I used the crew cab until the longbow came out- I preordered one of those before they Came out actually. I got the pintler this year and it’s damn good. But I’m not doing more than 3 days out of it or the longbow. To me if your using the overload shelf on the pack in- you’ve really really limited your options for getting meat out. If it’s just a sack of food, that will be expended that’s one thing but once your gear takes up your external space you A) look like a yard sale B) have no place left to carry meat. Internal frame packs were amazing in there ability to carry a moderate load comfortably. Moving the internal frame outside of the bag and beefing it up was finally brilliant- because you no longer have to make the one bag work for everything.
Buy the bag / frame combo that you will use the most and then buy a metcalf or a Marshall or a custom bag down the road for that 7-10 day back country hunt that Everyone talks about.
It’s an external frame. Don’t feel like you have to make one bag do it all. Also, most guys never live out of rucksack long enough to learn how to do it- so they constantly chasing their tail about “better systems” “more versatile” “better organized” etc almost all of which is based on an expectation level that is too high/ unrealistic coupled with a lack of familiarity that leads to constant state of learning/ frustration as opposed to a lifetime of trouble free and intuitive service.
So whatever you get. Use the crap out of it so that it’s all second nature. In the dark/ wet/ cold/ side of a mountain etc.
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