RhinoKel
FNG
Hi ladies and gents,
Looking for advice on the best Kifaru backpack for my personal use case.
Australian hunter here. Generally my hunts are 1 day, day-pack hunts in my home state of South Australia, generally for Fallow Deer. The properties I have access to are generally pretty knarly to navigate through (generally thick scrub and steep hill-sides), so a meat hauler is extremely beneficial, especially in the warmer months when I want to get meat back to the car quickly.
Once to twice a year I will travel interstate to Victoria / Queensland to hunt Sambar and Red Deer. Sometimes we're based in a cabin and back in the evenings, sometimes overnight under a hootchie or small tent; I'm keen to do some more deep back country multi day hunts so I'm thinking about volume for rations and cold weather gear. Ex military so have had plenty of experience in the field.
I'd like whatever setup I get to be useful in the NZ alps as well, as I'm keen to get over and case some Tahr and Fiordland Wapiti in the near future.
My current setup is a military style frame not ideally suited to hunting but has done well so far; its Crossfire DG16 Frame, attached to a DG Mule with 2 x 7Ltr Dodge Pouches, and a DG Daypack Lid which adds 20L of storage space if required. (www.Crossfirepacks.com) On a normal day hunt I'll leave the lid and just take frame and mule with pouches and I generally don't need more than this unless there's inclement weather. It's basically like a slightly smaller version of the Stryker. I also have a Kifaru Camp Bag which fits in the DG mule to expand the setup into a multi day pack. The problems with the setup are that a) its squeaky where the cordura straps rub on the polymer frame and b) it's limited in its functionality as a proper multi-day pack. The squeakiness can be a problem for me as I'm often getting within 20m of Deer, plus it endlessly give me the shits. It's also a tad heavy. Current storage space using the camp bag is 5614 cubic inches or 92 litres, give or take depending on how full you can actually get the camp bag.
I've been looking at the Kifaru stuff for a good while. I've used some Kifaru gear before and loved the quality and robust nature of it. Apart from the frame, I have two options in mind - one is to grab a Stryker XL and utilise the Camp Bag and lid I already own, giving me an 6660 (1900 + 3540 + 1220) cubic inches of space or 109 litres . Second option is to go with the Hoodlum, with a Sherman serving as front pocket, and my current lid. This would give me approximately 8020 (6300 + 500 + 1220) cubic inches of space or 131 litres. The fact that the Hoodlum includes a meat shelf is a plus, as is the lower loop that can be used for retaining a bow as well.
I like the idea of the Styker acting as a day bag and meat hauler for day hunts, and having the ability to dump the camp bag with all the camping gear for longer hunts. It would definitely get some use replacing my current day hunting setup; I'm just concerned that the volume may end up being limiting when going on a longer backpack hunting trip. I've always been a 'better to have it and not need it rather than a need it and not have it' sort of guy. The Australian high country doesn't get as cold or snowy as the northern US / Canada, possibly negating the need for quite as much gear as in those cases, but I may need it for use in NZ.
Any help from users who have experience with both would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Rhino.
Looking for advice on the best Kifaru backpack for my personal use case.
Australian hunter here. Generally my hunts are 1 day, day-pack hunts in my home state of South Australia, generally for Fallow Deer. The properties I have access to are generally pretty knarly to navigate through (generally thick scrub and steep hill-sides), so a meat hauler is extremely beneficial, especially in the warmer months when I want to get meat back to the car quickly.
Once to twice a year I will travel interstate to Victoria / Queensland to hunt Sambar and Red Deer. Sometimes we're based in a cabin and back in the evenings, sometimes overnight under a hootchie or small tent; I'm keen to do some more deep back country multi day hunts so I'm thinking about volume for rations and cold weather gear. Ex military so have had plenty of experience in the field.
I'd like whatever setup I get to be useful in the NZ alps as well, as I'm keen to get over and case some Tahr and Fiordland Wapiti in the near future.
My current setup is a military style frame not ideally suited to hunting but has done well so far; its Crossfire DG16 Frame, attached to a DG Mule with 2 x 7Ltr Dodge Pouches, and a DG Daypack Lid which adds 20L of storage space if required. (www.Crossfirepacks.com) On a normal day hunt I'll leave the lid and just take frame and mule with pouches and I generally don't need more than this unless there's inclement weather. It's basically like a slightly smaller version of the Stryker. I also have a Kifaru Camp Bag which fits in the DG mule to expand the setup into a multi day pack. The problems with the setup are that a) its squeaky where the cordura straps rub on the polymer frame and b) it's limited in its functionality as a proper multi-day pack. The squeakiness can be a problem for me as I'm often getting within 20m of Deer, plus it endlessly give me the shits. It's also a tad heavy. Current storage space using the camp bag is 5614 cubic inches or 92 litres, give or take depending on how full you can actually get the camp bag.
I've been looking at the Kifaru stuff for a good while. I've used some Kifaru gear before and loved the quality and robust nature of it. Apart from the frame, I have two options in mind - one is to grab a Stryker XL and utilise the Camp Bag and lid I already own, giving me an 6660 (1900 + 3540 + 1220) cubic inches of space or 109 litres . Second option is to go with the Hoodlum, with a Sherman serving as front pocket, and my current lid. This would give me approximately 8020 (6300 + 500 + 1220) cubic inches of space or 131 litres. The fact that the Hoodlum includes a meat shelf is a plus, as is the lower loop that can be used for retaining a bow as well.
I like the idea of the Styker acting as a day bag and meat hauler for day hunts, and having the ability to dump the camp bag with all the camping gear for longer hunts. It would definitely get some use replacing my current day hunting setup; I'm just concerned that the volume may end up being limiting when going on a longer backpack hunting trip. I've always been a 'better to have it and not need it rather than a need it and not have it' sort of guy. The Australian high country doesn't get as cold or snowy as the northern US / Canada, possibly negating the need for quite as much gear as in those cases, but I may need it for use in NZ.
Any help from users who have experience with both would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Rhino.