exo mountain pack

[Outwest]

I was able to get my new 5500 a little bloody this weekend on my antelope hunt. I have nothing but good things to say about this pack. The way the harness and hip belt are arranged allowed a good amount of airflow so I never got hot wearing it. My only gripe, and this is minor because I almost always take it off, is that when crawling with the pack on, it is slightly difficult to look up and straight ahead because of the frame. But 90% of the time, I take my pack off anyway to stalk an animal. Other than that, this seems to be a super solid pack, can't wait to pack out a few bulls with it next week.

 

[KMD]

Thanks for the reviews!
Got tracking # on Friday for my 3500...

 

[hammer0419]

I am going to use my Kuiu rain cover , large size , should fit the EXO 3500 , I'll double check when my EXO gets here in a few days , with the draw cord it should fit it good .

Please post your results after you try it. If it is a good fit I will be ordering one. Thanks

Jim

 

[Nate]

When work told me that I had to go to Salt Lake for 10 days of training, I was kind of bummed. I decided to take my new Exo 3500 with me and hope to find somewhere to hike on the weekend. Once I spent a little time in the area, I wish I had more than a weekend to spend for free time. It is a beautiful area for not being in Montana. I climbed two peaks. The first was an easy hike to the top of Bald Mountain and the second was to the top of Mount Timpanogos. Mount Timpanogos was a 5,370 elevation gain in 7.75 miles per my GPS.

I loaded the pack with 35-40 pounds of misc gear (did not have a scale). I have not had any opportunity to try the pack out before this trip, so just grabbed lots of gear from the closet the night before the trip and threw in it for weight. The best way to describe the pack is nothing short of a perfect back country hunting pack. I can’t wait to throw more weight in it and get it bloody. There are too many positives to list about the pack. I would just be repeating all the previous positive reviews.

I am a stressful shopper and don’t have the opportunity to buy quality (expensive) equipment on a regular basis. That being said, I called Steve several times and his customer service was second to none. He took time out of his busy day to deal with me asking the simplest of questions on a few occasions and emailing back and forth. Before I decided to buy the Exo, I called another company 3 different times about a pack that I was interested in. The customer service was poor. They kept trying to talk me out of the pack I was interested in and talk me into one of their ultra packs. It was an easy decision just based on the customer service on which company I wanted to spend my money with and I am very glad with the decision I made.

I am new to the whole posting on a forum and am trying to post a pic from top of Mount Timpanogos.

 

[SHTF]

Nate Welcome to Rokslide. Thanks for the review. Great country out there in Utah. Mine should be here today. Cannot wait to load it up.

 

[adirondak5]

Please post your results after you try it. If it is a good fit I will be ordering one. Thanks

Jim

I should have my 3500 Thursday , I'll check the rain cover for fit and post pics , I think it'll fit just fine

 

[hammer0419]

I should have my 3500 Thursday , I'll check the rain cover for fit and post pics , I t m ohyhink it'll fit just fine

Awesome. Thank you

 

[eltaco]

I used my pack this weekend in pouring rain and snow and the xpac material did an outstanding job of keeping my gear completely dry inside the main bag. For me, personally, I will no longer be carrying a pack cover as the pack design already incorporates that function. I'll be keeping items that can get wet, or are otherwise dry bagged, in the exterior pockets and items that can't be wet in the main bag.

 

[_Nick_]

Alright, got my 3500 in today and did a bit of testing.

My take... The Exo bag and frame is superior to my Kifaru BT3 in all ways except one: the belt. The belt on the Exo is lackluster in comparison to the Kifaru belt, in my opinion. It uses a markedly smaller and firmer pad, leading to increased incidence of pressure points on the lumbar area. The material on the exo lumbar, in addition, is rough. This can pretty easily be felt through a t-shirt and further makes the belt less comfortable than the BT3's. Rough material is unnecessary, really, as a good belt design will hug the hips snugly enough that it won't be rotating anyway (maybe I'm wrong on this assumption?).

The only other minor detail is that the buckles for the shoulder strap tightening on the exo ride in such a way that my biceps brush them when walking with poles. This is pretty insignificant, though I think it could be easily remedied by having slightly longer shoulder strap padding (or by switching the tightening point to be on the frame side).

So, I'm torn. The exo frame is more flexible and allows for better hunched over visibility (so the top of the frame doesn't squash the back of your head). The exo bag is better designed. But the belt notably loses out in the comfort realm in my opinion... and a comfortable belt is a very important feature in a pack that needs to haul weight.

I think I may look into what level of insanity would be required to get a Kifaru belt on an exo frame... that would pretty much be the perfect overall bag.

Before I do that, I'm going to try a medium exo belt as well (have a 32" waist, so I'm right on the cusp between small and medium). Will update if that helps remedy the discomfort.

 

[hammer0419]

I will agree on the belt. Kifaru is by far the king of the belts. The exo lumbar is a bit on the rough side. Probably a better method like Kifaru does but I have adapted to it fine. The frame blows my bikini frame away as far as overall carry comfort. The Exo bag for me is just over the top better than anything I have used.

 

[SHTF]

Got my Exo tonight. Got home late so havent been out to test the pack with a load yet.



First thing putting the pack on that I noticed is the Belt says Large but I have literally no play left. So a size 38-40" waist is on the very top end of a Large Belt. I called Steve right away he told me where to find the Size tag, Sure enough its a Large. So I told Id make it work. This hugs my hips just fine but as we all know when a Belt is not sized correctly it slips when trying to cinch it down with Power Pulls. This is what I had happen with my Kifaru belts also until I learned the trick to deal with it. I can use a Small Kifaru belt and actually have a camelbak Belt extender that I put on it for a very comfortable hip hugging experience.
Well I took out my Camelbak extender and wouldnt you know it. The Small Buckles match perfectly with the Exo Buckles for the Belt. Slapped that on and Bam. I have a belt now I can cinch down without fussing with it. Here is a photo of how the extender works.
Steve, Lenny hit me up if you guys want more info on the extender. Its 2 straps with 2 sets of buckles.





I dont think you can order this extender through any website from Camelbak but I had them send it to me for a Camelbak BFM Pack that had a small Belt on it. They sent me this to me to extend the belt. Works on alot of packs as you can swap out the buckles to match what the backpack belt buckles are.

 

[adirondak5]

I dont think you can order this extender through any website from Camelbak but I had them send it to me for a Camelbak BFM Pack that had a small Belt on it. They sent me this to me to extend the belt. Works on alot of packs as you can swap out the buckles to match what the backpack belt buckles are.

Yea , that would be a nice option to have available , looks like something that could be easily fabricated and I have noticed a few folks here have the same concern with the large belt , heck , I might too when my pack gets here . If I do have that issue now I have a fix . Thanks for posting that SHFT.

 

[5MilesBack]

I'm not a fan of the belt either, but mostly because of the lumbar pad. I just absolutely cannot get a lumbar pad to feel right. I hate the pressure it puts on my lower back. I'd rather have all the weight on my shoulders than that pad digging into my back. Had the same issue with the Kifaru. The Paradox with the one-piece belt feels great, and the SG one-piece isn't as good as the Paradox but still better than a lumbar pad.

The other thing I don't like is the belt buckle has two sharp points on the inside of it that rest against my belly when tight and poke me. So I took the buckles off an old pack and use those instead. I'm also using the pack without the lumbar pad until I can find a better option. The bag itself is outstanding, trying to figure a way to attach it to my SG.

 

[hflier]

I have found that when the lumbar pad digs into my back it was because I was using a normal back set of stays on my flat back. If the stays are metal I bend them so the whole lumbar pad lies flat against my back. It's easy to tell if this is the problem as the top of the lumbar pad will be in contact with your back, but the bottom will not be. I had a flat back and never knew it.

 

[5MilesBack]

I tried the Kifaru flat back stays and the lumbar pad was still bad. Feels like it's 3" too thick. Feels great without it.

 

[edg1967]

I got my pack yesterday too and haven't had a lot of time to play with it, but did load it up with about 25 pounds and covered some carpet. I also notice a little pressure in the lumbar area and have had Bikini/Duplex Flat-back frames in the past. I'm going to throw a little more weight in it today and take out the denser of the two pieces of foam in the lumbar pad and see if this relieves some of the pressure. Anyone else try this?

 

[edg1967]

I got my pack yesterday too and haven't had a lot of time to play with it, but did load it up with about 25 pounds and covered some carpet. I also notice a little pressure in the lumbar area and have had Bikini/Duplex Flat-back frames in the past. I'm going to throw a little more weight in it today and take out the denser of the two pieces of foam in the lumbar pad and see if this relieves some of the pressure. Anyone else try this?

OK. Day two with the Exo and I had a little more time to put it to use. Doing Daddy-Daycare duty today so I put my six month old daughter in the jogging stroller and headed down our road with 50 pounds of salt in the pack…I figured that she won't complain about me embarrassing her walking up and down the street while wearing a backpack, but I might not get by with it in 12 years or so. I did take out the denser (dark grey) of the two foam inserts in the lumbar pad. I did about two and a half miles up and down our road and I have to say that it felt a lot better to me with 50 like this than 25 pounds with both foam pieces. Overall, the pack road very well and did not slip. I was careful to keep checking position of the belt which started the hike with it centered over my Iliac Crest and it did not slip down and the buckle that was centered over my belly button did not loosen. I did notice that the fabric on the lumbar pad is pretty aggressive and this is probably what helps keep it in place. I would probably choose a different shirt next time as I could feel it through the thin one I was wearing.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with it. The bag design is perfect for me. I still may need to do a little tweaking on the suspension, but I can't see how it won't work for me. Unless Steve chimes in here, I will probably call him sometime in the next few days to see if another piece of the white foam is available and try that.

 

[Bmcox86]

I've had about 50 miles on mine so far and it's going strong. Didn't get lucky and get it bloody yet but soon I hope. Going to try a gun bearer here soon because the side pocket doesn't fit my gun very well.

 

[n2horns]

I got mine today, ordered a 5500, any difference in packs that denote 3500 vs 5500?

 

[S&S ARCHERY]

5500 has the floating / removable lid and the double cinch collar. Other than that and overall size pretty much the same.

We are going to be putting different lumbar foam/pad combination options on the website here in the coming months for guys who want to customize the feel of the lumbar pad. We did intentionally make it a little stiff as the foam will break down and become softer over time.

Accessories will be up on the website late tonight and we are going to do our best to have them all 100% shipped by Friday.

If anyone has any questions email or call me up, going to be running around with my head cut off for the next few days.

Steve