Exo Mountain K4?

[Chirogrow]

Dedicated member of Team Overkill?

haha I'm not sure if this is a compliment or dig but I've worked up to it for months, pick my terrain carefully, do a lot of ankle, knee and hip stability work. I just want to make sure I can go where I need to harvest a moose and be able to pack it out. To each his own though right?!

 

[roosiebull]

Any K4 owners found the nalgene holder to be awfully tight? Trying to re-insert a half full or less nalgene bottle has proven difficult when on the move- enough so the upper rib was sacrificed (hacked off w/ a knife) on my last scouting trip. I will order replacement if they tend to break-in or if anyone has a good hack.

Also EXO, please make a slick bugle tube holder for the belt.

I left a Nalgene in mine when not using, it’s still snug, but not hard to use like it was initially

I also started using the tall Nalgene and using it has seemed to help as well

I would prefer them a little bit bigger diameter, but once broken in, it’s fine, and is a great accessory, especially how it’s mounted

 

[TOLeary]

I know they’re different frame shapes, but out of curiosity, has anyone removed some foam from the K4 lumbar as an adjustment?

I put a K3 lumbar pad in to see how it felt and I liked it a lot. Same exact foam but 1” shorter in height and same width. I’m 5’7 so the shorter lumbar pad fit my lower back better but because there was more room in the lumbar pocket for the taller foam it moved around too much. After some training hiking hikes I don’t notice the K4 lumbar pad but I am interest to see if something shorter that fit in the frame properly would work better for me.

This doesn’t address the thickness per se but by the K3 lumber pad being shorter, I didn’t have contact points top and bottom which allowed the frame to sit closer to my body. Not much, but more comfortable initially

 

[PredatoronthePrairie]

It gets easier with practice to do, but the problem I’ve found is that the only real good way to get it out is by the strap. I like that it’s tight so I don’t lose the bottle, but on my most recent trek the loop detached over the lid and ripped right off the cap. Thankfully Nalgene is sending me another for free but still kinda sucks.

Push up from the bottom. This kicks it out and inch or 2. Then grab the exposed part and pull.

 

[Marbles]

The K4 remains outstanding. Carried my entire goat and a stripped down version of camp for 8.6 miles with no complaints. Pack was 117 pounds. Then carried the 4 boned out quarters of my partners goat and full camp 8.6 miles, pluse 2 miles with the 4 quarters and day gear the day before.

My partners goat was much bigger than mine and I'm pretty sure the second packout was at least 120 lbs, perhaps heavier. We did not weigh the packs when we got back as his K3 belt broke, so I dropped my load and turned around to help him the last bit.

Load 1


Load 2

 

[Mark at EXO]

Solid loads for sure, @Marbles. Congrats on the successful hunt! (PS — Not sure if you've talked to your buddy yet, but we already have him taken care of.)

Steve and I, along with a couple of other buddies, just put our K4s to heavy work this past week in Alaska with 4 gear caribou bulls.

 

[Marbles]

Solid loads for sure, @Marbles. Congrats on the successful hunt! (PS — Not sure if you've talked to your buddy yet, but we already have him taken care of.)

Steve and I, along with a couple of other buddies, just put our K4s to heavy work this past week in Alaska with 4 gear caribou bulls.

View attachment 754315

You guys continue to have absolutely amazing customer service and took care of him very well. Thank you.

Congratulations on the nice caribou.

 

[HighUintas]

The K4 remains outstanding. Carried my entire goat and a stripped down version of camp for 8.6 miles with no complaints. Pack was 117 pounds. Then carried the 4 boned out quarters of my partners goat and full camp 8.6 miles, pluse 2 miles with the 4 quarters and day gear the day before.

My partners goat was much bigger than mine and I'm pretty sure the second packout was at least 120 lbs, perhaps heavier. We did not weigh the packs when we got back as his K3 belt broke, so I dropped my load and turned around to help him the last bit.

Load 1
View attachment 754302

Load 2
View attachment 754303

Do you happen to have a picture of where your buddies k3 belt broke? Mine broke (at some point) but just realized it last year. I'm wondering if it broke the same way.

Regardless, exo had me a new belt within a few days of me contacting them and saved my hunt! Those guys are awesome.

Also.... Did you have the k3 bag before your k4? I love my k3 bag and not sure I want to switch to the k4 bag, but I do want the frame. There was recently a thread on how to convert a k3 bag to work on k4 and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort. Minimal effort I think, but it is still time.

 

[Hectocotylus]

The K4 remains outstanding. Carried my entire goat and a stripped down version of camp for 8.6 miles with no complaints. Pack was 117 pounds. Then carried the 4 boned out quarters of my partners goat and full camp 8.6 miles, pluse 2 miles with the 4 quarters and day gear the day before.

My partners goat was much bigger than mine and I'm pretty sure the second packout was at least 120 lbs, perhaps heavier. We did not weigh the packs when we got back as his K3 belt broke, so I dropped my load and turned around to help him the last bit.

Load 1
View attachment 754302

Load 2
View attachment 754303

What kind of magical extender piece do you have there with pockets on them for the side compression straps? When my pack is full it’s always super tight getting the straps to reach to the bag over the meat when using the meat shelf


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[Marbles]

Do you happen to have a picture of where your buddies k3 belt broke? Mine broke (at some point) but just realized it last year. I'm wondering if it broke the same way.

Regardless, exo had me a new belt within a few days of me contacting them and saved my hunt! Those guys are awesome.

Also.... Did you have the k3 bag before your k4? I love my k3 bag and not sure I want to switch to the k4 bag, but I do want the frame. There was recently a thread on how to convert a k3 bag to work on k4 and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort. Minimal effort I think, but it is still time.

I do not have a photo. I personally had a K3 and got rid of it due to the hip belt (whished I had kept my K2). The K4 fixed my complaint (got rid of the multi piece belt) and I went back to using an Exo as soon as the K4 was released. The more I use it, the happier I am with it.

The K4 frame is a beast, 20 mountain miles with more than 100 pounds and 46 miles total in the past 5 days and I would be fine putting a hundred plus in it today for another 8-10 miles (the day after) with no hotspots or areas that worry me. It is stable in crappy places, using alpine climbing techniques with 100 plus pounds is never fun, especially when a foot/knee jamb just results in rocks breaking off rather than a firm purchase. The K4 frame doesn't shift with a heavy load, which is more than just a comfort thing in such situations.

I find the K2, K3, and K4 bags comparable. On all three I find myself avoiding getting into the pack (such as digging out a puffy on a break) as I hate undoing the side compression straps. On all three I did not really use the long side pockets, on all three I find rolling the top down tight makes accessing the side pockets hard. The Stone Glacier R3 side bags fix that. This is a personal I'm lazy and hate messing with the compression straps thing, not really an issue with the bag.

I upgraded to the K4 and that is my recommendation. The bags are comparable enough I would not fiddle with adapting the K3 bag to the K4 frame.

What kind of magical extender piece do you have there with pockets on them for the side compression straps? When my pack is full it’s always super tight getting the straps to reach to the bag over the meat when using the meat shelf


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No extenders. It is a 3600 bag, I can see more of an issue with the 7200. 8 days goes in the 3600 pretty easy for me and I have yet to use my 7200 bag.

I have a set of the Exo extender straps, they are somewhere at home, I've not needed them.

 

[Jwknutson17]

Packed out 3 Bull Caribou in AK this last week with the K4. I did have Exo send me a modified lumbar pad that was closer to the k3 last year. Awesome customer service for sure. I'm still going back and forth on the k3 vs k4. Have two full setups of each and all the bags / accessories for both setups. The k3 for whatever reason is more comfortable for me, but also doesn't have some of the upgrades the k4 has. Continuing to use both and and still really like both.

 

[rileybassman]

FYI just got an email they are running a 10% off sale for anyone trying to land a pack before arrows fly!

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[Bonecrusher]

Do the Stone Glacier X-curve stays fit in this frame? Has anyone tried?

 

[strattonje2020]

Do the Stone Glacier X-curve stays fit in this frame? Has anyone tried?

Lets not reinvent the wheel lol

 

[MT_Wyatt]

Do the Stone Glacier X-curve stays fit in this frame? Has anyone tried?

I’m not sure why you would. The K4 stays have curvature set into them, so I guess if you were trying to match a specific profile and the SG one was better for you, sure.

The upper fabric part of the frame is adjustable to compensate for different stay lengths, so as long as it fits in the pocket I guess you could give it a run.

 

[Ynothunt41]

FYI just got an email they are running a 10% off sale for anyone trying to land a pack before arrows fly!

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Thanks ,When does it start? The website still has standard price or did they give you a code?

 

[Mark at EXO]

Thanks ,When does it start? The website still has standard price or did they give you a code?

Not sure how long the sale will last, but you can use the code MOVE10 right now. That code will only work for a limited time, while we allow a certain amount of inventory to be sold at the discounted price.

It is completely abnormal for us to run a sale (especially this time of year), but we are moving the HQ/Warehouse to a new building in a few weeks and realized it would be nice to clear some inventory instead of physically moving everything to the new space.

 

[Bonecrusher]

I’m not sure why you would. The K4 stays have curvature set into them, so I guess if you were trying to match a specific profile and the SG one was better for you, sure.

The upper fabric part of the frame is adjustable to compensate for different stay lengths, so as long as it fits in the pocket I guess you could give it a run.

Thanks…. sounds like it is possible.
With the amount of research and development that went into this frame, I imagine many might question why someone would want to change frame stays. I fractured my spine in an old injury. Where the curve on the Exo K4 begins to move into a kyphotic direction (backwards), my spine is still continuing into lordosis (forward). Thus, they are moving in diverging directions. This leaves this area unsupported and on myself forces my spine into more lordosis putting weight on the pars articularis/facet joints. For the average individual this would be good or at least OK, since this keeps pack weight off of the spine discs. In my case though, my old injury is a bilateral pars articularis fracture. I’ve been able to almost eliminate this pressure by moving the lumbar pad up about 2.5”. I was going to bend some aluminum stays, but then I tried the X-curve frame on at Scheels and it ‘hits’ my spine a little better and thought doing the stay swap might save me some time and weight. I’m hoping someone else tried the stays swap and am curious to see if it is possible.

 

[twall13]

I just got back from another hunt and I love this frame more and more each time I use it. It stays put on my body and doesn't cause sore hips or rub me wrong anywhere.

I did pick up a new bag, the 2200, from another member on here and I'm not sure it's for me. I like the size of it for day hunts and the built in pocket/lid, but I really didn't like the horseshoe zipper. It was constantly difficult to use around the top of the bag where it makes the u shape. My Kifaru Shape Charge is much easier to use the zipper in this area and I'm not sure what the difference is but it drove me nuts. Between that and it being a fairly zipper laden bag overall it wasn't my favorite. We got a ton of rain on this hunt and I felt like the inside of the bag got a lot wetter than usual due to all the extra zipper length. I think I personally prefer my 3600 bag, which is a bit big for day use but packs down small enough and has a more usable layout, at least for me.

The frame, nalgene holder, inreach mini holder, etc. all work exactly how I want them to and remain super comfortable for all day use.

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[Mark at EXO]

Appreciate the feedback @twall13. Glad you're loving the K4 Frame, 3600, and accessories.

While I get where you are coming from with the 2200, a lot of what you didn't like (horseshoe, more zippers in general, etc) are exactly what most users wanted out of the daypack design. There is always a lot of preference involved with bags, and hunt context can certainly change what is "best" as well.

Sounds like running the 3600 for everything would be a great option for you.