But then I go reading about these wonderful Kifaru's and thinking how nice it would be to use the dulplex or bikini frame and accessorize as needed for a do-it-all pack, although, at a much higher price.
Please help me decide which way to go. For strictly hauling a heavy load of meat, which pack frame wins out? Has anyone used both for an honest comparison?
And how is the bikini or duplex frame for day hunting?
you can't go wrong with either. There are wayyyy more kifaru fanboys than Barneys....so you will get more comments for the Kifaru- good stuff though.
A better direct comparison to the Barneys would be the MR packs.
IMO carrying two packs backpacking is not a good trade-off. The combo you are talking about is 2# heavier than a Kifaru EMR II/duplex combination, which packs down nicely as a daypack. Think about what guys will usually do (or spend) to drop 2# versus the utility of having a seperate daypack on a backpack hunt.
I bought a Barney's and it is very simply akin to a 1-ton diesel truck for strength and utility, but comfortable as any $600 pack I ever tried. My Barney's has seen tough use and I don't ever think of changing systems now. I have the X2 Estock, but replaced it with the MR Dragonslayer for day-pack and moderate load use. I have never had a better dual-pack system for serious wilderness hunts involving animal packing and heavy load-outs.
When I first got it I couldn't wait to get a load in it and get it adjusted. So I sat on the couch and had my wife climb in. Haha I walked around bouncing up and down with her in it like it was nothing. I couldn't believe it. Everything had heard about the pack was on the money. It's a true freighter.
Just look at the belt on the Barneys and compare it to the best made custom packs out there (i.e.: McHales) or even great high end packs like Arcteryx, Kifaru and you can see why i hated it. The belt has no too much padding (prevents from wrapping around the hips correctly) and the sewn seem/line in the middle of the belt horizontally, causes it to fold over with heavy loads as well the inside material doesn't fold well - it lumps. Simply put, hate the belt on the Barneys. The design is old and tired.
Kifaru is by far the most comfortable pack i have used. I do not think it is a competition to be honest.
Having said all of that, I know you will get pro Barneys guys and we are all right. you have to chose what works for you. But take a look at that belt a little closer and compare it to the best packs on the market. They are waaay under designed IMHO...
What would make the Barney's better than my Cabela's Alaskan?
If you are strictly a moose hunter, a Barney's is a good option for some but if you typically carry loads of 110 lbs or less, I will take a Kifaru every time. HANS1 said it pretty well...
My first Big Game pack was a Cabelas Alaskan Guide...Yuck...
Haul, yes. likely few better at it by reputation. But I wouldn't bowhunt with a Barneys. And I'm not traveling or packing in with two packs. Makes no sense for my needs.
Lol
Everyone I know who hunts and appreciates a good pack up here, has one. One buddy has 9 Dalls and a pile of moose, another kills moose each year and plenty of other stuff, another the same, etc... We travel in. "Packs"....
Best bud has a Barney's. never heard a man piss and moan more than when we threw 100lbs on it two days in a row via dead goats... Lol
He's getting a Kifaru.
You won't see many Alaskans with a Kifaru. Lol. Just how many ya seen there mule? Ha
Like I said I have never strapped on a Kifaru either so I can't give a comparison. But I do know guys who hated them which gets back to the point I made above.... different strokes for different folks. It comes down to fit. I love Danner boots and they make a great product. But the just don't fit me. Too narrow.
That's why pack threads are like boot threads. The answers always go back and forth... Ford, Chevy, Ford, Chevy. Just curious, have you packed a serious load with a Barneys? And if so your thoughts on that? My wife goes 130 lbs and she said the Barney's was the smoothest ride of any packs I've ever made her climb into. haha
I like Kevin's analogy: Like a 1 ton diesel truck. If you were looking for a parking spot at Wal Mart or trying to fit in a downtown parking garage you'd hate it. But if you used it for what it was made to do there would be no better choice.
There are reasons why I did not invest in a Kifaru, and I cannot comment on a Barney's.
BTW, I'm a Kifaru fan and know Patrick Smith enough to call him a friend. His packs are simply superb for 90% of hunting. I know I'm outside the normal lines in my usage and admit that. I want the absolute total rigidity of welded aluminum. I also want a thickly-padded belt and shoulder straps. I've carried heavy loads of meat all day for 2 straight days and the Barney's pads provided plenty of cushion to my hips, clavicles and shoulders. The Kifaru MMR I once owned used a trapezoidal lumbar pad which looked and felt great...until day two of heavy packing. That lumbar pad gave me a severe hotspot from the pressure point it created with 80-100# loads.
I don't see this as a competion. Get the pack which is most likely to do what you want. If you choose the wrong one (for you) it's not a disaster. I didn't die, lose anything or develop diabetes from getting it wrong with any pack. Just bring it home, sell it and get another. It's all a learning experience anyway, right?
As I mulled this over, I decided I wasn't going to find a "all purpose" pack which excelled at all aspects (Daypack, backpacking and meat hauler). I am not packing in 2 packs either. How did I reconcile? Think about how you hunt.
I went with a backpack that could be compact and work as a day/hunting pack. If you kill something, you want to be able to pack a load out. In your scenario, you would hike back to your camp to pick up meat hauler. You are assuming that you're camp is directly between kill site and truck. What if you kill closer to the vehicle? You are now left with having to fetch your meat hauler from spike camp.
Why not have meat hauler at the truck? Use your hunting pack to haul out first load, as it might be the most efficient way to get first load out. Dump the day/backpack, grab the hauler and get to work.
Choose whatever hauler you want. (Barney's, Kelty, etc) If you buy a Barney's, you know for sure it will handle more than your body. As mentioned, it is a brute designed to handle brutal loads. Buy once, cry once.
My day hunting pack needs to be able to handle first meat load. (I settled on Kifaru-Siwash) But that pack is no longer made. I am too fiscally conservative to hop on the latest greatest. No regrets.
There's no question you and I are built different. You're a lean machine. I'm built more like a fire plug, short and stout. I'm sure our preference in packs will differ.
As some have pointed out have the frame in the truck, and hunt with the Kifaru. The problem I see with that is when I go to AK I would have a hard time taking both, yeah, airlines kinda limit you ;) so maybe for a resident it would work well to have both, but a traveling hunter picking only one I would go with the more versatile (Kifaru). I'm sure the Kifaru will haul more than I can anyways. --Jim
Bottom line, there is no pack that will do everything well.
I certainly understand why folks love the Barneys, but i don't see many folks that have used both, trading in the Kifaru for the Barneys..
just my observation...
Barney’s – Pro’s • Super solid hauls big loads with no problems. • Lash about anything to the frame and really crank down without fear of tearing a fabric component. Cons • Can’t easily be used as a day pack. At least for me the hard frame is no Bueno for creeping through the timber.
Kiraru – Pro’s • American made. • Once you bite the bullet and purchase the frame, adding a different bag doesn’t seem nearly as bad. • Hauls really as much as I can handle. I seldom go much over 100-110 lbs. and it handles this weight pretty decently. • I can hunt with the bag cinched down. Cons • Damn expensive, I hate to tell people how much my pack cost. But you get what you pay for hate gear that breaks when needed most.
The problem with your plan is your using two packs for the same purpose, if I understand correctly (you end up carrying your Eberle X2 in with you?) If you go Kifaru, one pack does it all. I bought my Barney’s pretty much thinking what you’re thinking. But for my needs the Kifaru really serves both worlds well. Now the Barney comes along for when I talk some sucker into helping me pack meat, or if I am that sucker that gets talked into helping somebody else! Ha.
Hope this helps.
The difference between a Kifaru and a Barney's is night and day.
Because they are adjustable, no matter how hard I try, it takes me a trip or two with weight to get the darn thing adjusted right. And once I do, they work well. Packed out bone-in elk quarters from a massive cow last year in my Late Season. No issues whatsoever, nor hot spots. I've also packed out half an elk in a Longhunter more than once. (Average cow elk)
I have no experience with Barney's packs. And Patrick Smith is a good friend as well as an occasional hunting buddy. But if the packs weren't as good as they are, I would not be writing about them. Kifaru packs are very, very, good for hunting, and packing out game.
Open country with low brush should be good to go.
My Kifaru is made for crawling thru brush into goat country.
/8^)
I will add I am loving my Kifaru now that I’m over the sticker shock and I should also add last fall was the first season hunting with the Kifaru so while it’s got some fairly solid field time (sheep, goat and elk hunts), it’s still fairly new to me.
The one thing I did notice when packing with the Barney’s, I’d still need to have a dry bag along for the ride with water, snacks, headlamp, etc. (whatever items you’d typically keep on you in the woods, in case plans change). That’s where having the versatility of the bag comes in handy, maybe rain clouds are threatening and you want to throw in rain gear. With the pack frame it is possible to end up lashing a lot of gear to the pack, which may be a PITA if you don’t have a quick and easy system.
I'm a bit vertically challenged, but honestly the 24 even has it's moments. Not just hanging up in brush and trees, even belly crawling it's tough to lift your head and look up very much without hitting the pack. Mine is the duplex, I've heard the bikini is even worse as it has a solid bar across the top rather than the softer cord/handle on the duplex. I would imagine the 26 was worse. The 24 hauls as much or more that I want and is better as a carry on for travel as well.
I'd say call Arron and ask him... but he tried to sell me on the 26... =D Again, the 26 does probably haul better.
Got my frame used (military model MMR). Added stuff over time, most of it used as well. If you aren't in a hurry there are some good used equipment out there and save some money. But if you're a high roller like Jim said dive right on in..... =D
As far as the comment about a Kifaru not compressing down as small as a MR pack: that would be incorrect. I have use both MR and Kifaru extensively and still have MR packs in my possession. All of the larger Kifaru packs that are now offered will compress flat for day hunting.
On the subject of heavy hauling between the two, that would be personal preference, I work for Kifraru, so keep that in mind, but I'm also very good friends with Kevin and Bob up at the store. We send each other business all the time, as some guys just like a Kifaru better for hauling and others like a Barney's.
That's not to say one person is RIGHT or the other is WORNG, but more what works for each person.
I'm not sure who mentioned that you won't find many Alaskans using a Kifaru, well, I oversee all sales and we sell a fews hundred each year to the great state of Alaska and several of those are two guides.
Another thing I noticed was Kevin Dill talking about his pack not fitting. I have no doubt he's telling the truth, but you also need to keep in mind the we offer SEVERAL different stay/bend options for the frame and we also offer different thicknesses of lumbar pads. We still have guys call in with the same issue Kevin had before, but all that tells us is we will need to swap him out stays to get a different bend for his body type. So short story long, there's very few people we can't fit if you give us the chance.
So if I were you I would give me a call and Kevin up at Bob's as well. Let us talk you through each system and then you choose from there.
I noticed you asked about the Bikini or Duplex as well......Duplex for sure, and as other have mentioned, I would get a 26" Duplex.
This year I packed out 4 moose in the NWT, 1 in Idaho and 1 in Colorado. All of this was done with the same Duplex frame and I wouldn't change that for anything.
Here's my # 720-937-1418 and you can call anytime.
It is simply a single pice, over padded belt. That picture gives me nightmares of trying to get heavy loads of meat out of the back country with it riding on my a$$. I was wishing i had a j-Lo booty the entire time.
Boy, I will never do that again....
Kifaru also sells a handy lash kit that works anywhere on the pack and with their new K clips you can lash stuff anywhere!
What pack are you referring to? I have 6 connection points on the upper 3rd of all my packs (more than on my MR).
Don't want to start and argument, but I want to make sure we are looking at the same thing.
