Love my pop-up 18! Packed out my two muley bucks and 1/2 my brother's elk each of the 1st two seasons I owned it. And hauled the 1st load out with it, because it's my hunting pack. If I want to haul more with me when I'm hunting, I use a dry bag between the frame and pack bag. I used to hunt with my Kifaru Scout, and after a kill had to go back to my truck to get my big pack for the haul out, adding another trip. My Kifaru 24" duplex frame and Apollo bag haven't left my shop rack since 2017. That 24" frame sticking up above my head kept hanging me up on low pinon trees while hunting, the pop-up doesn't. My 100 lb + packing days are over anyway, so 60 lbs. on the pop-up is the way to go for me. Some folks don't like the water bottle pouches on the side, thinking they're too big, but they hold big 46 - 64 oz water bottles like the kind you buy apple juice, etc. in at the store). You can pretty much get any size or shape bottle you want to fit the pack that way. I like the 46 oz. wide mouth applesauce bottles. Still love my Scout for fly fishing and bird hunting, and if I was packing out 100 lb. plus loads consistently, I would stick with the Kifaru Duplex frame.
