3-5 night pack

[Wireman07]

How many cubic inch pack would I need for a 3-5 five night hunt. Thanks!

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

The standard for 3-5 night is 50-80 liters which roughly translates to 3000-5000 cubic inches.

But individual needs, temperature, water availability, etc all come into play.

 

[Geewhiz]

The standard for 3-5 night is 50-80 liters which roughly translates to 3000-5000 cubic inches.

But individual needs, temperature, water availability, etc all come into play.

I concur

 

[TaperPin]

The size also depends on the design. A good quality tall internal frame pack in the 7,000 ci range works great for weekend or two week fishing trips, but it makes a poor day pack for hunting. However, for a pure hunting pack, one with a beefy suspension made for a lot of weight, combined with a relatively short frame and bag in the 4000 ci range is hard to beat. A lot of stuff won’t fit inside so you’ll have a number of things strapped to the sides, back and top on long trips, but it’s good for day use and packing meat.

Essentially my pack contents stay the same, only the size of the food bag changes for different length trips. Long skinny food bags that look like tent bags, strap to the sides or top of a pack well, and are an easy size to pull up in a tree at night.

3,000 ci packs are popular for day hunting, but you’d have to have a down bag, go light on everything and still strap a lot of stuff on the outside. Every time I’m with someone with a pack less than 4,000 ci they always want to put some of their gear in my pack because they ran out of room. Lol

One thing is for sure, after your first trip out with a new pack you’ll know if it’s too big or too small!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Setting all else aside, the big difference in 3 or 5 days is food and fuel, IMO. I have made 40-50 liter packs work for longer trips but you may need to be creative about food Storage. For me, I prefer to have everything possible in the pack bag so I tend to grab a bigger pack and shrink / tuck it as I devour the contents.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

The standard for 3-5 night is 50-80 liters which roughly translates to 3000-5000 cubic inches.

But individual needs, temperature, water availability, etc all come into play.

I tend to agree. But, to always be on the safe side, I run with a minimum of 5,500 cubic inches, just in case.

 

[Bcoonce117]

I’ve never complained about having too big of a pack. On a successful hunt with a big bag, you have room for all your gear, and the animal in your bag. All the bags they make these days are made to compress down into day mode.

 

[bozeman]

3,600 ci.....

 

[Drenalin]

I used a 3600 on my last 3-day trip, and had room for two more days of food. That was a winter trip for fun, so I had some bulky, warm clothing in the pack, along with a short axe.

The first 3-day hunting trip I did, I filled up a 4800 CI pack. So it really depends on your gear and experience. I don't subscribe to the bigger is always better theory at all, but it's certainly preferable to have too much bag versus not enough.

 

[Dos Perros]

The thing that takes up the most volume is your sleeping bag. A 20 degree down quilt occupies maybe a third of the volume of a 0 degree synthetic bag.

 

[Bcoonce117]

I forgot to mention that if you need to load up camp in a hurry it’s nice to have a big bag that way you don’t have to worry about how to pack it in. And also I don’t like to store my sleeping bag in a stuff sack. I put it in my bag loose and stuff gear around it. Don’t get me wrong. I hunt with a 4400cubic inch pack regularly. Was just throwing it out that if you could only have 1 pack, a large pack is good most of the time

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I forgot to mention that if you need to load up camp in a hurry it’s nice to have a big bag that way you don’t have to worry about how to pack it in ..... Don’t get me wrong. I hunt with a 4400cubic inch pack regularly. Was just throwing it out that if you could only have 1 pack, a large pack is good most of the time

Adhere to this philosophy /\ /\ /\ /\ and you'll never be wrong, ever. Those are some of the very same reasons why I always run with packs that are 5,500 to 7,500 cubic inches for overnight jaunts.

 

[CobraChicken]

I prefer a top loader (personal preference, I don't like a million zippers and buckles).

I run a gnargali and it's 5000 cu in roughly. Zips down to nothing for day trips and expands very well for extended stays. I've never been in a situation where I thought "I wish I had a smaller bag".

Plus these new pack companies make so many external attachments one could buy a smaller pack and push alot more cu in if needed.

 

[Wireman07]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Schoolhousegrizz]

6000

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I prefer a top loader (personal preference, I don't like a million zippers and buckles).

Me too. I hate that.

 

[GunsAreFun]

It depends on how dialed in your gear is.

Don’t mean for this to come off wrong, but generally speaking, someone that asks a question like this has very little backpacking experience and does NOT have a dialed in gear list. With that being said, I’d start with 6000-7000 cu in.

Someone that has invested in good gear and learned what they can leave at home, could do 5 days in 3000 cu in or even less. For me, 4000 is the sweet spot.

 

[Wireman07]

It depends on how dialed in your gear is.

Don’t mean for this to come off wrong, but generally speaking, someone that asks a question like this has very little backpacking experience and does NOT have a dialed in gear list. With that being said, I’d start with 6000-7000 cu in.

Someone that has invested in good gear and learned what they can leave at home, could do 5 days in 3000 cu in or even less. For me, 4000 is the sweet spot.

I don't have any backpacking experience lol. You don't really have to get to involved with backpack hunting here in South Dakota, mostly just day hunting. But I'm looking to hunt the haul road in alaska in the next year or 2 and plan on walking in 5 miles to the rifle only corridor. Thanks for the input!

 

[2muchhp]

I just did 5 days on Isle Royale here in MI with a kuiu 2300 and a 500 stalker snapped to the back. Food went in the meat shelf, one small bag strapped to the bottom. It worked okay but it would have worked better with a bit larger pack. We camped in a different location every night. It was a bit of a pia getting everything just right for the next trek.

 

[Poser]

3,000-5,000.