Pack Volume for 3 Night Hunt

[Khos]

I currently run a MR Selway 60 (3700cu in) and find it too small for my backpack hunt kit during rifle season. I can and have squeezed all my gear in but it’s a real pain. Next step up going with MR is the beartooth 80 bag only option. Will this added volume really be enough or should I be looking more towards the Stone Glacier Sky Archer 5900?

 

[Carr5vols]

I used a selway in the past and could do a week long rifle backcountry hunt out of it...you may have a lot of what if items in it...have the exo now 5000 cubic inches and it is a lot of extra room...

 

[croben]

There are a lot of variables to this, including the size/packability of your gear, the season, and how much stuff you take with you. You should be able to do three days with a pack that size. I would start with seeing if there are things you can drop from your pack so you have less stuff. If not, just make sure you aren’t getting a bigger pack and filling it with more unnecessary gear.

 

[NickyD]

Have you looked into adding an extra external pouch? I can pack 3-5 days into my SG Solo (3600) with 800 cu-in external pouch pretty easily. And I’m overpacking food and bring some luxury/comfort items. None of my stuff is ultralight by any means. You could always pack your food in your meat shelf, though I’d only need to do this for extreme weather and/or 6+ day hunts.

 

[Khos]

Thanks for all the awesome feedback. I definitely have some gear review to do by the sounds of it.

Two things that do come to mind:
1. Do you guys use stuff sacks to really compress down clothes, etc
2. How big is your shelter? I may be oversized with my 2 man backpacking tent.

 

[NickyD]

Just one compression sack for my big puffy jacket and I put my sleeping bag on the bottom to allow everything to compress it.

I put my 2 person tent on the outside of my pack, that helps a lot.

Maybe post your gear list so others can make suggestions.

 

[Carr5vols]

Thanks for all the awesome feedback. I definitely have some gear review to do by the sounds of it.

Two things that do come to mind:
1. Do you guys use stuff sacks to really compress down clothes, etc
2. How big is your shelter? I may be oversized with my 2 man backpacking tent.

I do not use stuff sacks...pad on bottom then sleeping bag then tent on one and stuff the few other items I have around. My main shelter is mountainamith LT unless the weather is going to get wet/snowy then move into full 2 man tent.

 

[Khos]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great feedback. I’ve been doing some packing/unpacking and watching videos and I think my issue is honestly my sleeping bag. I’m using a cheaper 0° synthetic bag and although it is warm it is massive and does not compress. Rather than buy a bigger pack I think my money would be better spent on upgrading my sleeping bag. The rest of my kit is quality gear and dialled in from a lot of years of days hunts… just trying to find the sweet spot that keeps me from needing to head back to the truck after light.

Any reasonably priced recommendations for a 15° degree bag that compresses well?

 

[strongarm]

There are a lot of variables to this, including the size/packability of your gear, the season, and how much stuff you take with you.

@Khos
^ this. Weather/season is the huge variable. Colder weather gear is a massive cubic volume consumer.

Re: sleeping bag, have you tried a decent compression sack and see how small you can make it? I prefer ones that compress horizontally vs. a ‘ball’ compression sack.

Alternatively, stash the sleeping bag on the outside of the pack. Bet you have plenty of room then.

 

[cstrah6]

Using the exterior of the pack (specifically the bottom) helped me a ton!

 

[AndrewMT34]

I can pretty easily go three days in my SG Solo 3600, and 5 days in my SG 5900. I carry the SG Chilkoot 15 degree bag. It packs down super light and is plenty warm.

 

[Marble]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great feedback. I’ve been doing some packing/unpacking and watching videos and I think my issue is honestly my sleeping bag. I’m using a cheaper 0° synthetic bag and although it is warm it is massive and does not compress. Rather than buy a bigger pack I think my money would be better spent on upgrading my sleeping bag. The rest of my kit is quality gear and dialled in from a lot of years of days hunts… just trying to find the sweet spot that keeps me from needing to head back to the truck after light.

Any reasonably priced recommendations for a 15° degree bag that compresses well?

Check out REI. Sometimes they have some pretty good deals going on. I have a couple Magna 10 degree bags. I think they weigh 2 lbs and stuff down a little larger than a full size football. But keep in mind the sizes of the bags. Depending on your height, weight and build you may need to look for something specific.

If you are close to a store, they typically have several for you to lay down in and try out.

My tent, bag and pad all combined are less than 6 lbs. Pretty close and maybe less than 5 lbs.


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[Khos]

Awesome info! I can’t get my current bag any smaller than about 12” tall by 12”dia and that’s with me driving my knee into the compression sack to tighten it but then I’m dealing with an awkward object in my pack. If I just jam into the pack it’s about 2x that size and bare weight is almost 5lbs. It’s warm…. But it’s brutally bulky. Definitely going to check out REI for the model you shared.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Awesome info! I can’t get my current bag any smaller than about 12” tall by 12”dia and that’s with me driving my knee into the compression sack to tighten it but then I’m dealing with an awkward object in my pack. If I just jam into the pack it’s about 2x that size and bare weight is almost 5lbs. It’s warm…. But it’s brutally bulky. Definitely going to check out REI for the model you shared.

I see more and more guys not using a stuff sack but rather putting their sleeping bag directly into the bottom of their pack and then loading on top of it for that stuff to act as the compression. Just another option to try with your new smaller bag

 

[bruceleroy]

Packing a pack is an art. I can get 5 days in my MR Sawtooth 45 if the temps stay at or above freezing.

 

[Ron.C]

This is my Selway loaded for 5 days rifle goat hunt a couple years ago. Not hard to fill a pack of this volume if you're not careful and like the OP, I was pretty much at max capacity.

I could fit another 2 days food in the pack to get me to 7 days but I was really getting creative to make it fit. I also have a daypack lid I can add if I need a bit more space, but It's never been required.

Since these pics, I've upgraded and reduced the size of my tent, sleeping bag stove and ditched all redundant items like stand alone gps, extra cordage, saw and the huge survival kit full of useless "just in case" garbage is now gone. What was once a bag that was just big enough for me now has tons of space for my needs for 7 days hunting Mid Oct in SE British Columbia.

All that said, I am a small guy so my clothing items are small and I don't eat as much as bigger guys so its not hard for me to make a 60L bag work.

 

[cwitt]

I think you’re spot on looking to upgrade your bag versus a larger pack. It sounds like that’s an easy area that could use the size/weight upgrade, especially if you already enjoy that pack aside from your space issue. FWIW I love my Chilkoot 15* like a million other guys on here do but bags are like everything else—comes down to personal preference.

 

[Skerhunter]

Your current bag size works, just going to be stuffed full most of the time, like you said.

I don’t like a lot of stuff hanging off of my pack and prefer that 5000-6000 size. Most of the time it’s half empty and strapped down, but plenty of room to throw camp in when needed (3-4 days easy even with a 3-4 man shelter and tarp).

I use light weight dry bags to organize and compress everything (I stole this idea from others on here). Only place I have loose items in my bag is in a lid or hip pouch. One bag has camp (bag/tent/stove/food). The other has puffy layers and stuff I use daily and never leaves my bag. Both bags are the same volume as my main pack. It’s nice to be able to pull all the camp stuff out and drop it/hang it and go hunt. Having the second full size bag is also nice for when you need to pack the first load of meat out. I usually strip down and put everything in there I don’t want soaked in sweat/blood - examples: bino harness/spotter/extra layers. That’s where the extra room is nice.

Another reason I like dry bags is I can toss anything that is wet in the bottom of my pack and load compressed dry bags on top to keep dry - need that extra space if it’s a tent/tarp not compressed.

If you routinely want to spike out 3-4 nights you would really like a ~6000 sized pack, but obviously not necessary.

Pick below for example - everything is in a dry bag and compressed down flat (puffy, extra clothes, bino harness, food, 3 man tarp), with plenty of room for the camp if needed.

 

[LargeAvos]

I have a 15° synthetic and feel your pain on getting it all to fit. However I did find a compressor sack to be worth its weight in gold for this particular situation due to synthetic not compressing the same as down. After discovering this this I’m able to fit a weeks worth of gear in my MR Metcalf. (4300)

Just because I haven’t seen anyone recommend it on this thread and I am all too familiar with the temptation of new gear…. I have been eyeing a katabatic quilt as a replacement for my bag. You can get some serious weight and space savings with one of these quilts accompanied by a good sleeping pad.

 

[Khos]

This is my Selway loaded for 5 days rifle goat hunt a couple years ago. Not hard to fill a pack of this volume if you're not careful and like the OP, I was pretty much at max capacity.

I could fit another 2 days food in the pack to get me to 7 days but I was really getting creative to make it fit. I also have a daypack lid I can add if I need a bit more space, but It's never been required.

Since these pics, I've upgraded and reduced the size of my tent, sleeping bag stove and ditched all redundant items like stand alone gps, extra cordage, saw and the huge survival kit full of useless "just in case" garbage is now gone. What was once a bag that was just big enough for me now has tons of space for my needs for 7 days hunting Mid Oct in SE British Columbia.

All that said, I am a small guy so my clothing items are small and I don't eat as much as bigger guys so its not hard for me to make a 60L bag work.


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Awesome info! Thanks a bunch for the pics

No doubt now that I can make my selway work. Just need to improve my packing and update a few gear items.