Meat Shelves..... like or dislike?

[Buckhorn 70]

Wondering what your opinions are on the meat shelves built into packs versus meat in the bag/pack?

Kinda like the shelves on the Kifaru bags( mag 22,44, reckoning, Stryker).

thanks

 

[4ester]

Prefer a shelf.

Last thing I want to do is stick bloody meat against all my backpacking gear. Some will say that they put it in a plastic bag, but that’s a terrible idea unless the meat is cool. At least with the shelf the blood can drain and continue to cool.

Plus you can use the frame individually for training or quick meat recovery without the bag.


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[Poser]

A meat shelf is great for straight heavy hauling and I’ve been using one exclusively for the last 5 years. You can stabilize ultra heavy loads exactly as needed and you can almost always fit more on there and not limited by the size of the bag.

Downsides:

-if you are doing a combination of meat hauling and carrying a bag with camping gear, especially with a rifle strapped to the bag, it is a compromise both ways with your bag weight way back behind the meat, limiting the total weight you can carry do to the inefficiency of weight so far from your center of gravity.

-if you need to carry some extra gear for a long pack out, say, rain gear + puffy + mid layer+ food + first aid kit + bladder etc, you end up with more of a hobo aesthetic with loose stuff hanging off your pack. That kind of annoys me.

 

[MuleyFever]

I have never had a pack with one and I have never thought I needed one. I have no issue putting a meat bag in my pack. It’s easy to move my gear so it doesn’t get bloody

 

[Tradchef]

I’ve done both ways and prefer packing meat in the bag. I use a reckoning for that and I also use a cargo panel and guide lid for quick hunts and it’s a solid option as well.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Meat/load shelf for me too, for the last 5 years now. I won’t ever go back to carrying meat inside the pack.


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[Backpack Hunter]

I prefer inside the pack. My most used pack is probably the Tahr, which comes with a meat shelf that has never been used.

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[ljalberta]

I usually just put all the meat in breathable meat bags then load em right in my pack. I put my gear I don't want getting wet/dirty in a plastic bag. I wash all my gear later anyways. I used my Reckoning load shelf this year for the first time though and it was quite handy for carrying bigger loads shorter distances. At the end of the day I don't think there's a better or worse option. You'll have to try it out and see what you think.

Deboned bighorn inside with my day gear. Packed my camp in around everything afterwards as well.

Load Shelf

 

[Pigdog]

I love having the meat shelf. I use it all the time, even for not meat applications. I find that it adds a huge level of versatility to any pack. I use it to increase my load capacity when on family backpacking trips, I pack all the gear and my wife packs the kid carrier. I use it to haul a big basket during mushroom picking season. Etc.
That being said, I have put meat inside my pack in the past and would have no problem putting meat inside my pack again if the situation warranted.

 

[justin davis]

I prefer loading meat into the bag

 

[204guy]

The more I've used meat shelves the more I dislike them, for a bunch of reasons. In the bag for me.

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[Desk Jockey]

They are great for meat or overloading your bag.

Only downside I see is they push the load in the bag further from you spines centerline so the load pulls you backward compared to a bigger pack loaded with the same weight in a more traditional configuration.

For hauling a heavy additional load on occasion they shine but for consistent hauling of big loads, a bigger pack carries better.

 

[npellegrene]

Some good opinions and tips, thanks for sharing.

 

[Mt Al]

I've done both and prefer the shelf, but it's not like a deal killer. For me the tradeoff on versatility vs. minor weight penalty is worth it.

 

[Outlaw99]

In the bag works for me. Having the option of a load shelf is nice, but I prefer it in the bag

 

[gonhunting247]

Shelf for me. It just fits my style after all these years of packing I guess!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Never have used a shelf, but I also bring a large black trash bag that gear I don't want blood on can go into. That's kind of a pain in the rear too because you have to put the trash bag into the backpack first and then pack things into it, but it works. Next pack I get will have a shelf.

 

[wind gypsy]

Load shelf for a number of reasons.

1. You don’t need to use a huge pack bag that will accommodate gear plus 80 lbs of meat.
2. Keeps meat weight tight to frame where it belongs.
3. Don’t need to put meat in a plastic bag where it doesn’t breathe or get blood on all your gear

I disagree with the idea that using a loadshelf somehow puts your gear further away from your frame. Ultimately a certain mass and volume of bag/gear/meat is going to be squeezed between the pack frame and compression straps. Whether one layer of bag fabric is between the frame and meat or not doesn’t magically make the load thicker/thinner.

The primary negative to using a load shelf IMO is the time it takes to separate the bag from frame and back after meat is loaded.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

^^^^ This^^^^. I don't know what people carry to say that the load in the bag is going to pull you backwards if you have meat in the shelf. Yes, a rifle or bow strapped to a bag sandwiching meat will screw with the balance of the pack. But, unless you are bringing a size-able amount of Spike camp or a bivy camp out with a load of meat, this theory is mostly fireside logic. Day hunt gear isn't going to affect you that bad strapped over a loaded meat shelf with properly packed meat.


I've done it both ways with multiple pack frames and bags. And, I much prefer the shelf. I imagine these great big bags would hold a whole deboned elk. We are talking a lot of weight. Regardless of the internet persona present on hunting forums, it is just too heavy to feel the bag up and carry out for most common folk. I think people forget that when they advise you of their load outs. Its like guys saying they packed out their bull in 5 loads. All 5 loads were over 90 pounds. SMH

 

[positivepete!]

Have yet to try the shelf on my 22mag. I plan on using a waterproof bag to put cool meat in because I did get tired of my DT2 always having blood in it and my gear smelling like something died in it. Actually kinda surprised I never had a bear encounter with that pack on.