Ongoing use/thoughts/review - EXO 5500 in First Lite Fusion

Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
833
Location
Australia
Hi all,

I made some references to this pack in a thread about the First Lite packs going on sale, but thought I'd make a thread dedicated to my thoughts on how this pack performs and have a spot to put my ongoing thoughts.

I'd like to start out by saying the way I hunt over here in Australia is different to a lot of the North American stuff in plenty of ways. I don't pack into anywhere near as many spots as some of you, but I hunt year round and regularly take animals for meat so this pack will get a workout for sure. I still walk some fairly steep and rugged stuff on a regular basis and get a great feel for how the harness of this pack feels.

The first time I took the pack out I loaded it up with a fair bit of random gear (water bags, clothes, etc) and had a walk in a local National Park. The weight wasn't a massive load by any means but I can say that the harness and fit of the pack in general really does make it feel as though you aren't carrying as much weight as you think. It was a very comfortable walk. Only about 4-5km return, but steep.





I took the pack with the same gear in it for a walk down the back of the property I'm living. No hills here at all but I wanted to check out the scrub for some good firewood to cut over the weekend. It was a good excuse to take the dog for a walk, put the pack and my boots on, and continue to get comfortable with it.



It was early days but I knew the pack was fantastic after these 2 short walks.
 
I wanted to get out for a day hunt with the pack so the following weekend I organised to go for a walk up the mountains near where I went for the walk in the National Park, but on a private property that's close by. I didn't want to wreck my legs too bad as I had to play spot the following day so I took some of the water and clothes out of my pack to save a little bit of weight. It really wasn't that heavy at all but it was still a decent enough amount to charge up some of the really steel mountains and see how the pack would handle it and how my body would react and move with it.

It was awesome. It's the best harness I've ever had on my body. The frame moves with my body in a way that makes twisting around scrub and climbing mountains a breeze. I intended on shooting some wild goats for meat but only managed to shoot a stinky little boar. It was the second animal I've ever taken with my bow so it was still a lot of fun, but he was in poor condition and I left him up there as the risk of disease in my area at the moment is very real.



The mountains sort of come out of nowhere out here, in the middle of a vast expanse of flat plains. I climbed to a peak on the property I hadn't been to before and enjoyed the view.




I like the fact that the back cinched down to a suitable size for a day hunt without any trouble. It makes it easier to carry all the gear I normally would on a day hunt, which is mainly just too much camera gear. :cool:

I'm going away again this coming weekend to chase some deer so hopefully I can load it up big time and carry a load out of the mountains.

Thanks for reading .
 
Thanks for taking the time to post mate. I added a 5500 to my 2000 this year. My wife is excited about all of the extra space on my back
 
Cheers, fellas.

I had the same conversation with my girlfriend. She's coming hunting this weekend and is looking forward to carrying less gear in her pack because I can now put it in mine.
 
Had a fun hunt on the weekend with my girlfriend. Didn't get a deer on the ground unfortunately but it was nice to lighten the backpack and really cinch it down for day use, in anticipation of loading it up heavy to pack something out of the mountains. All I had in there was water, some knives, toilet paper, a little bit of camera gear, snacks, first aid kit, and sunscreen.

I often carry a Badlands Monster for day use like this but my girlfriend was using it so I was glad to put the 5500 to the test for a smaller day pack option. I can see myself carrying it on smaller trips all the time now.







A lot of the country we walked looks like this.
 
Finally got the chance to load the 5500 up with a deer over the weekend just gone. It was only a small deer and a super easy carry out but good to go through the motions of fitting meat between the frame and bag. I'll get a few more deer in the coming months and keep posting thoughts in this thread.

I had the bag really cinched down for day use again and it carried well. The deer was hit through the shoulders with a .308 so they weren't usable so we only have backstraps and back legs in the pack. Estimated weight was probably around 20kg or maybe a bit less? Anyway, as always, the pack felt like it was giving me a hug. It felt perfect.











 
Thank you for updating as you go! I am going to go to Exo in about a month and try a 5500 on and see how it feels!
 
Still early days for me as yet mate, but after having carried out 1 deer with it and taken it on a few hikes with a reasonable amount of weight in it, I can say that it is without question the best backpack I've ever owned - for hunting or otherwise.

In just over a month I should give it a real test by packing a sambar deer out of the mountains here in Australia. They're huge. Until then though, I may have to settle for some smaller game hunts in between. I'll be sure to keep updating this thread in case people are interested in photos and thoughts.
 
Back in this thread again to give some more thoughts. I didn't end up packing a sambar deer but I've packed a few more critters out with this bag and taken it on plenty of day hunts. I really appreciate the compartments in it and how small it can be cinched down to use as a daypack.

I made some successful archery stalks on pigs while wearing the pack. I was worried it'd be a bit bulky for stalking like this but it really isn't. The hip pouches are also convenient places for a rangefinder.


Skinned out a nice young goat and used these game bags to pack her out.






This bag is my favourite piece of hunting kit. This wasn't a big goat at all but I carried out all the meat, head, and skin. The walk out was super steep and the frame was brilliant.

I won't get a chance to get out for a hunt for another week or so, so I'll try and bag some more meat and pack it out and see how the bag holds up.
 
Another update.

I haven't loaded it up super heavy in a while although I might do that on the weekend to go for a mountain walk for some touch football training.

Here are a few pictures of me putting more miles on the pack anyway. It's still the best piece of hunting gear I've ever bought.

Using it as a rest on a 172y shot.


The deer I shot from that rest.


Stalking deer.


In swamps chasing pigs.


I've taken it on many hunts in heaps of different environments and it's always performed flawlessly.
 
Good stuff sir! I've been using one (Exo 3500) for 4 years now & have used a lot of packs over the last 40+ years it indeed is the best pack I've had the privilege of owning! It cinches down to nothing when empty & is ready to devour 100#+ loads which I've done more than I care to admit for an older fart! (grin) Keep it coming!

ElkNut/Paul
 
I took it out yesterday for a quick day hunt up some local mountains. It was great, as usual. I ended up butchering a feral goat and carrying it back down. I'll put up a few pictures later.
 
Pictures as promised...

I went for a morning hunt up my local mountains. I got out there fairly early so the goats were still up in the really steep stuff. I shot a nice one to eat and packed it out, walking past a bunch more goats on the way back to my vehicle. I should have just stayed in the easy terrain and waited for them!







 
I looked really hard at Exo. I’m gettin into testing packs and it’s goin to be hard to pick between EXO and SG
 
Another update.

Currently summer over here in Australia. In the state I live in, we normally have a closed season on the deer species I have available to me between November 1st to March 1st, but that closed season has now been opened up so we can hunt deer year round. We are also able to shoot deer from vehicles and spotlight them at night. It sounds crazy but the deer are in abundance in lots of areas and the state is in the middle of a horrible drought and this is a way hunters are being given a bit more responsibility to helping to manage their numbers.

Anyway, I just gave that brief description to explain why I have been hunting deer in the middle of summer here.

Wore the pack as a daypack for a few days in heat around 37 degrees celcius (close to 100F I think?) Having it on the hips and a little loose on the shoulders helps with air flow.

Shot a few deer and packed them back to the vehicle in spots that were a pain to drive to. The most I had in the frame at one time was the front/rear legs of a fallow deer doe. I guess they're comparable in size to whitetail.

My brother with some deer.


Loading up my pack.








Heavy duty plastic bags instead of my Caribou Bags because we had meat in a bunch of coolers and fridges keeping cold so it was good to keep it dry. It was only about 1 hour from the deer being killed to the meat being in a cooler so it worked fine.
 
Hi all. Another update from me about this pack, for anyone who may be interested.

I'm very lucky here in Australia regarding the use of this pack for a couple of reasons.
1. I have access to some wonderful country where deer are in stupid high numbers. And...
2. We have no bag limits on our deer and I need to shoot heaps in order to bring their numbers down.

I shoot a lot from a vehicle. For this year alone I've killed (or people I've had with me have also killed) 28 fallow deer, with 25 of them coming off one property. Currently, the rutting season for the fallow deer has just finished, and within the last 3 weeks or so I've packed 5 bucks and one doe out of the mountains with my Exo 5500. I don't know how many more I'll need to shoot this year and pack out of the mountains but this pack is getting an absolute flogging and it's performing flawlessly.

I'm super keen to see the new 1800 day pack they are coming out with, as the more I look into bowhunting, the more I want a bag that is smaller on my back so it doesn't hang up so much when crawling through tight spots, BUT, I still want to be able to load the pack up with a whole deer and pack it out if need be.

Here are some pictures.
Buck number 1.




Buck number 2.




Buck number 3.




Buck number 4.




Buck number 5. The second buck I carried out for my partner.




A nice doe to bring things to a close.




Some carry outs were easier than others, but all involved mountains and rugged country. I loved every minute of it.

I've now had this pack for almost 1 year (didn't have it last rut so was using an Australian-made pack at the time). I think I've easily packed out over a dozen critters with it, and 4 of them have been big, mature fallow bucks. The pack still looks pretty much brand new besides some blood stains on it. I recommend this pack to everyone who asks and it's one of the best investments I've made in my hunting gear.

Thanks for reading. I hope this has been useful for some people. I will do more updates as things roll on but a lot more will be shot from the ute now so won't need carrying out. I need to reduce the numbers of deer significantly.

Cheers.
 
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