They aren't chewed holes they would be more open and sharper edges [ask me how I know]. I hand wash all my game bags I noticed some fraying then the next time it had opened up. I haul bone in and boneless. I don't know if a shoulder blade was on an aera where the strap upt pressure or what happened. I am currently using the aragali game bags. Have only hauled 2 hogs so far but they are holding up well so far. To me a 50$ game bag should last more than 6 months.I'm curious how those holes got in the Kuiu. They don't look like material defects or a warranty issue to me. They look like wear or chew holes. Just curious, I have Kuiu, TAG, Caribou, Black Ovis and Allen backcountry and have never seen a hole like that in one of them. Come to think of it none of them have any holes and been using them since 2012 with 2-7 animals per year packed. Kuiu did warranty one of the zippered bags that ripped where the top of the handle attaches, let me keep the old bag too.
I haven't tried the Argalli but I am interested in them whenever I need more bags.
I'm intrigued. Tell me more. You use panty hose on elk quarters? And yes, WTF? But, I need more on this. Do you have any pics? This might be the idea of the year.Been chasing this one for a few years. The best combination I have found for back country meat care is the following:
Citrus spray granules and pump bottle (Caribou Gear)
Women’s 5x-6x size panty hose. (Yes, you read that right....women’s panty hose.....vacuum sealed down, a set of 4 ends up the size of a tennis ball/softball, and weighs considerably less than comparable game bags).
Been using this system for 10+ years. Works great! (And, yes, sometimes the looks and comments along the way are priceless! From the unknowing, yet sympathetic looks I get from the cashier at the store when I buy them - “oh, you poor ba$tard” - to the looks I get at the meat locker “WTF?!?!??!”......)
Gives me a good chuckle when I’m slipping them over a big meaty hindquarter, late at night, solo, in the middle of the backcountry, bloody, and wiped out, wearing a headlamp. “I wonder what someone would say if they walked up on this scene right now?!”
“You ain’t right!”
Yes, I am serious.I'm intrigued. Tell me more. You use panty hose on elk quarters? And yes, WTF? But, I need more on this. Do you have any pics? This might be the idea of the year.
Thanks for the detailed response. This makes a lot of sense to me. I really like to go ultralight when I’m out hunting during the day. And hate carrying around game bags. I like the idea of the pantyhose as a stop gap until you get back to camp and get the “real” game bags. I’m going to give this a try this Fall. Thanks again.Yes, I am serious.
Here is a youtube video that can give some additional information:
Note, the process that I use is similar to this video, with a couple of exceptions.
- One: I hang the elk quarters in the tree and THEN I put on the panty hose. The panty hose by themselves are NOT strong enough to hold the entire weight of the quarter. You have to first hang up the elk quarter using paracord, and then put on the panty hose.
- Two, I put the panty hose on the opposite direction as Jeff does in this video: he starts on the knuckle/hock end, I start on the thicker quarter end. Probably makes no difference and would work either way.
I use the panty hose because they are lightweight and compress down really well when vacuum sealed. Before going this direction I used Alaska Game bags, which are heavy and bulky in comparison and take up quite a bit of room in the backpack. (Since I started using this system, additional options have come on the market which are really well reviewed, including Caribou Gear, TAG, BlackOvis, etc.)
My general process is this:
- Shoot animal,
- Tag animal,
- Take copious amounts of pictures,
- Quarter using the gutless method,
- Hang meat in tree using paracord/camjam/pulley system
- Put pantyhose on quarters and trimmings,
- Apply citrus spray onto the pantyhose covering the meat in the tree,
- Put one quarter into pack along with backstraps and trimmings
- Hike with first load down to the vehicle,
- Drop off first load of meat in vehicle,
- Grab pack frame and Alaska game bags,
- Hike back to meat pole,
- Apply Alaska Game Bags to remaining 3 quarters,
- Pack the rest of the meat out.
So, the thing to highlight in the process above is the pantyhose are only used for a short period of time (a day at most) while I am going back to the vehicle to get the more robust game bags. And, the I supplement them using Caribou Gear's game bag spray. (I am still using the Alaska Game bags because I have a number of them from a friend and have been washing them/reusing. Once they are gone or beyond their useful life I plan to continue using the pantyhose system above, but will transition to another brand for packing out the rest of the meat..)
Additional information: my most recent purchases have been with the Silky Toes on Amazon, 8X size, rated for 5'5"-6', 300-375 lbs. That's the biggest size they have. (And, no, I am not sponsored or affiliated with this manufacturer! LOL.) In previous years I have used 3-4X sizes from Wal-Mart and they have weighed less; I just wanted to try a larger size.)
The weight of this setup:
(4) 8x Panthose, vacuum-sealed: 6.4 oz.
(1) spray bottle and citrus granules: 2.8 oz.
Here is a link to a previous thread here on Rokslide.
This system has worked reasonably well, with a few lessons learned along the way. The first year I tried it I experienced no problems. The second year was a year with a lot of bees, and they chewed a small hole in one of the pantyhose and got at some of the meat (about the size of a deck of cards had to be cut off and left behind). I was kind of disappointed in that experience, so the third year I implemented the citrus spray and have not had any issues in the 5-6 seasons since.
Hope this helps! Never thought I'd be writing so much about 8X pantyhose! LOL.