A mate and I have been trying to catch up for quiet a while now to give these frames and a couple of different bags a thorough going over in the way we use them.
BennyM arrived up here in the ranges on Sunday evening, ready for a good chin wag and a Monday morning Red deer hunt. There is some decent pasture close by that a few different mobs of velvet stags have been visiting sustaining themselves during the growing period. I have watched these animals over the last couple of years and there trophy potential is low, so best to roll them for meat and let a few stags with better genetics move in.
The owner was visiting for the long weekend and had a dozer in cutting a firebreak, so things were not real quiet up there and unfortunately for us, no deer were sighted. So after a good stretch of the legs and sharing the same hunting load back and forth, a Duplex frame, HPG harness and TT daypack, we topped out back near the vehicle, sat in the shade and ran the Swaro's over the surrounding countryside, before heading home for breakfast.
After breakfast Benny broke out the custom made sandbags and we loaded up the 6500 and Duplex frame with Cargo Panel. The morning before, another hunting mate and I had cracked 2 Dingo pups in a gully not too far from the house http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?10971-Dingo-Hunt , so we headed in that direction for our first walk, crossing a couple of ridges and gullies along the way. I really like the 6500 and carried it first up, changing out when we turned for home. When I took the MR off, my shoulders were feeling a bit of the weight, so we made sure I had the Nice harness adjusted correctly, and yeah, it virtually was correct. I then shouldered the DCP with the HPG harness, clipping the waist belt up and we headed off back to the house. Topping out at the road I told Benny how much more comfortable I thought the DCP was, especially after taking it off, with zero shoulder fatigue. Again at my gateway, we readjusted the NICE and I put it back on to see if there was any difference for the short stroll down to the house, it was minimal. I honestly have to say here, that the Kifaru waistbelt is a great design, coupled with the Duplex frame it was probably as comfortable as a heavy load on your back could be. The HPG harness was a deal clincher here as well, very comfortable again, not saying Kifaru's harness isn't though.
The temp being in the nineties, we headed inside for the airconditioning and a much needed drink of water. Once we had rested up and cooled down, we unloaded these 2 setups and threw a Bikini frame on a DT3 and Duplex on a DT2 and set of for another little hill walk. I live on the side of a mountain range, so whichever direction you go, at some stage you have to go uphill. I shouldered the BT3 first up. Know I have been very sceptical of these frames since I first seen them, how my thoughts were proven incorrect, it was very comfortable. Our main concern was if there would be a barrelling effect, so obviously we tried to get it happening. I guess it can/will do it, but I didn't find it an issue. I changed out early in the walk for the DT2 and HPG harness, then conned Benny into giving me the BT3 back. Lol Pretty impressed with it.
I think the Duplex may carry the real heavy loads a bit better though.
I am a fan of the MR design, it really is a bullet proof setup, but in all honesty, comfort levels won absolutely hands down to the Kifaru systems.
This is the part that I am reluctant to get into, but it is end user feedback I guess.
The Kifaru frames imo were not finished off to as high a standard as the other packs we had available. Benny has a G1 EMR, and it was off a standard one would expect from a top dollar pack though. The main reason I have held off for so long on K packs is when you look at an image of the lumbar pad, the non slip patch, never looks consistently sewn on, this may sound picky, but for me, quality control like this is important, especially for the fact I live in Aust. and there is no distributor here, if I had any issues, warranty claims would have to go back to the States. All in all, I just thought stitching consistency on the Duplex could have been better. There may be a perfectly good explanation for this however, what with sewing through frame sheets, etc. I have been involved in a bit of Mil gear design and worked side by side with professional sewers whose skills were first class, their hand made gear was always perfect. This issue is by no means meant to stir any controversy, just a bit of feedback, that if it was addressed, Kifaru gear, imho, would have no peer.
BennyM and I both have military backgrounds that involved spending plenty of time under horrible loads with generally sub standard packs, so we both learnt how to improvise for any little bit of pack comfort we could get. The consensus between the 2 of us, was nothing comes close to K with comfort. It is one thing to put a pack on with nothing in it and think it is comfortable and another to totally bomb it up and hit the hills.
To get a true indication of comfort we thought it paramount to be able to change out into different makes and models one after the other in the bush as all makes and models will put pressure on the body in different spots and in a scenario such as this you soon find out what is the most comfortable.
All in all for myself I found the Bikini the most comfortable along with the Duplex and HPG harness with the Cargo Panel.
Did I mention that waistbelt...firstclass.
A great day out on the hill, cheers Benny.
Adjusting the HPG harness.
I had the Bikini on here, put a bit of weight on the shoulder straps just to see how it and I handled on the climb out, still comfortable.
A collection of what we had available.
A bit of fun.
BennyM arrived up here in the ranges on Sunday evening, ready for a good chin wag and a Monday morning Red deer hunt. There is some decent pasture close by that a few different mobs of velvet stags have been visiting sustaining themselves during the growing period. I have watched these animals over the last couple of years and there trophy potential is low, so best to roll them for meat and let a few stags with better genetics move in.
The owner was visiting for the long weekend and had a dozer in cutting a firebreak, so things were not real quiet up there and unfortunately for us, no deer were sighted. So after a good stretch of the legs and sharing the same hunting load back and forth, a Duplex frame, HPG harness and TT daypack, we topped out back near the vehicle, sat in the shade and ran the Swaro's over the surrounding countryside, before heading home for breakfast.
After breakfast Benny broke out the custom made sandbags and we loaded up the 6500 and Duplex frame with Cargo Panel. The morning before, another hunting mate and I had cracked 2 Dingo pups in a gully not too far from the house http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?10971-Dingo-Hunt , so we headed in that direction for our first walk, crossing a couple of ridges and gullies along the way. I really like the 6500 and carried it first up, changing out when we turned for home. When I took the MR off, my shoulders were feeling a bit of the weight, so we made sure I had the Nice harness adjusted correctly, and yeah, it virtually was correct. I then shouldered the DCP with the HPG harness, clipping the waist belt up and we headed off back to the house. Topping out at the road I told Benny how much more comfortable I thought the DCP was, especially after taking it off, with zero shoulder fatigue. Again at my gateway, we readjusted the NICE and I put it back on to see if there was any difference for the short stroll down to the house, it was minimal. I honestly have to say here, that the Kifaru waistbelt is a great design, coupled with the Duplex frame it was probably as comfortable as a heavy load on your back could be. The HPG harness was a deal clincher here as well, very comfortable again, not saying Kifaru's harness isn't though.
The temp being in the nineties, we headed inside for the airconditioning and a much needed drink of water. Once we had rested up and cooled down, we unloaded these 2 setups and threw a Bikini frame on a DT3 and Duplex on a DT2 and set of for another little hill walk. I live on the side of a mountain range, so whichever direction you go, at some stage you have to go uphill. I shouldered the BT3 first up. Know I have been very sceptical of these frames since I first seen them, how my thoughts were proven incorrect, it was very comfortable. Our main concern was if there would be a barrelling effect, so obviously we tried to get it happening. I guess it can/will do it, but I didn't find it an issue. I changed out early in the walk for the DT2 and HPG harness, then conned Benny into giving me the BT3 back. Lol Pretty impressed with it.
I think the Duplex may carry the real heavy loads a bit better though.
I am a fan of the MR design, it really is a bullet proof setup, but in all honesty, comfort levels won absolutely hands down to the Kifaru systems.
This is the part that I am reluctant to get into, but it is end user feedback I guess.
The Kifaru frames imo were not finished off to as high a standard as the other packs we had available. Benny has a G1 EMR, and it was off a standard one would expect from a top dollar pack though. The main reason I have held off for so long on K packs is when you look at an image of the lumbar pad, the non slip patch, never looks consistently sewn on, this may sound picky, but for me, quality control like this is important, especially for the fact I live in Aust. and there is no distributor here, if I had any issues, warranty claims would have to go back to the States. All in all, I just thought stitching consistency on the Duplex could have been better. There may be a perfectly good explanation for this however, what with sewing through frame sheets, etc. I have been involved in a bit of Mil gear design and worked side by side with professional sewers whose skills were first class, their hand made gear was always perfect. This issue is by no means meant to stir any controversy, just a bit of feedback, that if it was addressed, Kifaru gear, imho, would have no peer.
BennyM and I both have military backgrounds that involved spending plenty of time under horrible loads with generally sub standard packs, so we both learnt how to improvise for any little bit of pack comfort we could get. The consensus between the 2 of us, was nothing comes close to K with comfort. It is one thing to put a pack on with nothing in it and think it is comfortable and another to totally bomb it up and hit the hills.
To get a true indication of comfort we thought it paramount to be able to change out into different makes and models one after the other in the bush as all makes and models will put pressure on the body in different spots and in a scenario such as this you soon find out what is the most comfortable.
All in all for myself I found the Bikini the most comfortable along with the Duplex and HPG harness with the Cargo Panel.
Did I mention that waistbelt...firstclass.
A great day out on the hill, cheers Benny.
Adjusting the HPG harness.
I had the Bikini on here, put a bit of weight on the shoulder straps just to see how it and I handled on the climb out, still comfortable.
A collection of what we had available.
A bit of fun.
