 pounds with my kifaru gun bearer and nice pockets.

How will you handle your packing duites with the long bow? I'm totally digging mine, but I've yet to figure out how to deal with a moose quarter or elk quarter with it. What are your thoughts?

Just un zip it, stuff the quarter in it and secure with the out side straps. That would be for a large moose or elk quarter. Any thing smaller just dont zip the top and slide it right in.

Yeah tht'll work, but then I gotta deal with my sleeping bag bivy stove etc, I'm leaning toward a loadsling and cacheing the bag for packing meat, or possibly even unslipping the top fro the frame so I can pack in that space like a crew cab, just for the walk out with a big quarter- I think that might work with a couple extra straps.

You could do the load sling and carry the bag back later. I thought about doing that but it kinda defeats the purpose of the longbow for me. I dont know how much gear you would take for a 1 or 2 day trip but you could put the quarter on the outside of the pack. I would run the straps up from the bottom of the NICE frame in a "X" across the quarter then take a top strap around the top of the quarter.

I'm hoping to stretch that little bag for 3-4 day trips. On moose trips which for me are only one day it'll be perfect like you said unzip it and strap the quarter down, and me and my buddy pack out meat in rotation while one guy cuts the other packs, then switch.
Even on longer 3-4 day trips it'll do great, as I bring a pretty minimal kit early in the season, I'll be playing wiht straps I'm sure. THis year I'll miss all the hunting except whittails at my parents house in North Ga, but I'll be carryin one of those off the mountain in it, which'll be a good shakedown, and let me play with the options. I can't wait. maybe post season we'll compare notes!

I'd bone out the meat and leave the bone where he fell. Much easier to pack out. E

175,
Maybe we'll run into each other whitetail hunting in North Georgia. I'll be the other guy with a Longbow trying it out (mine's in Foliage). I'm sure, as E said, that a boned out whitetail and a minimal camping kit would fit nicely. I'm packing my NICE 6500 for a sheep trip in about 5 weeks. Isn't backpack hunting great! It's hard in Georgia to find a peaceful spot to hunt, but I find that if you get a good topo map and go where there are no roads/trails, and the little lines on the map are REALLY close together, you might be out of earshot of the next guy (thick rhododendrons/laurel help, too). Even with those considerations, sometimes I get all set up in a pretty place, patting myself on the back for finding solace, and here comes a local guy that's been hunting there his whole life (but that's usually a guy that's nice to have around). I try and not crash his party.
Don

If I were going to be packing out meat with the Spike I would add a cargo chair. You can also put a Large rear pod and side pods which gives you alot more CuIn.

Another nice thing that I found out about my spike campe pack is that it fits almost perfectly in the overhead on most planes, fully packed.

Longbow has been airline tested on over a dozen flights.... it's always passed for carry on and I haven't found a overhead bin it can't live in yet! Even puddle jumpers. But it definitely works best on Float Planes in Canada/Alaska... hopefully when you're getting dropped off for your hunt!

My Kifaru Spike Camp will be here tomorrow - I am fired up to check this bad boy out!!!