Exokifaru Franken Pack 3500 and 5500

[COlineman78]

Anyone put the foliage Exo bags on a wolf grey kifaru frame?

 

[twall13]

Awesome, those look really good together. I appreciate the help. Now I just need to finish out the season before I make the switch. That helps me make the decision, I appreciate the photo.

 

[DWinVA]

Thought I would add to this thread. I've been wanting to try a Kifaru Guide Lid on my EXO 3500 ('14 frame & '15 bag). Thanks to Dave5280 here I finally took the plunge. Even thought the Guide Lid buckles are bigger than the straps on the EXO I think it will work fine for the immediate future. The main reason I wanted a Guide Lid was to use as a carry-on with the pack full and checked in a large suite case on my elk trip to CO in less than a week. I can also use it on quick evening whitetail hunts from the house this fall. God Bless.

 

[HMG1]

So I saw this thread a while back and I loved the layout of the Exo bag. Not being able to afford to switch from the Kifaru pack that I had, I decided to try putting the 5500 bag onto my older style Duplex frame. I had Steve throw in a couple of extra buckles and a length of webbing and they came in super handy. Thanks EXO!

The top worked great, super simple.

On the bottom, I wanted something a little more permanent that would keep the bag tight to the frame even when the bottom sinch straps were loose. So I had my wife sew in two metal bar tacs onto the bottom two straps were they come out of the bag, as seen in the two pics below. This allows me to have normal connecting points but if I do decide to reverse the process all I have to do is pull some stitching on the two bottom straps and both the bag and frame are untouched.

 

[HMG1]

For the lower compression straps I took a sewn loop with a length of strap, just like the ones that come on the back of the bag for the lid, and attached it to the middle triangle loop on the pack.

The Exo lid will be attached with a bar tack sewn onto a length of webbing which will go into the adjuster tab sewn into the frontside of the lid.

So far I havent found a suitable mounting point to put the upper compression straps that puts them at an upward angle. The existing mounting points would put the strap at a horizontal level. Im debating sewing on a length of webbing onto each side of the upper flap that goes over the top of the pack for this purpose.

 

[kramcutthroat]

Thanks for showing all your progress, I am about to do this exact thing! Thanks again! Keep us updated with changes or modifications!

 

[JayPee]

Has anybody bothered running the delta straps to the pack, or are you just leaving them attached to the frame? Just picked up an older (gen 2?) duplex and am working on sticking my 3500 on it. Looks like the older frames don't have near the versatility of attachment points that the new ones do. Also, is it worth it to pick up an extra set of compression straps to mimic the straps on the exo frame? Or are the 4 straps to the bag enough to compress a load between the frame and bag

 

[SHTF]

I attach to bag


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheCougar]

Another option for exo bag on duplex frame

Thanks to SHTF for all his good info. He answered a few questions for my own kifaru/Exo build. The Exo bags do indeed go on the duplex frame without much fuss. I took a slightly different approach to attaching the Exo lid to the duplex frame and I also have included a couple of pictures of the Exo crib on the kifaru frame. In order to do this, I needed a few extra parts. In addition to the items SHTF has detailed at the beginning of his post, I also ordered the kifaru buckle replacement/pack repair kit. I only used a few buckles from this kit, and you can save a few bucks and order just the extra buckles you need. I also asked kifaru to include a four foot piece of 3/4 inch webbing (and 1" webbing if you plan on adding additional frame attachment straps).

Below: this is the difference between my bag attachment and SHTF's method. He attached the Exo lid by removing the tension locks and attaching the lid using tri-glides at the load lifter attachment. I retained the tension locks on the lid and ran 3/4 webbing under the frame webbing and back up with a tension lock. There are other ways to skin this cat, but I took the path of least resistance. The benefit of this is that I can keep the lid attached to the frame, just like it would be on an Exo frame. It is really fast and easy and gives you more attachment options without removing the stock lid hardware.







Here is how the Exo Crib attaches, which is dirt simple. All you need are two tension locks for the bottom straps. It fits perfectly!

 

[SHTF]

Thanks to SHTF for all his good info. He answered a few questions for my own kifaru/Exo build. The Exo bags do indeed go on the duplex frame without much fuss. I took a slightly different approach to attaching the Exo lid to the duplex frame and I also have included a couple of pictures of the Exo crib on the kifaru frame. In order to do this, I needed a few extra parts. In addition to the items SHTF has detailed at the beginning of his post, I also ordered the kifaru buckle replacement/pack repair kit. I only used a few buckles from this kit, and you can save a few bucks and order just the extra buckles you need. I also asked kifaru to include a four foot piece of 3/4 inch webbing (and 1" webbing if you plan on adding additional frame attachment straps).

Below: this is the difference between my bag attachment and SHTF's method. He attached the Exo lid by removing the tension locks and attaching the lid using tri-glides at the load lifter attachment. I retained the tension locks on the lid and ran 3/4 webbing under the frame webbing and back up with a tension lock. There are other ways to skin this cat, but I took the path of least resistance. The benefit of this is that I can keep the lid attached to the frame, just like it would be on an Exo frame. It is really fast and easy and gives you more attachment options without removing the stock lid hardware.

View attachment 42885

View attachment 42886

View attachment 42887

Here is how the Exo Crib attaches, which is dirt simple. All you need are two tension locks for the bottom straps. It fits perfectly!

View attachment 42888

View attachment 42889

Great job. Glad I could help.