Big Shoutout to Kifaru + Duplex Lite & Medium Muskeg Review

gelton

WKR
Joined
May 15, 2013
Messages
2,531
Location
Central Texas
As if they don't get enough love on here, I just wanted to remind everyone what a stellar class act Kifaru is and especially Aron Snyder.

For those of you that are newer to the forum and Kifaru packs you might not know that Aron used to be very active here (part owner) and would pass around his phone # like candy. He helped me setup my original DT1 over the phone and while I have had his phone # since then I never called or texted him because I know he is as busy as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Well recently I ordered a duplex lite + muskeg bag with a marge belt (medium/large). Long story short, I was sent a medium belt instead. Thinking it was a marge I put in an RMA for a large. The large is bottoming out and after some investigation we found out that I was originally shipped a medium not a marge.

I emailed Aron today to let him know and within 5 minutes get a text from him telling me that a Marge would be sent out tomorrow at no cost.

That, my friends is what you call top notch customer service...and to top it off he is doing this while on an Antelope hunt.

Kifaru has a customer for life. Which most who choose Kifaru probably will be either way.

If any of you are on the fence about a pack purchase - choose Kifaru. Over the years there have been some added competition which is always good. Kifaru has always been at the pinnacle, but IME its their customer service that pushes them over the edge.

okay now on to my initial review of the new duplex lite + Muskeg.
 
Duplex Lite + Medium Muskeg - Initial Impressions

Duplex Lite + Medium Muskeg – Initial Review.

First of all, everyone's needs are different and a pack is a highly specialized piece of equipment so your mileage may vary based on your needs and/or season and/or hunt.

For me its use will be Archery Elk Backpack Hunting.

I picked up the Muskeg 5K to replace an old Duplex Timberline One (7,200 ci).

The first thing that I was worried about as far as downsizing my bag was will my 0 degree WM Kodiak fit in the bottom like it did the T1. Its a big sleeping bag, but it fit perfectly just as it did with the T1.

I ordered one medium belt pouch to add with the other that I had on hand to mount on the webbing up the front of the bag. Since I strap my bow in the same place, this proved to be a bad idea. The horizontal straps run just under the medium belt pouches and strapping the bow there with the pouches in the way seem like too big of a headache to deal with on a daily basis. There just isn’t enough room for the pouches, the bow, and the horizontal compression straps that run across the center. Instead I will just run a single medium belt pouch on the fold down lid.

The second thing that I was worried about is will all of my gear fit in the bag and how much food can I carry?

My philosophy has changed a bit over the years as I used to backpack in for 10-14 days at a time. However, for elk, I have deduced that this is not a good strategy. I would end up staying back there for the whole time (10-14 days) whether I found elk or not. I have decided that its best to pack in 4-5 days worth of food instead. If I don't find elk in 4-5 days its time to pack out back to the truck and move to a different area.

Happy to report that the Muskeg 5000 can carry all of my gear and 4-5 days worth of food with the collar extended and a guide lid added with room to spare. In fact I wouldn’t be worried about doing a 7-10 day trip with it. When I setup camp I will just remove the guide lid and use the fold down top with a medium belt pouch instead.

The packs size is just about perfect. Not only in cubic inches but the actual dimensions. The pack is just a smidge wider than the duplex lite frame and sucks down to almost nothing in daypack mode. Very slick. Also, while in daypack mode the center pocket will hold anything that the medium belt pouch would have held that I opted not to include down the center which for me is - first aid kit, possibles pouch, batteries and headlamp with room to spare.

Now on to the frame -

The only two things I didn’t like about the new design is the polymer clip for the load lifters and the fact that the load lifters now attach to the bag instead of the frame. To me, the load lifters should be centered on the stays and not on the bag. The place where they attach to the bag are not perfectly in line with the stays and are spread out a bit wider than the actual stays. Surprisingly they still add lift and seem to work fine, but remember this is an initial impression review. I wont know how well the new design works until I really add some weight to it hopefully very soon when I pack out my elk. I trust that the new design has been tested extensively and would not have been changed if it didn’t work but for now that’s all I have to go on. So far I have only tested it to 65lbs or so.

Overall for both form and function I am very happy with the change. The size of the bag is perfect for up to 5-6 days and in daypack mode it is very nice to have such a compact bag that will serve your needs. Remember that this is for me and my style of hunting. If I were rifle hunting, hunting in a different season or hunting in a different area my needs would likely change and I may choose something different or choose to setup this bag differently, so like I said, your mileage may vary.

To me the DT1 was great on the pack in and pack out but a hassle in day hunting mode due to its size and straps. Comparatively I think the Muskeg 5000 is a perfect median that will handle 5-10 day excursions into the back county while not being too bulky, strappy and large to use for day hunting.

Another thing that I will point out is that some people have questioned the weight of the new Muskeg series saying that the bags are a bit heavier than they would like to see on a duplex lite/ultralite frame. That is easy to say for someone that has purchased a new bag and frame combo from one of their recent releases in the past several years.

However, for me, switching from an original duplex with a timberline one to a duplex lite with a 5K Muskeg saved me damn near TWO POUNDS. So for me, not only was it an upgrade in function it also saved me quite a bit of weight.

Looking forward to putting it through its paces for a 14 day trip into the backcountry for Archery Elk.
 
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Well written description of Aron and Kifaru. Thanks for leaving a review of the bag and frame also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Great writeup - can you add a picture of your setup?

Here it is in daymode. In the bag is a puffy, Kuiu Guide Vest, 8x10 tarp, 3L Camelback, kill kit, rain gear and chamber pocket.

In the medium belt pouch on the fold down lid is a possibles pouch and first aid kit. In the small belt pouch on the belt are my calls, wind checker, small pack of kleenex, and a bag of wet ones wipes. I also have the nalgene holder and bottle on the same side, and on the opposite side a JC Custom kydex holster.

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