Pack ideas for my girlfriend.

[cody6510]

So I'm planning to buy a pack for my girlfriend for Christmas, and am looking for advise on what may work well for her. We are planning to do some backpacking trips (up to five days), and eventually she wants to start hunting with me, so it will be duel use. I will likely be carrying a majority of the necessary gear in my kifaru so it doesn't have to be huge (under 3500-4000ish I'd imagine). As far as price I'd like to keep it under 200-250 since I'm not sure if it's something she'll stick with. The issue I'm having is I have an idea of what packs may work well but am concerned with how they'll fit a female. I'm trying to keep it a surprise so taking her to the store probably won't be an option. Thanks for the help.

 

[InIt2Live]

I'm assuming that she won't be carrying any meat weight, or at least not much. With that in mind, my reccomendation would be an Osprey pack. Something like a 65L, and they make women specific packs. My wife uses one and loves it, and I own a couple myself. They are lightweight and tuff packs for hiking/camping. There are many great packs for her, but my vote would go to Osprey for her application.

 

[LostArra]

I have raised 4 daughters to adulthood. If this is a surprise gift I would choose a pack/company with a good return or exchange policy.

(My two hunting/backpacking daughters own Mystery Ranch Big Sky packs. They love them and have used them for many years. Unfortunately, in MR's continued marketing wisdom they are no longer made.)

 

[Becca]

I'm assuming that she won't be carrying any meat weight, or at least not much. With that in mind, my reccomendation would be an Osprey pack. Something like a 65L, and they make women specific packs. My wife uses one and loves it, and I own a couple myself. They are lightweight and tuff packs for hiking/camping. There are many great packs for her, but my vote would go to Osprey for her application.

This is good advice.

I would add that if she plans to hunt with you, but won't be carrying meat weight, then plan to get her a larger volume pack than what you think she will need. Reason being, if you are hunting together and you kill something, you will likely load her up with the bulky stuff which tends to be higher volume even if it doesn't weigh much. You can get her into a higher volume pack for minimal increase in weight over a similar pack of smaller volume. It's easy to cinch the extra volume down if she doesn't need it, but you can't make a smaller pack bigger.

 

[280twoeighty]

Maybe a bikini frame. A used one for about $200. Call kifaru and discuss her size and what to look for in fitment. At that point you should be able to find a used smaller Kifaru bag and have an awesome set up in your budget. Even if it is a 5000ci bag. Putting 2500ci in it works great. You can buy a new High camp in 4800 for a great price in the Rhino den. Good luck.

 

[Jay03]

This may not help with the budget part but for my ex girlfriend(we still hunt together and are good friends) I found a nice used bikini frame with a small belt and 24" stays. Then got a hold of a barely used EXO 3500 bag and fitted them together. The pack is very light(under 4lbs I think) and fits her very well. As far as the money part, this setup will have good resale value if she didn't take to it like you are concerned about with your girlfriend. I speak from a little experience here, buy once cry once. If you get a medium quality pack and she gets into it you may be upgrading in the near future and spending far more in the long run. If you get her a nice pack that fits and carries well not only will she more likely enjoy the experience and want to continue on with it but you will already have a top quality pack that wont need to be upgraded so soon.

The first time I took my ex girlfriend into the wilderness she insisted on using an old no name brand pack that she had for a decade or more. It was not very adjustable for fit and you could bend it in half with ease as it had barely anything for stays in it. The belt dug into her hips and the shoulder straps had most the weight on her shoulders with anything over 15-20lbs making it worthless for backpacking. The trip was miserable for her and after that I put together a better pack. She loves it now and even carried a front elk quarter out this year with me. No issues

 

[Mckinnon]

My wife started with an Osprey. Great pack for backpacking, and now has a Stone Glacier, which is a great pack for backpacking and hunting.... price difference is ample but I was glad she could carry legit weight weight when packing out her elk.... and so was she I might add. The Stone Glacier can carry much more than she can but still carries well with just day pack type loads. I will try and get her to chime in here...

 

[larryschwartz]

Instead of buying her a pack and surprising her with it for Christmas I would suggest that you give her a personal gift certificate that you made yourself for a perfectly fitting pack and then take her shopping at the various "pack stores" and let her pick what she wants. You can advise her based on your experience, of course, but let her picks out ther one she wants. Maybe hook her up with some of our lady backpackers and hunters who could help her decide what she wants. If you pick it for her you may miss something that is really important to her but that you would never have thought of.

 

[MuleyFever]

Got my wife a used Icon Pro. The small fits her very well. Like mentioned get her a size bigger bag than she needs. When my wife and I hunt I haul the meat and put everything else in her bag. Two sleeping bags and the tent etc. takes up some volume.

 

[cody6510]

This is good advice.

I would add that if she plans to hunt with you, but won't be carrying meat weight, then plan to get her a larger volume pack than what you think she will need. Reason being, if you are hunting together and you kill something, you will likely load her up with the bulky stuff which tends to be higher volume even if it doesn't weigh much. You can get her into a higher volume pack for minimal increase in weight over a similar pack of smaller volume. It's easy to cinch the extra volume down if she doesn't need it, but you can't make a smaller pack bigger.

Thanks Becca. Didn't really think of that, good idea for sure.

 

[cody6510]

I'm assuming that she won't be carrying any meat weight, or at least not much. With that in mind, my reccomendation would be an Osprey pack. Something like a 65L, and they make women specific packs. My wife uses one and loves it, and I own a couple myself. They are lightweight and tuff packs for hiking/camping. There are many great packs for her, but my vote would go to Osprey for her application.

Thanks, I'll look into these for sure.

 

[luke moffat]

Starting this weekend for 3 day sale you could get a 3.5 pound Kuiu Ultra $6K for $245. I really like this pack and its super light and great for my summer backpacking and the torso length adjusts so easily that my wife 5'3 and I 5'9 can swap between us (we both need a small wasitbelt) the pack between us and have it adjusted to us in a matter of seconds. It is comfy up to 80 or so pounds which is really all my wife really ends up carrying (yes she has done 90 pounds but generally try to keep that to a minimum.

The pack has plenty of volume for bulky light gear while you are packing all the meat too.

http://www.kuiu.com/hunting-backpac...0010.html?dwvar_60010_color=VerdeCamo#start=3

Even comes in a purdy "sage" color.

 

[striker3]

I second letting her make the eventual purchase desicion. I took my wife to an REI, dropped her with one of their associates and let them do the initial fittings. They then loaded her up with weight so she could try her final choices out. Made all of the difference to her that she got to test it out beforehand.

 

[oldgoat]

I second letting her make the eventual purchase desicion. I took my wife to an REI, dropped her with one of their associates and let them do the initial fittings. They then loaded her up with weight so she could try her final choices out. Made all of the difference to her that she got to test it out beforehand.

This is good advice for any piece of outdoor gear for your significant other! Especially if they aren't as tough or as strong as you are! It isn't always the cheapest out but it is the most successful!