Cont….
The K3 was nearly perfect. The frame is solid, the belt locks in well, the shoulder straps carry pretty well, and the whole thing carried weight- though they tend to have a slight squeak when loaded down. Exo has the best lid in the business with no sagging or flopping, and well designed pockets. They also have the best/fastest/most intuitive load shelf access on the market. The locket layout is really good- the center stretch pocket is large enough to fit 15x bino or a spotter in, the side open top pockets easily fit puff suit and rain suit, the outside bottom stretch pocket fit the tripod well with the top cinched by the top compression strap. Getting to it all is easy- set pack done in from you you, pull tripod out and set up, loosen on lid strap and pull spotter out, loosen other top side strap and pull puff suit out, slide pad off, sit down and glass. Didn’t have to open the main bag or any zipper, the bag can be thrown in as is and carried without issue if needed, and everything goes back in without fuss. Out lunch and the stove in the lid and you didn’t need to open the back at all during the day.
But, and it’s a big but- the belt will tear away from the frame if pulled on. Say if the pack is loaded with meat or gear and in the back of the truck bed, if you grab the belt and pull towards you, the stitches tear and the belt comes off. This was only discovered at the bottom of a valley about to go up and get a bull I had killed, stopped to get water, put pack on hiked up belt to tighten and it just came away from the frame. So I’m standing there looking at my buddy, 3 miles from the TH holding my frame belt with a dead elk to retrieve. Carried first load out and swapped packs at the truck. The reason why this happened wasn’t apparent until I ripped another belt off pulling the pack out of the truck in a later hunt. Then, it was obvious what was happening, and it’s pretty much in demand. It’s only when pulling the belt down, opposite of the lid that it happens, normal use/strain isn’t a problem. I carried 3 adult antelope out a bit over a mile in canyon country just to test it- pack was fine.
This happened to me twice, and to buddies 2-3 times. It’s just a failure mode that won’t work for me.
Exo K4- 3600, 5000, 7200- 7-8 animals packed out.
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This frame and suspension is in general an upgrade over the K3, and the belt failure was completely addressed. It carries well, the load shelf access if easy peasy, the lid is still top notch, etc.
But…. The bag designs are a total failure for how I/we use them. I have no doubt that people love the design, and for archery warm weather hunting I probably wouldn’t care- as they are, I want to throw them off a cliff every time I use them. I started the season with the 3600 K4 in the spring, was aggravated by the bag, switched to a Stone Glacier for a sheep hunt, then switched back to the K4 7200 for all of the fall- and I was pissy every time I had to use it.
Starting with the 5000, here’s why-
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I’m not sure what functional use the front zippered attach pocket was for, because you can fit about a snickers, a pair of socks, and maybe a beenie if you have a small head. It certainly can’t fit much else.
Here it is with a pair of socks, gaiters, and a scarf. It is bursting at the seams, and is intruding (pushing) into the internal main bag space-
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A spotter or bino is nowhere close to fitting.
The side zippered pockets-
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To access you must undue the main compression straps, and anything held by them falls away, like such-
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What you can’t see is that my bino adaptor now has compacted snow in it that has to be cleaned out before being able to be used. Oh, and the side pockets themselves are ok sized, but anything put into them intrudes into the main bag space as soon as you tighten the side straps-
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And, if you have a tripod, hiking sticks, and etc., strapped to the outside, all of the pressure from the compression strap is being put directly into whatever is in that pocket- If I cinch that side strap down, it will break the bridge of the binos.
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All of that mostly applies to the 3600 and 7200 as well.
3600- stretched to the absolute max to fit these, and it’s intruding into the main bag space.
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Same issues with the side zip pockets on the 3600 as the 5000.
7200- the front stretch pocket is a bit larger, and fits items better, but it still pushes back into (bulges into) the main bag. The side pockets are the same as the others.
View attachment 675591
I am not the only one that has issues with this design. I hunted with 6-7 people using K4’s this year, all of them liked to loved the frame and the way it carried weight, and all of them but one
hated the bags. They switched them out as soon as they could. Two of those guys said I was crazy about why I didn’t like them and that they had used them in multiple hunts and trips and had none of those issues… and when side by side they both stayed “wtf were they designed like this?”
I’m sure Exo has its reasons, but it strikes me as bag designed by hyper OCD packers, that hunt early season archery and/or don’t use a tripod and spotter in cold weather much, and are more concerned with getting pine needles in a pocket than absolute function. The difference is so stark because of how functional the K3 bags were.
Stone Glacier R3 7000 with side bags- 30-40 animals packed out, way over 100 with X-Curve frames.
View attachment 675597
I have used most of their bags and packs that they make. The X-Curve carries well, has a good meat shelf if a bit convoluted to get to, bags are decently designed, etc. There were a couple of issues- the lid flopped and was saggy, the side pockets were way too short and water bottles would pop out when the pack was set down, they needed side pockets for spotter/puff suit/etc, the front zipper pocket would intrude into the main bag, and a quicker/easier access to the laid shelf.
Well, the R3 7000 had deep stretch water bottle pockets on the side, the lid was modified and doesn’t sag or flop now, slightly changed the bag attachment to the frame to allow much quicker access to load shelf, changed the front zipper pocket to bellow out instead of into the bag, and added optional side “wing” pouches.
Now, its set the pack down, pull tripod out from side water bottle pocket without loosening any strap, unzip one side pouch and pull bino/spotter out, unzip other side pouch, put on puff suit, slide out sit pad- done. Lunch and the stove can fit in the side pouches as well. No straps undone, bag not opened, can be repacked quickly and/or thrown on and carried well, etc.
Overall, I have no real gripes with the new SG R3 7000 with side bags- it doesn’t everything it should. Now, just need the 3300 and 5900 to match it.
The Exo K4 with the old style bags would be fantastic.
