Love mine. Packs down small for day hunting, and I can fit more crap and weight in it than I can physically carry. I used mine on my elk hunt, and out east I even strapped a big ass ladder stand to it to schlep it in to one of my spots.
Love mine so far. Compresses well, expands easily, and has the potential to carry way more than I want to handle. I've day hunted with it then threw 3 bags of corn in it to refill some feeders before I left for the day. It's a great all around bag.
I really like mine, especially for a one pack system. It really comes full circle when it's time to carry your kill out. The design and layout makes it super easy to carry meat, capes, and camp with no hassle, as well as other random stuff.
Goat and Camp in one load, just unzipped it and used the straps to secure everything. Simple and fast.
Poor mans packraft. I used it to carry waders and a life vest for day hunts.
Pack goat paniers. The pack goats decided to hike back to the trailhead on their own while we were out hunting for the day.
The compression straps really expand and grab just about anything. The main bag is huge, but you never know what you will use it for
I love mine. It's a bit of a daunting pack when you first get it if you're new to Kifarus but after some use, you quickly get familiar with it and all of it's options and get into a groove. Once you get it dialed in, it's smooth sailing and the options are endless for what you do with it. I used mine this year for both multi-day trips and day trips and it worked perfectly in either roll.
I was helping a buddy pack his goat out this year and he was carrying a Barney's an the third guy in the group had a Kuiu...which are both pretty simple compared to an EMR2. As I loaded up my portion they kinda just watched me and when I was done strapping everything down one of them said, "wow, you've really got a system down for that monster don't ya?"
Its by far my favorite Kifaru packbag I have used to date. Just so easy to strap in animals for hauling out and don't gotta put them in the main bag even so makes loading up the meat or hide super fast and keeps the inside of the pack clean too. The center zip makes it super easy for loading up and unloading camp when you are moving between spots and you are never digging down into the top of the pack like you are with other packbags to find what you need.
Having hauled a dozen animals out with it in 2014 (which is just a fraction of what Aron hauled out with his in NWT) I can say it will be my go to pack again in 2015. Its just too handy for hauling out animals, which is the purpose of a hunting pack anyways. No need to go to meat shelf mode or fool with any of that or stuff the meat or hide inside a top loader bag. Just too simple to really want to use anything else for my uses.
I think I will pull trigger on EMR2. I was thinking nomad. Weight differences between nomad with guide lid, camp bag vs emr 2. My concern is that emr2 with everything might be too heavy. please educate me
The only question I have is What are you guys doing for accessories? I'm thinking 2 medium belt pouches for packing a rifle. Is there anything else I should consider? Lid?? Internal storage?
Right, wrong, or in-different... I've got a couple of medium belt pouches on the bag, a small belt pouch and a bottle holder on the belt, and a guide lid on top.
I've also got a grab it I hooked up inside to use as an interior load shelf.
On the bag I only run a longhunter lid.
I don't need it for space but its nice to have regularly used items accessible without undoing all the straps. I also have 2 small pouches on the belt.