exo mountain pack

[NVCHUKAR]

Your welcome guys I am glad I could help. DrH that is my first mule deer I shot when I was 13 mounted on a white tailed Jack Rabbit both killed in Nevada.

I took the pack out for a 2 mile hike with 60# in it. Everything felt good, you could put the weight on your hips, harness is comfortable and the belt is solid. The lumbar pad does put a bit more pressure than a kifaru since it is smalller. It was not uncomfortable in any way, might be an issue for you heavy haulers out there. The pack will be fine at my max weight of 100. I should have time this week to put a good amount of miles on it and try to find any issues.

 

[Bmcox86]

Anyone see a picture of the foil age yet? I'm tempted to switch mine from coyote to foliage. Same as the other foliage packs probally?

 

[hammer0419]

Im sure it is the same as all the others. Foliage is basically foliage. I have had packs in the past from Kifaru with two different SHADES of foliage. You could see the pockets or some part didn't match the other parts but not drastic. Probably two different pieces from two different lots of material. But basically in the end its Foliage. I have one in Foliage on order. Living in NY there is no way in hell I enter the woods with anything brown!!

 

[NVCHUKAR]

I just did a 5 mike hike with 25# 1500 foot elevation gain and decline. Yesterday did a 60# 2 mile hike. Exo is a solid pack and well worth the money. It will carry as much or more weight than a late season with zero barreling. Over 50#s I prefer the the Kifaru waist belt and lumbar of the bikini. But the upper harness is a toss up between the two. People that don't like the extra large pad of Kifaru might prefer the exo. The bag is very nice and really dig the layout. I might see if I can attatch the bag to a bikini frame and pick up a 5500 exo down the road.

 

[hammer0419]

Good info. I could see it was not as thick as a Duplex. But much thicker than many other companies packs. Some even with no lumbar pad? I have always liked the Wraptech belts Kifaru makes so I am excited to try the Exo.

 

[NVCHUKAR]

It's closer to the feel of a wraptech due to the smaller lumbar of both.

 

[BATTLEBORN]

I just did a 5 mike hike with 25# 1500 foot elevation gain and decline. Yesterday did a 60# 2 mile hike. Exo is a solid pack and well worth the money. It will carry as much or more weight than a late season with zero barreling. Over 50#s I prefer the the Kifaru waist belt and lumbar of the bikini. But the upper harness is a toss up between the two. People that don't like the extra large pad of Kifaru might prefer the exo. The bag is very nice and really dig the layout. I might see if I can attatch the bag to a bikini frame and pick up a 5500 exo down the road.

You didn't go up Hunter Creek today did you?

 

[NVCHUKAR]

Haha no I live near peavine, thats my go to hiking hills. I saw the smoke when I was hiking down the mountain. Hopefully they can get it out quick that mountain has had enough fire over the last few years.

 

[S&S ARCHERY]

I just did a 5 mike hike with 25# 1500 foot elevation gain and decline. Yesterday did a 60# 2 mile hike. Exo is a solid pack and well worth the money. It will carry as much or more weight than a late season with zero barreling. Over 50#s I prefer the the Kifaru waist belt and lumbar of the bikini. But the upper harness is a toss up between the two. People that don't like the extra large pad of Kifaru might prefer the exo. The bag is very nice and really dig the layout. I might see if I can attatch the bag to a bikini frame and pick up a 5500 exo down the road.

Thanks for posting up the pics and review. We are working on a handful of different lumbar foam combinations so you can really customize the fit of the Skeleton frame. They should be ready later this summer. Oddly enough if you want to reduce pressure in the lumbar its best to take foam thickness out of the lumbar and then it will put more pressure on the hips and take it off the sacrum. We played around with larger lumbar pads but the larger it got the more pressure it put there for us. There are only so many places the weight can go so what's best all depends on how you want the pack to feel and the curvature of your lower back.

Here are some updated shipping time-frames for you guys:

ASAT should be shipping this Friday the 23rd. With Memorial weekend that might affect shipping times though.

Foliage will be approximately two weeks after ASAT goes out and then the next run of Coyote two weeks after that.

5500 bags will be ready mid-July in all colors.

A lot of questions about our Foliage color, like some mentioned Foliage is just Foliage. You can get slightly different shades but for the most part its a standard color and all backpack companies most likely buy from the same handful of suppliers. I have to go down to the sew shop today so I'll try to take some more pics of the ASAT and Foliage fabric for you guys.

Also I think a lot of people will be surprised by the amount of gear you can pack with the 3500. We definitely underestimated the size and just how the bag lays out its really efficient at packing gear. I did a 7 day backpacking trip last November in the 3500 and didn't have to use the load shelf at all.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[BATTLEBORN]

Thanks Steve,

Is the 3500 cu inches just the main bag? Or does that include both exterior side sleeves and lid?

Thanks

 

[NVCHUKAR]

Just the main bag, the sleeves are bonus and so are the three stretchy pockets and lid. Everything combined is closer to 5000

 

[BATTLEBORN]

Thanks NV, that sounds like a perfect size. I was considering the 5500 but the 3500 should be plenty if that is just the main bag. Might wait for the foliage and pull the trigger.

 

[hammer0419]

From the great pictures NV shared, the 3500 looks quite generous in size. It looks to me 5-6 days would be no problem. The 5500 will probably fit the bill for the 7+ days that some go on. NV's picture of pack filled up with gear and simulated meat load shows how well everything fits together and carries. Once my 3500 foliage arrives I am going to do a 7 day recreational hike and camp. It will be a 70 mile trip. I will play with pack and see how my gear fits. Not a hunting trip, I could use a stuff sack between frame and bag if needed. I will see once it arrives.

 

[S&S ARCHERY]

Just the main bag, the sleeves are bonus and so are the three stretchy pockets and lid. Everything combined is closer to 5000

Yeah that's about right. Lid and main bag 3500, each side sleeve about 500 and then the stretchy fabric you can stuff pretty full to get another 500.

Steve

 

[ElkNut1]

I owned the Kifaru D3 with the 4000" setup & bikini frame & can say in comparison that the Exo's bag is much larger than the the Kifaru D3. It's large enough to get a hindquarter in it if so desired, the D3 is not.

ElKNut1

 

[Akheimdahl]

So what's the actual ci for the bags??

 

[S&S ARCHERY]

So what's the actual ci for the bags??

If you were to fill up every pocket counting the stretch fabric you would get close to 5000 with the Exo 3500. We just felt that its a mis-leading number as the side pockets are really meant to carry your spotter, rifle or water bladder and putting a ci number on the stretch fabric is tough as it could be zero or 500.

Steve

 

[NVCHUKAR]

I owned the Kifaru D3 with the 4000" setup & bikini frame & can say in comparison that the Exo's bag is much larger than the the Kifaru D3. It's large enough to get a hindquarter in it if so desired, the D3 is not.

ElKNut1

Just as elk but said, the diameter of the main bag is like my late season which is the same as a t2. Plus it takes less than a minute to slide a quarter between the bag and the frame leaving you 5000 ci for your gear

 

[Akheimdahl]

Ok, so the 3500 is actually 5000 ci's and the 5000 is going to be around 6500 actual ci's?

 

[hammer0419]

Let's see some more reviews. The wait for my foliage is a killer.