complete heresy - one pack only

[justinspicher]

@justinspicher what pack did you keep? do you use it outside of hunting season?

I have a mystery ranch crew cab on a guide light frame I use. I’ve had it for a few years now and it’s what I always go to, so I offloaded everything else and kept it.

 

[hunterjmj]

Not sure I could go to one pack. The Minikeg is my go to pack, Longhunter for hauling meat and ordered a Kutthroat for a bit bigger pack when the kids are with me.
I am a one rifle hunter but have several. With kids coming up to hunting age Ill need lots of gear.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Aaron Synder wrote an article on the gear fairy.

I often think of that article before I buy more gear. Most of the time I want the gear but I don't need the gear.
I give myself a cooling off period to ponder my potential purchase. Most often after a few days my rational self tells my impulsive self I don't really need it. HaHa!

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I have one pack. Kifaru Timberline that I've been running for years. Meets my needs.

 

[mtwarden]

Not sure I could go to one pack.

Im not sure either

 

[*zap*]

Don't Do It....

 

[HuntHarder]

How boring. Lol. I used to be a 1 pack guy... now I think I have 3 frames and 6 or 7 bags, plus a couple fanny packs. Not sure why I have so many because I really only use 2 diff. Bags.

 

[sargent]

I'll be interested to hear how the SO works for a meat hauler. It seems like they have a good combination of features from both the hunting world (breakaway frame, load shelf) and the ultralight backpacking world (waterproof bag materials, bag layout with stretchy mesh pocket and side pockets, and ultralight weight). Good luck and let us know how the single pack experiment works out.

Admirable... headed that way myself but damn it's hard! So is your 1 rifle going to be your M70??

My bet's on the Kimber .308.

 

[mfllood3800]

I remember hunting without a pack when I was a kid. True minimalist.

 

[danswanky911]

I remember hunting without a pack when I was a kid. True minimalist.

Yeah but packing out the meat in your pockets is a bit tedious.

 

[mtwarden]

Yeah but packing out the meat in your pockets is a bit tedious.

true that!

 

[Justin Crossley]

I have one pack. Kifaru Timberline that I've been running for years. Meets my needs.

The Duplex Timberline is my favorite pack of everything I've tried.

It's the one I would keep if I forgot my meds like @mtwarden.

 

[mtwarden]

The Duplex Timberline is my favorite pack of everything I've tried.

It's the one I would keep if I forgot my meds like @mtwarden.

it's just an experiment

 

[Dexter Grayson]

One rifle (tikka 300wsm) between the wife and I. And we each have one pack, kifaru fulcrum and Gregory diva.

Had to borrow and extra rifle on our last moose hunt.

 

[woods89]

The Duplex Timberline is my favorite pack of everything I've tried.

It's the one I would keep if I forgot my meds like @mtwarden.

Yup. I will not sell mine!

 

[BBob]

I remember hunting without a pack when I was a kid. True minimalist.

So funny! Canteen on your belt, bdu pockets with snacks. Froze your butt off in the morning because you didn’t want too heavy of a jacket to lug later after it warmed up and when it did you tied the sleeves around your waist to carry it.

 

[WyoKid]

I like simplicity...less to worry about and less to go wrong. Single rifle is Ruger M77 tang safety in .270 Win that I've had since 16. Single pack is a Kuiu Icon Pro 3200 (I am small framed and it forced me to avoid over packing but I can still haul 1/4 boned out Elk and 4-5 days of gear) but thinking of going to SO. 2 pants, 2 merino wool socks and underwear, 2 base layers (light and heavy), one vest, one will sweater, one jacket, one set of rain gear, one beanie and 2 pair merino wool socks. Like others, it is all stored in a single tote. I wear one set and pack one set.

 

[Marbles]

Not sure I could go to one pack. The Minikeg is my go to pack, Longhunter for hauling meat and ordered a Kutthroat for a bit bigger pack when the kids are with me.
I am a one rifle hunter but have several. With kids coming up to hunting age Ill need lots of gear.

Kids complicate the gear issue for sure. Mine are young, but working on getting set up to take them. My 4 year old really wants me to take her ptarmigan hunting this fall, which is a 6 mile hike in and an overnight.

Aaron Synder wrote an article on the gear fairy.

I often think of that article before I buy more gear. Most of the time I want the gear but I don't need the gear.
I give myself a cooling off period to ponder my potential purchase. Most often after a few days my rational self tells my impulsive self I don't really need it. HaHa!

Very true. I rarely buy something unless I have wanted it, or something to fill the hole it will fill, for 6 months or so, sometimes closer to a year. Of course, being tight on money helps with that.

 

[Backcountrycardio]

I'm not sure what prompted me to get down to a single pack- too many in the garage, striving towards some kind of minimalism, the "boss" telling I had too many packs , not really sure. But I am now the owner of a single pack.

The packs I owned I liked and they worked. I had a couple of very ultralight packs (sub 16 oz) for short/fast backpacking trips. But I'm finding myself doing less of those type trips, they were the first to get cut.

It got more difficult from that point.

I owned a couple of different "normal" backpacking packs- most in the 40-50-ish liter range. These were still pretty light packs, but had frames of some sort and carried typical backpacking loads much better than the frameless ones above. After several different packs, I finally settled on a Seek Outside Flight for "general" backpacking duty. Great pack.

I've been rocking a Stone Glacier frame (and a few different bags) for almost 8 years. I never even considered another hunting frame/bag they performed so well.

A couple of years ago I purchased a Seek Outside Divide for use outside of hunting season for winter trips (where I typically need more volume) and longer backpacking trips. I was very impressed with this pack, not ultralight, but light and carried really well.

The Seek Outside Flight while perfect for what I intended for it, wouldn't work for hunting and didn't have enough volume for winter & longer trips. It went.

So now did I have a pack remaining that I could use year round, including hauling meat when needed.

I know several guys that run SO frames/bags for hunting. I conferred with them, as well as several folks on this site. At the end of the day, I was convinced that my Divide could work for hunting.

My other option was to keep rocking the SG and use it year round. I know for a fact that it would have worked.

In the end, I gave the Divide the nod as it's closing in on a couple of pounds lighter.

Will I be regretting thinning the herd down to one pack, very possibly, but in the name of science I'm going to give it a go

Now I find myself eyeballing the gun safe- beware the man with one rifle

I also have one pack and minimal guns. I feel like most of the stuff was just collecting dust, so why keep it.

 

[P Carter]

I like simplicity...less to worry about and less to go wrong. Single rifle is Ruger M77 tang safety in .270 Win that I've had since 16. Single pack is a Kuiu Icon Pro 3200 (I am small framed and it forced me to avoid over packing but I can still haul 1/4 boned out Elk and 4-5 days of gear) but thinking of going to SO. 2 pants, 2 merino wool socks and underwear, 2 base layers (light and heavy), one vest, one will sweater, one jacket, one set of rain gear, one beanie and 2 pair merino wool socks. Like others, it is all stored in a single tote.

Funny, that is exactly the same rifle I have. Gifted to me, used, as my first “big” (non-.22) rifle. I’ve looked around but haven’t found any reason to expand beyond that…