Color/Camo?

[weedwacker42]

Ok. I'm marginally embarrassed about starting this thread, but here goes.

So, I've finally decided to bite the bullet on a Kifaru pack system. After all the research, reading, etc, I have the frame, bag and even accessories picked out...
But now I can't decide on camo/colors to get. (facepalm). My wife is even laughing at me while I agonize over this.

Any recommendations? I'm sure it's all personal choice, but how did you folks decide? Pack will be used for everything from hunting and backpacking/camping around here to (hopefully) trips out west.


Now excuse me while I go rearrange my shoe closet....

 

[COlineman78]

I went with wolf for my frame cause I like the color, however if I were to do it again I'd go with coyote as it will be better for hunting being earth tone and all. When I get my hunting daypack (thinking rambler right now) I will go with Fusion, although highlander or mandrake wouldn't be the end of the world. My backpacking packs are in Foliage (EMR) and Wolf (DT1) as they are cheaper and I don't really plan on hunting with them right now. In all honesty, if you are a spot & stalk hunter it's not going to matter as the animals will never see you from behind. If you are like me and occasionally hunt stands or just sit in the middle of a meadow then camo is more important.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I thought about this long and hard. Black and coyote are out of the question for me because there are too many idiots with rifles shooting at what appears to be a bear or deer or elk but in reality is some poor bastard wearing the wrong color in the backcountry. I have a big bag (DT1) in foliage that I use for all my long trips. Blends well with every environment and doesn't scream HUNTER when in public.



That said, I recently added a new frame with a cargo panel and pouches in mandrake. It is my designated freighter/day pack for big game now and it is sweet.





Yeah...morons in the field influenced my decision, examples can be found everywhere. http://www.rokslide.com/forums/show...amp-Pack-Color-Selection&highlight=pack+color

 

[MuleyFever]

I went with a black frame because it will get dirty. I figured black wont show stains as much. Foliage bag just because I don't want a camo pack. I will use it for more than hunting and I am just not a wear camo around type of person. I wont even stop at the gas station when in my camo. I don't know why.

 

[Cebyhunting]

I've got a coyote bikini frame with highlander bag, looks good to me.

 

[mrbillbrown]

I was a foliage guy until they discontinued it. Now I'm running a CB frame and multicam bags and accessories. I figured more of my hunting will be in a green type surrounding and highlander would be the brown Camo thumb sticking out wherever I go. And Aron promised me MC isn't going anywhere for a while and I don't have to worry about it being discontinued. Sadly, I've thought long and hard about my matching gear OCD problem.

 

[weedwacker42]

I was a foliage guy until they discontinued it. Now I'm running a CB frame and multicam bags and accessories. I figured more of my hunting will be in a green type surrounding and highlander would be the brown Camo thumb sticking out wherever I go. And Aron promised me MC isn't going anywhere for a while and I don't have to worry about it being discontinued. Sadly, I've thought long and hard about my matching gear OCD problem.

I hear ya on the OCD gear matching thing. I have a ton of Realtree Xtra (not an option here for packs) and have been picking up a handful of FL Fusion gear. Unfortunately, I am going with the AMR which isn't offered in fusion anyway. I hadn't thought about looking like a 6'7" elk out in the field somebody taking pot shots at me. Definitely food for thought. And I do like the idea of using the pack for travel as well and not looking like a country bumpkin in the airport with my giant camo backpack. I also try to avoid public areas when camo'd out for hunting. Always change clothes before heading into the stand at the truck or put on a regular jacket over camo if I need to stop on the way home or way in to a deer stand.

I do appreciate the comments so far. I had a fear this would be one of those threads with 200 views and no replies. Ha!

PS- Thanks for the link to Bruce's thread. Sorry. I wasn't trying to re-invent the wheel here. Just SO many old threads to read through...which I am trying to do!

 

[Weekender]

If it was me I would get the black frame. It isn't enough for anyone to think your a bear and you can run different bag setups in different colors. Easier to change a bag then the whole setup.

 

[oldgoat]

Living close to the Kifaru factory and shooting at the same archery club Aron and some of the other Kifaru staff shoot at, I see most if not all of them running CB and just about everybody I know runs CB, I personally keep a big blaze orange handkerchief tied to the back of my pack so I don't get shot! It blends into the woods pretty good and we make a point of placing the pack where the blaze orange can be seen because the packs blend in so well! We aren't real particular though, both me and the wife have wolf gray water bottle pockets and mini pockets on one side of the belt and everything else is CB. Just pick one and go with it, the deer and elk don't seem to care!

 

[mt100gr.]

My first setup was all highlander. I like that pattern a lot. Then as I started adding components from other companies, like HPG, I began moving to almost all CB. it is pretty universal among companies and the handful of highlander parts I haven't sold look fine with it. I usually have 2 or 3 company's gear on the pack at any given time, or stuff I have made myself. CB makes it easy as I am also a bit OCD about that sort of "organization"

I usually don't add color as I don't worry about getting mistaken for a critter, but a piece of flagging or bandana is always in the pack should the cross hairs feel like they might be getting to close for comfort.

 

[Cantharellus]

Currently running CB pack and the new black and CB hunting frame, but I'm a fan of fusion so my next one may be that.

 

[dangerousD]

You certainly aren't the only one who toils over this conundrum. Most of us have probably laid awake at night stressing about it and becoming OCD. After all it's a big investment. I think it's all personal preference. I like highlander. I have an EMR-II with frame and all accessories in that pattern. I think Aron has said its the best selling pattern. Now that I've used it for a couple years I think it's kind of "busy" and sometimes think I should have went with a solid color but I'm still a highlander fan.

I really liked the foliage and probably would have went that route for my next purchase, and it's cheaper but, after it was discontinued I decided my next bags would be CB. I do really like CB. I figure it may show dirt easier and possibly make me a target but those are minor complaints I think. I usually only bow hunt so getting shot is less of a worry for me I guess.

I Also have an old olive drab MMR pack and like it too. I thought about whether I'd mind looking like a hunter when packing it along on non hunting trips or in the airport and again I decided I don't care enough about that to influence my decision. If anything, I figure it's a plus. Fellow hunters will recognize it and maybe strike up conversation and on the flip side it may lead to a conversation with an anti or indifferent minded person that I can positively influence to the good side of hunting and conservation.

 

[elkyinzer]

Personally I feel the coyote brown is unsafe during rifle seasons with its similarity to deer/elk coloring. Especially walking thick brush in PA. I've seen the stupidity of humanity enough to not want to mess with or trust a pack cover to keep from being shot.

I ended up going with multicam even though my first instinct was non-camo. On the occasion I am wearing it in public I frequently get asked if I am military (I am not).

 

[LJ Buck]

Solids.

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

Personally I feel the coyote brown is unsafe during rifle seasons with its similarity to deer/elk coloring. Especially walking thick brush in PA. I've seen the stupidity of humanity enough to not want to mess with or trust a pack cover to keep from being shot.

I ended up going with multicam even though my first instinct was non-camo. On the occasion I am wearing it in public I frequently get asked if I am military (I am not).

This was my thinking as well. I live in MI and mainly target deer and there are quite a few deer hunters.

I bought a foliage EXO 3500 and the color looks great.

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

 

[Elkfitness]

I've always stuck with foliage and now wolf grey. It's pretty neutral and works for backpacking and hunting. I've got a grabit and a guide lid in highlander that provides some camo break up. Here they are on a foliage dt1.

 

[yardwork]

Nope, not the only one wringing your hands on the color choice. I really wanted to order the Kifaru Mountain Warrior in coyote but there are too many "if its brown its down" goofballs running around in the woods during whitetail rifle seasons (and I hunt on mostly public land.) That said I went with wolf gray and my pack showed up this week and needless to say I really like it. The color appears darker to me than the pictures show. I went with a black frame because black is more slimming!

I may add one of the larger lids and pockets in camo next year.

 

[dreamingbig]

I have a foliage frame with typhoon pockets and lid for my hiker friendly/in town pack. I will get a wolf grey bag to add to it when the new bags come out. Multicam bag, pockets and lid for the hunting pack!

 

[elkyinzer]

Hope this isn't diverting the thread but question to those who avoid camo packs for general hiking and around town - why? I hike the state forests trails here on the reg with my multicam pack. Lots of granola hikers and never been hassled more than a sideways glance from one woman. I just smiled and carried on. And I can't think of any scenario where I have my pack in town other than flying with it and I think more people assume it's a military pack than hunting.