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Guys, I don't post much here, but lurk everyday.
I'm looking for a compressible pack that would double for back country fly fishing and hunting (bow or rifle). I'd like to be able to do two night to 5 night stays.
What would y'all recommend?
Many good packs out there, Kifaru has the best. Exo are cheaper. Stone Glacier can expand quite a bit.
I have an Exo 3500 and have used it in Colorado on 7 day backcountry spike hunts and here in the NY Adirondacks on day trip whitetail hunts. My only complaint is that the material on the bag is kind of noisy. I don’t have any first hand experience with Kifaru, Kuiu, stone Glacier or mystery ranch.
Josh
Kota-man has done some good reviews.
You will get a lot of the same suggestion - "buy once cry once".
Then, you will get advice from what experience people have, often limited which will amount to one or two different brands.
My recommendation is, if possible, try as many as you can. They will all do similar functions, but most will fit a little different and will carry heavier loads different. There are also no truly custom made packs in the price range most can afford. They will come in three waste belt sizes and a couple of stay sizes and make.
My suggestion is to identify what your heaviest load may be and how often you will wear it with a medium to medium-light load first. No need to buy a $750 dollar get up if a $250 will serve it's purpose.
I have one Stone Glacier and one Eberlestock, each used for it's own need. The Stone for extended stay and bloody meat transport and the other for limited stay/day use.
For what you have described it is going to be a frame pack. From there start research and buy the one that you think will work best. For me that's going to be a Kifaru
Based on nothing more than online research thus far, I'm eyeing the Kifaru Fulcrum.
My choice would a Kifaru frame couple with a bag to meet whatever your needs are.
If you want complete custom look at McHale's.
Kifaru is coming out with a new frame soon, either wait for it or buy a used hunter frame from somebody else that bought the new frame.
Bowboy makes a great recommendation for your intended uses. I love my SG 5900. Kifaru new frame is also very nice. If you go the Kifaru route, the new frame with the Mountain Warrior would work great as well.
I have a Fulcrum and IMO it would be a bit “overkill” for 2 to 5 days, but it would work. I use mine for extended hunts where I need a beast of a pack. The big plus with the Fulcrum is that you don’t have to worry about where you’re going to pack an animal if you plan on killing!
Kifaru works great for me! I use it for everything from turkeys to Alaska dall sheep to Wyoming antelope. The frame is capable of 100 lb loads and you can purchase a variety of different bags and attachments to meet your needs. If you are crunched for money they usually have several for sale on the Rokslide classified section, ebay, or craigslist. I bought mine almost new for about 1/2 price. If I wouldn't have bought Kifaru I would have bought Stone Glacier. Both have rave reviews.
MR Pintler or metcalf on a guild lite frame.
My advise is to lay out all the gear you would want to take and really think about how accessible you would like it to be.
My pack has three small pockets on the outside, but just one main compartment that is not all that accessible. For camping, it works great, but when hunting I need better access to the large compartment. I find myself having to unpack the entire main compartment to be able to get things out in an orderly manner.
That being said, it works, it wasn't expensive, and it's comfortable to carry.
I would recommend SeekOutside packs. They are right there in quality and function as Kifaru , Seekoutside just isn't as well known. I have used Mystery Ranch, Kifaru, Kuiu , Badlands, Eberlestock and Horn Hutner full curl. SeekOutside has performed as well or better than the others and fits me much better.
So I have tried every pack on that I can find... I live very close to to 6 different retailers that sell just about every pack made, and I can't find one that is better then my Full Curl Horn Hunter. I can add packs to it, or make it smaller and the weight is about the same when all things are said and done. It just fits me right, and that is what really matters! Look at and order several different packs. Your body will tell you which one is right. I hated the Kuiu and Kifaru packs and the Sitka packs aren't even close to being good, at least for me... I think badlands sucks, and so does the rest of the "mid line" packs. BUT, they may work for you. Just get a few of them and figure out what works for you and your style of hunting!
Good Luck!
exo 3500 I might go to the 5500 it compresses to nearly the same size as the 3500
Take a look at the Eberlestock Just One. I've never used the scabbard for a gun but it work's great for hiking poles,fishing poles and tent poles. The center mesh panel opens up for more gear and is perfect for carrying waders. You can add a camp duffel and carry more.
If you are going to hunt elk sized game you want a pack frame capable of handling 100 lb loads. A lot depends upon your particular use. The 100 lb frames similar to Kifaru and Stone Glacier are getting lighter and lighter. I use my pack for hauling camp, life-sized capes, meat, turkey decoys, antler shed....you name it on multi-day trips. I would much rather have a bag that is oversized and compresses than an undersized bag that I have problems with hefty, bulky loads. My preference are bags that can handle at least 5,000 cu in of gear. I have another day pack I often use for easy day trips where I want to be super light and compact.
The nice thing about Kifaru is you can change out bags and add lids, pockets, etc to fit your particular needs.
My reckoning at roughly 3000ci.
My reckoning at roughly 3000ci.
Expand snow collar and compression to get over 5000 ci.
Expand snow collar and compression to get over 5000 ci.
I recently bought a Kifaru Reckoning and really like it. When it came it was essentially compressed against the frame. I will mostly run it around 3-4000 ci but as I’m running it, it could easily be 5000ci. Add a lid and various pouches and you can get well over 7000 ci. As others have mentioned you can get the frame and a bag for each application. I might pick up the Kifaru Apollo bag for when I’m hunting units where I know I likely won’t be further than a half mile away from the truck. Yes Kifaru is expensive but when looking at Kifaru, SG, and Exo they are all expensive. A lot of people like MR and Eberlestock and they are propbably fine packs. They way I look at it I’ll likely have this pack for 20 years and the quality is there for that to be a reasonable expectation.
