Backpack advice needed

[Thethorn]

G'day everyone

My name is Cal Im a Uni student in Australia. Needing some advice with the gear list ive set for myself.
Im after a backpack, and will be using it with backcountry hunting in mind but it needs to be adaptable to other situations and packdown relatively small. My intended uses will be backcountry hunting and flyfishing in both remote bush areas of Victoria and along the coast. Ill also be taking it on the road on overseas travels. Im after durability and lightweight. Durability as i want to invest in something that i can take on the trail and will last awhille and relatively lightweight enough that i can wear it all day in the bush or on a stream while flyfishing all day between moving camps. I want to be able to pack a weeks worth of gear in it, (fishing,hunting and camp gear + food). What i have pretty much settled on, after weeks and weeks of reading reviews and emails is the Stone Glacier 6200 cirque. It seems to be what im looking for in a pack as im after an Internal pack that can pack down small, is really comfortable on the trail and light and is relatively durable aswell. After peoples thoughts who have experience with this pack in particular. The problem with being in Aus is that we dont have available the massive selection of lightweight hunting packs that you do in the states. other options i thought about where the kifaru timberline internal (out of my price range) and kuiu ultra 6000 (conflicting reports). Ive travelled into melbourne to look at general backpacking packs but they dont really do it for me, both in design and weight. (so far looked at Osprey Aether 80 and Wilderness equipment lost world. Also looked at Aussie hunting brands like Moroka 30 Alpinestalker 75/ridgeline and stoney creek packs.In Aus the type of terrain i hunt and fish in can vary between open forest to dense scrub, really thick stuff. Very different to the mountains ive seen the stone glacier used in mainly. Would appreciate peoples experiences with the stone glacier cirque in dense scrub(ill take care of it as much as i can but dont want to have to baby something). This pack will cost me around 700 Australian Dollars, thats a massive investment for a brokeass student. The only reason im considering it is because i just turned 21 so have some birthday coin up my sleeve and want to hit the road after i graduate at the end of the year so am taking the time to do my research and buy good quality gear. First test will be a one week sambar deer hunting trip in the Victorian Alps late June so in the final stages of kit assembly. Any advice is appreciated.

Cheers Cal

 

[jwb300]

Gday Cal,

Another Aussie here so I feel your pain with the FX rate!

I use an Exo Mountain gear pack - terrific bit of kit, very durable, packs down flat, light and a great meat hauler. It is also a little better on the budget than some other packs.

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?17063-exo-mountain-pack

In saying that I've not tried the SG but if I didn't get the Exo I would definitely consider it. Lots of great info on here and I'm sure some SG users will chime in.

You can buy the SG in Aus but it might be cheaper to import?

http://www.hardcore-outdoor.com/product-category/packs/

All the best mate

Cheers,
JWB300

 

[mallacootasmoothie]

Another Aussie/Victorian here.
I hunt and fish exactly what you describe, Vic alps for Sambar to Genoa river for Bass.
I'm using a Kifaru bikini timberline 3 and couldn't be happier. A mate of mine is using a EXO 3500 and also couldn't be happier.
The EXO seems to be awesome at the price it is.
It is well worth buying quality now, poor people pay twice, buy once cry once, blah blah.
The dollar is bad at the moment but still well worth buying from the U.S.

 

[Thethorn]

Thanks for the advice lads, i read abit about Exo Mountain Gear but will go back and have a more detailed look, definitly looks to be cheaper still to import from the U.S. Exactly the kind of help i was after aswell, good to see what people are using in the same coniditions as me

Cheers Cal

 

[mrbillbrown]

Might look into the Kifaru Late Season. It's got stay pockets that allow you to swap between 22" & 24" stays. (I've also cut a set of carbon arrow shafts to use as stays and they work well with quite a bit of weight savings). It's a 3400ci pack with the suspension to handle up to 80+ pounds but can suck down very small if needed. Add a couple of side pockets and a grab it and you're set for several days worth of gear.

 

[bhylton]

only cost you around 600$ too...

 

[bhylton]

Not a dig... but as a college student myself, its a big chunk of change for a pack.

 

[bhylton]

nice pack though

 

[hammer0419]

Exo Mountain!!!

 

[mrbillbrown]

No dig taken brother.

The OP described a multi-use pack from day trips to extended hunting, on the road, and overseas travel. The EXO, when loaded out, is $600+ also, has a 25" frame that might not meet some travel size regulations, and is an external frame only system. I do like the EXO for many applications but not for the OP's request. I only mentioned the Kifaru pack because the Late Season has the ability to shrink or expand as needed, has an internal frame with a variety of stay options for back country hunting and overseas travel requirements, and it's built to last forever. Kind of a buy once, cry once philosophy with many options for carry.

 

[COlineman78]

I just recently was making the same decision. I was in the market for a hunting pack as well as an all-purpose fishing/backpacking pack for the summer. I looked at Exo, Kifaru, SG and Kuiu and finally decided on the Kuiu Icon Pro 7200 and 3200 and it just arrived today actually. I ruled out Exo right away as their largest pack size is 5500, way too small for extended trips especially with fishing gear. Next to be ruled out was Kifaru as one of my goals was to also have a day hunting pack that used the same frame in order to have the capability to take the first load out with me as well as save a little bit of money. Unless I was mistaken, I couldn't find any of the smaller Kifaru packs that would be compatible with their load system. Also as far as Kifaru goes their bags seemed kinda bulky (but rugged) and looked like they wouldn't compress as well as the rest. So I was down to SG and Kuiu. SG did support interchangable frames with their Krux frame models. Kuiu is also cross compatible, however the user's manual that ships with the pack says that you must contact customer service to get the right buckles to use an Icon Pro on an Ultra frame and vice versa. Really, SG and Kuiu are very comparable in my book. You will find those out there that had bad luck with the early Kuiu packs cracking at the load lifters, however I believe the problem has since been fixed in the Icon Pro frames at least. It is unclear as to whether there is any difference between the Ultra and Icon Pro frames, but I suspect the Ultra may be thinner and the belt on the Icon is clearly different. When I pulled my Icon Pro 7200 out of the box I was very surprised at how well it compresses and it ends up not being a whole lot bigger than the 3200 when fully compressed. I was able to switch between the two in under 2 minutes on my first try. I chose not to go with the Ultra as it is missing a lot of the organizational features of the Icon series and for an extra 2.2lbs you get a lot of nice features, better compressability, durability and an extra 12L. The reason I went with Kuiu over SG is cost and camo patterns. If you do choose to go with SG, you might consider any pack but the Cirque as the Krux frame will give you the option to add a day pack for a lot less cost.

One thing I will mention when you read about people breaking their carbon frames is that a lot of time CF will not fail right away when you overstress it, but sometime down the road. Many reports of breaking people say: "I wasn't doing anything, just bending over to tie my shoe". While its true that it failed in a situation well within the limits of the pack, it may have cracked a trip or two prior when they overstressed it with an incorrectly fastened/balanced heavy load. CF is a great ultra-strong and ultra-light material, but it has some properties that many are not used to. The failure modes are quite the opposite of things like plastic or metal where when they break, they are obviously broke. Whereas composites like carbon fiber will get cracks in the resin and not give out right away, but the performance and especially the flexibility of the material is severely degraded.

 

[Ramoniac]

HPG Ute possibly?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

See my post #6 at http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?29112-Looking-for-a-good-balance as it applies to your inquiry as well.

 

[Thethorn]

No dig taken brother.

The OP described a multi-use pack from day trips to extended hunting, on the road, and overseas travel. The EXO, when loaded out, is $600+ also, has a 25" frame that might not meet some travel size regulations, and is an external frame only system. I do like the EXO for many applications but not for the OP's request. I only mentioned the Kifaru pack because the Late Season has the ability to shrink or expand as needed, has an internal frame with a variety of stay options for back country hunting and overseas travel requirements, and it's built to last forever. Kind of a buy once, cry once philosophy with many options for carry.

Buy once cry once is precislely what im attempting, cheers for all the advice. When traveling abroad via aeroplane ill be putting whatever pack i buy into a sacrificial duffel bag for protection, heard too many horror storys about shoulder straps being cut by scizzor happy baggage handlers. Hadnt considered that 25" frame wouldnt meet some travel requirements. Cheers for the heads up

 

[Thethorn]

HPG Ute possibly?

Just about bought the HPG ute a few weeks ago with some compression panels and the highlander attachment but it came in at too heavy, not enough space and over the $700 mark for me. Awesome designs though if im ever after a smaller pack ill consider them strongly

 

[Thethorn]

I just recently was making the same decision. I was in the market for a hunting pack as well as an all-purpose fishing/backpacking pack for the summer. I looked at Exo, Kifaru, SG and Kuiu and finally decided on the Kuiu Icon Pro 7200 and 3200 and it just arrived today actually. I ruled out Exo right away as their largest pack size is 5500, way too small for extended trips especially with fishing gear. Next to be ruled out was Kifaru as one of my goals was to also have a day hunting pack that used the same frame in order to have the capability to take the first load out with me as well as save a little bit of money. Unless I was mistaken, I couldn't find any of the smaller Kifaru packs that would be compatible with their load system. Also as far as Kifaru goes their bags seemed kinda bulky (but rugged) and looked like they wouldn't compress as well as the rest. So I was down to SG and Kuiu. SG did support interchangable frames with their Krux frame models. Kuiu is also cross compatible, however the user's manual that ships with the pack says that you must contact customer service to get the right buckles to use an Icon Pro on an Ultra frame and vice versa. Really, SG and Kuiu are very comparable in my book. You will find those out there that had bad luck with the early Kuiu packs cracking at the load lifters, however I believe the problem has since been fixed in the Icon Pro frames at least. It is unclear as to whether there is any difference between the Ultra and Icon Pro frames, but I suspect the Ultra may be thinner and the belt on the Icon is clearly different. When I pulled my Icon Pro 7200 out of the box I was very surprised at how well it compresses and it ends up not being a whole lot bigger than the 3200 when fully compressed. I was able to switch between the two in under 2 minutes on my first try. I chose not to go with the Ultra as it is missing a lot of the organizational features of the Icon series and for an extra 2.2lbs you get a lot of nice features, better compressability, durability and an extra 12L. The reason I went with Kuiu over SG is cost and camo patterns. If you do choose to go with SG, you might consider any pack but the Cirque as the Krux frame will give you the option to add a day pack for a lot less cost.

One thing I will mention when you read about people breaking their carbon frames is that a lot of time CF will not fail right away when you overstress it, but sometime down the road. Many reports of breaking people say: "I wasn't doing anything, just bending over to tie my shoe". While its true that it failed in a situation well within the limits of the pack, it may have cracked a trip or two prior when they overstressed it with an incorrectly fastened/balanced heavy load. CF is a great ultra-strong and ultra-light material, but it has some properties that many are not used to. The failure modes are quite the opposite of things like plastic or metal where when they break, they are obviously broke. Whereas composites like carbon fiber will get cracks in the resin and not give out right away, but the performance and especially the flexibility of the material is severely degraded.

KUIU is something i have looked at alot, mainly the ultra 6000 as its the least costly at 500 AUD$ to get the pack. The icon pro i looked at alittle but not as much since it is an external pack but now im thinking it would not be too difficult to travel with one as long as i packed it down when using airlines and protected all the straps. Also was alittle nervous about the Ultra as it uses 160 Cordura and i doubt it will hold up to scrub bashing. Will look closer at the Icon as it uses 500 Cordura.

 

[jwb300]

Buy once cry once is precislely what im attempting, cheers for all the advice. When traveling abroad via aeroplane ill be putting whatever pack i buy into a sacrificial duffel bag for protection, heard too many horror storys about shoulder straps being cut by scizzor happy baggage handlers. Hadnt considered that 25" frame wouldnt meet some travel requirements. Cheers for the heads up

I took my Exo to BC last year in a duffel. No issues with size of the frame.

 

[Trial153]

Some good advice in this tread !!

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Buy once cry once is precislely what im attempting, cheers for all the advice. When traveling abroad via aeroplane ill be putting whatever pack i buy into a sacrificial duffel bag for protection, heard too many horror storys about shoulder straps being cut by scizzor happy baggage handlers. Hadnt considered that 25" frame wouldnt meet some travel requirements. Cheers for the heads up

Stick your pack in an ATA rated golfclub carrier and you'll save some money on oversized luggage. Clubs get a discount other luggage doesn't.
SKB makes em.

 

[COlineman78]

KUIU is something i have looked at alot, mainly the ultra 6000 as its the least costly at 500 AUD$ to get the pack. The icon pro i looked at alittle but not as much since it is an external pack but now im thinking it would not be too difficult to travel with one as long as i packed it down when using airlines and protected all the straps. Also was alittle nervous about the Ultra as it uses 160 Cordura and i doubt it will hold up to scrub bashing. Will look closer at the Icon as it uses 500 Cordura.

The Icon Pro and Ultra are both external frames (although they aren't really exposed that much). They use practically the same frame with some minor differences in the suspension and the ultra may be thinner, but I am uncertain of that. The original Icon was a much larger external frame. I wouldn't be too concerned about the 160 cordura, but the IP is just as thick as my USGI military backpack so I would expect it to be pretty rugged. If you plan to use for hunting the external pack will actually be beneficial as you will be able to put it into "load sling mode" in order to carry out a load of meat with all of your gear. I would beware of the original Icon (still available at a discount) as it was the model that people had issues with the frames breaking. Here are some pictures of my 3200 and 7200:

Icon Pro 7200
View attachment 25026

Icon Pro 3200
View attachment 25027

Frame
View attachment 25028

Edit: Also the frame breaks down quite easy and that's what I would do when flying. I would tape/wrap all of the loose compression straps ends and place the frame, shoulder straps and waist belt inside the pack. The frame assembly can be taken off and broken down in under a minute.