Perfect Pack Quest - Intial Thoughts on the Kuiu 1850

[Manosteel]

What stlye of hunting do you do?

The bag seems a little on the small side for a 3 - 5 day hunt on foot into the moutains / backcountry; unless ofcourse your are doing it on ATV or horse, then all you would need would be day hunting bag and you probably picked the right bag for that stlye of hunting.

 

[squeekieslayer]

Hey Joe,

I think my sarcasm and dry humor isn't coming through here - I apologize. I was not trying to taunt people. More of just firing back at snarky comments.

For the record: The duffel/sea bag comment was geared towards what appears to be the lack of excessive pockets on the Kifaru packs. I like a stupid amount of pockets to help me stay organized. This is one reason I think the Kuiu 1850 was a better option for me. If this pack does not work out, I'll road trip down to Colorado to check out Kifaru and see some real elk.

I will not apologize for not liking chicken.

HAHAHA nice. No worries, I think that some of the confusion comes from the fact that many people describe a pack without a frame that works for you on heavy loads a "duffel bag with shoulder straps." I.E. it has no load lifters, the suspension/stays are too weak and collapse, or the waist belt system is poor allowing the bag to shift all of the weight to your shoulders, like a duffel bag.

I am thinking that maybe that is how I took your comment just because it seems to be a fairly common term in many pack review threads. Maybe that was just me though. As far is it being like a duffel bag, the highcamp series is just that, one big bag with a frame. It has the ability to add all the pockets and things you want, or leave it like a big bag. I personally prefer the duplex bags which have a few more pockets.... but nothing from Kifaru has a ton of pockets.

Like I said, I would love to hear more reviews on this system, I think that many of the "upgrades" you mentioned in your original post were correcting issues that were found during discussions and reviews just like the one you have given.

If you ever come visit MT hit me up, I have lots of Kifaru stuff you can play with if you want.

Joe

 

[squeekieslayer]

What stlye of hunting do you do?

The bag seems a little on the small side for a 3 - 5 day hunt on foot into the moutains / backcountry; unless ofcourse your are doing it on ATV or horse, then all you would need would be day hunting bag and you probably picked the right bag for that stlye of hunting.

I think that most (like the OP) add a dry bag or similar sack in between the frame and the bag in the "load sling" configuration with all of the other/heavy stuff they need. Not for everyone, but accomplishes a goal, especially if mainly using for day stuff with an occasional overnighter.

joe

 

[Olydog09]

kinda a gear whore myself. I had the Kuiu 1850 and 5200. I also tried the Eberlestock Blue Widow, the Balands Ox, and Mystery Ranch Crew Cab. My favorite of those was definetly the Kuiu. I absolutely love the 1850 for day trips with or without the frame. I also loved all the pockets. The Kuiu pack is a great pack. My problem is I am yet to find a pack that feels very comfy after 60lbs. I am not a big dude so around 60 is where I start to notice weight differences. My buddies Badlands 4500 carried 60 lbs as well as the Kuiu did TO ME. That is why I sold the Kuiu set up. I bought Kifaru Bt-1. I haven't had a chance to do much with the pack itself so I cant comment on it yet. But if the Kuiu carries the weight limit you need well enough for you then you got yourself a nice pack.

 

[Brock A]

I just picked this pack up for day hunts and training purposes. Looking forward to putting some miles on with it. Glad you like it so far.

 

[5MilesBack]

Would anyone be more comfortable with me describing Kifaru packs as a sea bag verse a duffel bag?

NO. In fact I took the DT1 bag off the Bikini frame and used a sea bag in its place kind of like a large dry bag.........totally different piece of equipment than the DT1.

I too have a hard time figuring an 1850ci pack as the ultimate "do-all" pack. That's the size of my daypack. I at least need a frame to go with that daypack and a large dry bag or similar for overnight and longer stays.

 

[Ben]

The 1850 has a 2500 cubic inch load sling. I used to do multiple days out of a Badlands 2200 with no load sling so I'm swimming in this pack. Plus, I'm more of a 'pack light, freeze at night' kind of guy.

Joe - I actually spend a lot of time in MT fishing and visiting family... Be careful what you wish for! But in all seriousness, I appreciate the offer and will contact you to check out your packs if I ever get that far east.

Thanks,

Ben

 

[squeekieslayer]

The 1850 has a 2500 cubic inch load sling. I used to do multiple days out of a Badlands 2200 with no load sling so I'm swimming in this pack. Plus, I'm more of a 'pack light, freeze at night' kind of guy.

Joe - I actually spend a lot of time in MT fishing and visiting family... Be careful what you wish for! But in all seriousness, I appreciate the offer and will contact you to check out your packs if I ever get that far east.

Thanks,

Ben

Hit me up, I have had at least 3 guys from the area walking around the back of my office with packs on haha, my staff thinks I am crazy. I have the bikini/duplex and dt1/3 bags so you can get a pretty good idea what you are looking at. Its very hard to drop that kind of money on any of these bags mostly because you don't have many opportunities to handle SG/MR/Kifaru/KUIU packs like you can the others. I will be in boz this weekend, may try and stop by to look at SG just to see what they are like.

Joe

 

[marc]

I used one for early elk this year and sold it right after. I thought that it was an awesome pack before I got it into the mountains chasing elk around. Other than the pockets and orginization I really have nothing good to say about it! After getting home I took my elk camp and put it all in my osprey and it felt about 20 lbs lighter in the osprey than it did in the 1850 with the load sling. You really should use the pack before making it seem like the ultimate pack IMO.

 

[COR]

Hey Marc... How much weight and what didn't you like? I'm always glad to hear someone else's expereince and it sounds like you definitley have a strong opinion of it so I'd love to hear you expand a little in regards to your western exoerience. I didn't get to head west this year due to the birth of my second child but I'll be dragging it out with me next year unless something changes in the next year. I won't go as far to call it the ultimate pack but it has it's place in my gear closet. I've got about 30 days out with mine and maybe 50 miles total as of the end of deer season and I'm still working with it.

 

[boom]

sucks, i cant kill anything heavy to really test my kifaru. so far it carries my "gear" right.

i was at the KUIU store. great store btw!. i pulled down a few packs and played with them. the 1850 seems tiny! i cant see it labeled as the perfect, do it all pack. it probably is a GREAT daypack, right?

one thing for sure. looks and color were low on the priority list for choosing a pack. i wish i could poop some cash..i'd love to buy a Stone Glacier to see how that carries my gear as well. meat loads are TBD.

 

[jdmdavey]

i think this could be re-labeled as.. perfect "day pack!" 1850 just doesnt seem like enough for everything! But it sounds like you love it..I would like to try one out some day.

 

[Jager]

Horses for courses Ben, sounds like it really suits your style. I looked very hard at the 1850 to retrofit to a Bikini frame for day hunts with the ability of carrying meat out, but feel the HPG 'T' bag suited my style a bit better, the 1850 probably being a bit large for my daypack.

I am by no means a Kifaru fanboy, however, the frames and suspensions are so far out in front of anything else, you'd be amazed. They don't really have any bags at this stage that excite me either, hence looking elsewhere, as you have done for a suitable bag, but seriously give a frame and suspension a go.

 

[marc]

I had 42 lbs in it and that was my elk camp and 7 days of food. I really wanted to like it as it seemed to be just what I wanted. I want to be able to haul my camp in, set up, and have a nice manageable pack to hunt with. To me the suspension just isn't nearly as comfortable as my Ospreys or my Kifaru with camp size weights. I cannot begin to imagine what it would have been to pack an elk with it!!! I would rather carry my modified alice pack for comfort! While hunting with a light load it was ok until I slipped on a steep mountainside and got dusty. It was really noisy after that. I get it that dirt caused noise in on the frame but this is a hunting pack and its going to get dirty in the field. It gets really noisy when dirty. I think I am going to try to make a simular bag to mount on my duplex frame. I want to make it out of quieter material and a bigger.

 

[COR]

I appreciate the input.

I found that without frame it makes a nice quiet, comfortable pack but you do lose the hauling capability of sling. The internal frame supports do a good job with 25 lbs give or take. Side pockets need some design work but I didn't really need more space for gadgets...

It's purpose works for me...for now...