Meat hauling day packs

[mcseal2]

Ive owned most brands of packs other than Stone Glacier and Kuiu. I currently own MR crew cab, Exo 3500, a Kifaru Hunting Frame and the Seek Outside Peregrine.

From what you said, you are very similar to me, the Exo is awesome with light loads but can have belt slip under heavier loads, and the Kifaru belt is superior for heavier loads but it’s like walking with an ironing board strapped to your back with light loads.

I’d recommend Maybe try the Seek Outside Revolution, in my opinion it has the lateral movement of the Exo but the belt system seems to hold as well as the Kifaru belt, but because there are two buckles you don’t have to yank it on so tight and you don’t feel like the Michelin man. I was a bit scep of the two buckles because I thought it would be a hassle but the comfort is extraordinary.

Im still keen on checking out a MR Pop up for day hunts due to the fold down frame (might wait for a larger capacity pop up though), having said that, I can HEARTILY recommend the Seek Outside Revolution Frame and suspension, in my experience it takes the best qualities of the Exo (lateral flexing) and Kifaru frame system (sturdy under loads), if you can find someone nearby that owns one you might be very surprised.

Sounds pretty close to right. I don't have to much complaint about the Exo with heavy loads but I do feel like I carry a bit more on my shoulders than with the Kifaru. I think I'm used to that though so it doesn't bother me. My predator hunting Eberlestock Team Elk I removed the hip belt on. I use a FoxPro Prairie Blaster 3 with a really heavy battery so my predator pack weighs close to 40lbs with the AR in it. Without the hip belt on that pack I carry the most I'm used to packing weight on my shoulders. I'm packing to much weight around my belly too so most hip belts aren't perfect for me.

My buddy I hunt with is looking at replacing his Eberlestock Mainframe with the Seek Revolution. I'll have a chance to try one probably before to long.

 

[Cf8889]

I emailed MR Saturday, and they got back to me today, and said they will have a 35-40 L Pop Up coming out in 2020. Im on the fence about buying the 28. Looks like a perfect pack for my style of hunting!

I wonder if they'd sell just the bag? Interchangeable on the Pop Up frame with a 18L/28L and 40L would be great!

 

[willfrye027]

I love my kuiu ultra 3000. Packed out 8ish deer so far. Was really pushing it this fall with a whole mule deer (bone in quarters and everything else including head). Pack was too heavy to stand up normally, had to roll on my stomach and then knees. It was not ideal at this weight but it handled it. For me it’s the ideal day pack, very lightweight and sleek, but able to manage a massive load. Other heavier duty packs are probably a bit better at meat packing, but not as great for daypack imo.

 

[11boo]

Kuiu ultra 3000. Two full years with it, no regrets.

 

[11boo]

I love my kuiu ultra 3000. Packed out 8ish deer so far. Was really pushing it this fall with a whole mule deer (bone in quarters and everything else including head). Pack was too heavy to stand up normally, had to roll on my stomach and then knees. It was not ideal at this weight but it handled it. For me it’s the ideal day pack, very lightweight and sleek, but able to manage a massive load. Other heavier duty packs are probably a bit better at meat packing, but not as great for daypack imo.

That’s it, the pack is carried as a day pack 99% of the time. I’m not hauling a heavy pack for the occasion when I need to carry quarters more comfortably, I’ll take the sub 4 pound pack all day.

 

[willfrye027]

That’s it, the pack is carried as a day pack 99% of the time. I’m not hauling a heavy pack for the occasion when I need to carry quarters more comfortably, I’ll take the sub 4 pound pack all day.

It just happens to be perfect for archery backpack trips as well...

 

[Coveyleader]

Exactly the reason many of us still use the 2200. They are bomb proof and can carry a ton. The "meat shelf" combined with the wings allows you to take a nasty load out if needed.

I like the looks of some of the other day packs, but I never have liked the concept of dropping the meat inside the pack. If I ever went the Kifaru route it would be the Fulcrum or the Nomad for this very reason. The wing concept for me is king. I don't want to be on a slope jacking around with load lifters, and straps to pull a pack forward in order to place the meat in between the shelf and bag. Its not for me.

My routine is , find animal, take a photo, sensitive items check, all goes inside the pack at that time. Break down animal, into game bags and when time to go, open wings, lay the meat between the wings, use the meat shelf that comes with the 2200 to secure, and then the wings around that. Lift, pack, repeat.

I think the BL 2000 was a revolutionary pack if you think about it.

 

[Sled]

i went from a badlands 2200 to a kuiu icon in a similar size. it hauls and carries much better for me. there maybe better out there but i have no need to switch currently.

 

[Felix40]

For those of you with pop ups, what other packs have you used? Everything is so subjective that its hard to establish a baseline for comfort.

I run a kifaru bikini but wanted to get something a bit shorter and lighter for day hunts. I tried out a badlands but it made me want to use it to start a fire. The pop up looks like a really smart design but if the belt is as bad as badlands there is no point in me looking into it.

 

[juan trueno]

In addition to the popup I’ve got NICE and Guidelight frames. I’ve got a Dana design terrolane overkill, and an arclight glacier. I’ve had gregory and arctyerx packs, and started with a jansport external then a kelty external frame 29 years ago. I carried Alice and Molly at work in addition to NICE frame and bags

The popup is the pack that I usually have with me at this point. I only cRry pintler or terrplane if I know I’m goin to be gone more than one night. I think the popup belt is adequate. I had my guidleight in the truck this year when i killed my elk but packed it all in the popup anyway

 

[Young Blood]

I've only hauled out meat with my badlands 2200 and it was not pleasant. For me I think its more of a function of it having one belt size so I can't get it even remotely tight and all the weight rides on my shoulders.

Having said that, I recently bought a MR Pintler and am excited to haul some weight with it. My coworker just got his Pop Up yesterday so I got my hands on that this morning. I can't speak to the belt specifically, but one thing I did notice right away is how much to the Pop Up twists torsionally compared to the guide light frame (due to the lack of horizontal stays). Vertically it is stout, but I don't think I would ever try to pack more than one quarter in one simply due to the amount of torsional instability. That being said, I don't think that the Pop Up frame was every designed to haul more than one quarter so no fault to the pack just pointing out an obvious design difference at first glance. For most this won't be an issue but I am still young and dumb and occasionally try to reduce number of trips by increasing size of load.

 

[michaelfdyer]

Kifaru Apollo is a great choice!

 

[ElkArcher918]

I run the Exo 3500 on solo day trips and muliti-day hunts. The pack compresses well and offers great versatility. Keep an eye out for a good used one.

 

[Piscatory_4]

I love my kuiu ultra 3000. Packed out 8ish deer so far. Was really pushing it this fall with a whole mule deer (bone in quarters and everything else including head). Pack was too heavy to stand up normally, had to roll on my stomach and then knees. It was not ideal at this weight but it handled it. For me it’s the ideal day pack, very lightweight and sleek, but able to manage a massive load. Other heavier duty packs are probably a bit better at meat packing, but not as great for daypack imo.

Kuiu ultra 3000. Two full years with it, no regrets.

View attachment 87615View attachment 87615

This is encouraging, I've had the Ultra 3000 for a couple years but no chance to use it yet. Been using an older Icon 1850 without frame for day pack and just got Icon Pro 1850 so I could mount it to frame. Figure it can work for day hunts with meat hauling when necessary and use the 3000 for multiday hunts when that happens. Maybe even strap the 1850 bag to the 3000 somehow as extra capacity then use it as daypack from camp.

 

[willfrye027]

This is encouraging, I've had the Ultra 3000 for a couple years but no chance to use it yet. Been using an older Icon 1850 without frame for day pack and just got Icon Pro 1850 so I could mount it to frame. Figure it can work for day hunts with meat hauling when necessary and use the 3000 for multiday hunts when that happens. Maybe even strap the 1850 bag to the 3000 somehow as extra capacity then use it as daypack from camp.

I’m happy with mine. I get that there are better, heavier packs out there but for me the weight of the pack is worth the tradeoff for slightly more painful packouts. Maybe if I was doing elk I would feel differently but for deer I am happy.

 

[Battlebornbackcountry]

I’ve got a ranger green 2017 I’d let go of. Small belt, 2 belt pouches.....$400.

Still available?
Email me, [email protected]

 

[Jbehredt]

Still available?
Email me, [email protected]

Sorry, sold.

 

[Wilderlife]

I currently run an EXO 5500 K2. While it is obviously a very big bag, it can cinch down to be tolerable for day trips without much fuss. I know this because I've never actually done a trip with it where I've camped out even for one night, so I use it just as a daypack. I'm doing some backpack trips with it later this year so that's why I went with the bigger option, and I also regularly load it full of crap to hike/train with heavy loads.

On a regular basis, I walk into the mountains, shoot a deer, and carry the meat back to my vehicle, and for this reason, I am considering one of the new EXO 1800 K3 when they come out. Over here in Australia I hunt year-round and some of the stuff I do in summer is insane in 40 decrees celcius weather. I feel that a smaller bag would help me limit a lot of the stuff I like to carry - stove, various camera lenses, etc.

Getting a small bag on an EXO frame would still give me the ability to carry out an entire fallow deer with one load, but be a lot more streamlined for crawling through thick stuff with my rifle or bow. For this reason, when it comes to a daypack that can haul big meat loads, this is the way I'm thinking.

 

[JNDEER]

Kifaru, Exo, Kuiu... I never understand the idea of wanting only 2000 or 3000 cu-in. bag. A 5000/ 6000 bag folds down to the same size as a 2000 bag and weighs a few ounces more. I can see not wanting 7000 in a bag as your day hunt stuff may be harder to access and the bag could be a little "floppy" but really any larger size bag can be a day hunt bag and a bring home the kill bag.

 

[Downeaster]

Pop up 18, Pintler, OX frame. These pretty much cover all my bases. I really should sell some packs...