4.5 mile hump today with 74 lbs, with my Kifaru Timberline internal,

The last stretch my quads and hips were really sending the surrender signals……….

Generally speaking, do you believe a Barneys External frame would be a better choice for this task?

In about 7 weeks, headed out and looking like I’ll be walking in about 10 miles with a full pack, figure 70ish lbs, maybe more maybe less.

Love my Timberline2, but today raised questions.

Jesuz man, you are either a beast or a glutton.
Is there meat coming out?

Nothing is going to change the 75 pounds.
Can you drop some weight?

For loads that size I’ve used a Barney’s, an astraplane, and my current SG guide. They all suck after a while.

I didn’t find the Barney’s to be appreciably better for the load carrying, but it definitely was better for bulky crap. It was also less fun going through alders.

I’m no beast, Nor glutton by definition…….

Smart doesn’t seem to apply here either..LOL….

I’m trying to drop weight, still don’t know the actual weight I’ll be carrying,

Will there be meat coming out? I sure has hell hope so!

For me, at 70ish I'd much prefer an internal. The barneys moves weight away from the cog and for some reason gives me dead leg. I have to pop the belt to get blood flow back, which of course means your shoulders will be bruised to hell.

Haven't had that issue with the sg packs. If that is what you are experiencing with the kifaru, i would play with belt tightness and test some other packs with the same load. I still use the barneys pack a fair bit for heavy but for short meat hauling when not in the alders. They are way easier to tie random loads like a sheep or moose head too.

Interesting, I did really have that waist belt cranked tight, maybe too tight.

I hope to get down to 60 lbs or under for the pack in,

The pack out, time will tell…………….

Some of the internal frame packs are quite comfortable when packed correctly but when it comes to hauling game out I need a external frame with a meat shelf.

Having been carrying heavy packs for well over half a century I still prefer a good frame pack, like the excellent Kelty design the Barney's and Camptrails copied.
In certain condition like heavy brush or steep mountains frameless packs do have some advantages

I've used a couple of each style for backpacking/camping but not hauling meat. The only one I have presently has an internal frame. However, I think an external frame pack is more versatile.

Having used both types of frames, I much prefer an external frame with a load shelf when it comes to packing meat out of the bush.

The stone glaciers have a meat shelf that works really well for an internal frame option.

I prefer internal frames 100%.

External frame packs are my preference but they all feel best when they are sitting on the ground in camp! GD

If I were still sheep hunting, I'd be using my internal but for packing moose meat and bear hides, I'll stick with an external.

A stout external frame with the bag removed. When I approached my first elk it was vividly clear a full quarter would not fit in the bag. Moose even more so. Bag's still out in the wilderness somewhere.

Mesh across the back to bolster evaporation. Add about 15 to 20 ft of line and any conceivable load can be lashed on. Lash load as low as possible and configure so one's hips carry the bulk of the weight. The load must be tight with no swaying movements. Shoulder straps are mostly to facilitate balance. A shelf, unless it folds out of the way, greatly reduces their utility.

It's on my back for every big sky hunt reducing the need for a trip back to camp to retrieve things should one get lucky. Lunch, water, and survival gear are rolled into a raincoat and tied on for my daily outings.

If I have a heavy load to carry I want an external frame.

I see brush a different way I guess. Not quite sure how to explain this best. I do see that the internal goes through brush easier. However, if there's that much brush, it is also tangling up my feet / legs. When that happens, my chances of cramping up .. hamstrings, quads, calves .. goes way up. In that situation, the improvement in sheer weight management for the external outweighs the slip-though-brush advantage of the internal. For me.

Best thing you can do overall is cut some weight. The only time I ever packed in 75 pounds was for an overnighter and there was a substantial weight in beer involved.

I covered many miles carrying a Kelty Tioga, back in the 1970's. Never found it wanting.

Is the terrain rough? If so I would look harder at the internal frame as it keeps the load closer to you shifting the center of gravity less. The change in COG has little impact if the going is good and it that case I would prefer a external frame as I think they carry the load better.

Brooks range AK, which for the most part wouldn’t generally be considered ‘rough’…..

I've tried numerous top-tier internal frame packs and been happy with them all, for modest loads. I've yet to find one that is preferable for a 1+ mile pack with loads approaching 100 pounds. I normally pack brown bear hides/moose quarters and though I continue to experiment with internals, Barney's remains my choice.

For me it depends on the hunt, but for all my backpack hunts I use an internal frame pack. For the last 8 years that has been various Stone Glacier frames/bags, prior to that I was using Kifaru packs but the SG just seem to fit me better. Plus, they're super light wt. which is a good place to start when you are trying to lighten your "packing in" load.