Single Pack vs Multiple Packs

[jtmoose]

Started hunting last year and last year I tried an eberlestock just one pack. I like it fine, but I feel it is so excessive for my current hunting style. I usually go out for a day from the truck/camp. What I do really like is the scabbard and bow pouch. I like being able to hike quickly and securely into the deeper area I want to hunt. What I don't like is the weight and bulk of a hauling pack if I don't need it. However, I haven't had anything on the ground yet either.

I'm thinking I have a few options.

1.) Keep the Just One and appreciate it as a single bag solution and stop being a baby
2.) Use a day pack and return to truck/camp to get a frame pack for hauling.
3.) Get a lumbar pack and carry a Packout Bag
4.) Option 3 plus keep a bare frame pack at camp/truck.

Thanks for the input.

 

[oldgoat]

Not sure on your number 3 what you mean, lumbar pack, is that like a fanny pack? What's your budget? I'll never go back to a pack that can't pack out a whole load of meat first trip down when elk hunting.

 

[WesternHunter]

Started hunting last year and last year I tried an eberlestock just one pack. I like it fine, but I feel it is so excessive for my current hunting style. I usually go out for a day from the truck/camp. What I do really like is the scabbard and bow pouch. I like being able to hike quickly and securely into the deeper area I want to hunt. What I don't like is the weight and bulk of a hauling pack if I don't need it. However, I haven't had anything on the ground yet either.

I'm thinking I have a few options.

1.) Keep the Just One and appreciate it as a single bag solution and stop being a baby
2.) Use a day pack and return to truck/camp to get a frame pack for hauling.
3.) Get a lumbar pack and carry a Packout Bag
4.) Option 3 plus keep a bare frame pack at camp/truck.

Thanks for the input.

I personally enjoy having 1 pack that can do it all. Having multiple bags equates to multiple unnecessary trips to the truck/camp to switch bags. I had the Just One pack previously and faced the same questions. Didn't love how it handled weight (although the newer versions with solid frame should be better) but it was also too heavy and bulky to be a great day pack for me. I ended up selling my Eberlestock and bought an Exo 3500 and could not be happier!

I'll spare you the sales pitch on the Exo but in short it does everything well which keeps me from buying others. I know lots of other guys who enjoy multiple packs but for me having 1 do-everything pack is the only way to go!

 

[mrbillbrown]

I feel the same way as the others. 1 frame/bag combo to do it all and no unnecessary trips to get the bag I need. My Kifaru duplex frame and AMR bag goes from simple day hunting loads to large enough to haul anything I'm humanly capable of packing in seconds.

 

[welpro222]

I'm with mrbillbrown, frame and pack for all. For backcountry I will bring my nomad/campbag, I leave the campbag at camp. For truck hunting, the frame/guidelid/cargo panel combo.

 

[LBFowler]

I'm trying the one-pack thing for a while. I have a 7000ish CI bag that I even use for day hikes compressed down with almost nothing in it. Weighs around 4lbs so not much of a weight penalty over smaller bags.

so far I like have one huge bag for everything, it just takes discipline to not use all the capacity when you don't need it, but the nice thing is I don't have to compress anything, even for winter trips.

I'm for a one-pack solution, but I don't think Eberlestock is that one pack. A large-capacity pack from any of the Big 5 pack companies would do it better.

 

[welpro222]

I watched a guy hiking with a Eberlestock pack and it looked very uncomfortable for him, with no load lifting abilities. I was tempted to stop and ask him about it, and see if he has ever heard of Kifaru.

 

[JeffRaines]

With how much these packs cost and how versatile they are these days theres no sense in going any other way(IMO)

 

[jtmoose]

With how much these packs cost and how versatile they are these days theres no sense in going any other way(IMO)

For me they are pretty expensive. The Just One was a tough pill to swallow, and justify.

 

[Trial153]

I am the opposite. Can I live with one pack that does everything ok ? Yea sure . But since I don't have to I don't. I rather have couple pack options depending on the situation and use what's best suited for how I am hunting at a given time .

 

[dotman]

I am the opposite. Can I live with one pack that does everything ok ? Yea sure . But since I don't have to I don't. I rather have couple pack options depending on the situation and use what's best suited for how I am hunting at a given time .

X2....

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

jtmoose, though I have multiple bags I find that I tend take my Nomad/Duplex and camp bag most of the time. From multi day trips to just a few hour hikes it's my go to bag and fame. Like you I like the idea of a rifle scabbard so I butchered an old Eberlestock pack and mounted the scabbard to my set up. There will be a lot of opinions on this subject but this is what works for me.

 

[jspradley]

I have way too many packs.. I am trying to downsize to just my Mountain warrior.. I can squeeze that thing down to nothing and expand it out to fit anything I would need to carry

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[oldgoat]

jtmoose, though I have multiple bags I find that I tend take my Nomad/Duplex and camp bag most of the time. From multi day trips to just a few hour hikes it's my go to bag and fame. Like you I like the idea of a rifle scabbard so I butchered an old Eberlestock pack and mounted the scabbard to my set up. There will be a lot of opinions on this subject but this is what works for me.

This is the pack I have also, it will carry anything you can fit between the wings and will expand from 2200" to over 7000" with addition of guide lid, camp bag and various pockets as needed

 

[jtmoose]

One of the other things I didn't like was carrying the bigger pack through all the underbrush. I'm not sure if something like the lumbar packs would be better for that. All the pictures I see seem to be in nice open areas of the rocky's rather than the rain forests of the pacific northwest.

 

[Randle]

I am using a nimrod lumbar pack this year. It has been great for deer shed hunting (the only I have used it for so far) and I elk hunt about like you are describing . I just don't like wearing a full frame pack while bow hunting. With the Nimrod I can bring out a first load of debone meat , add the frame and go back for the rest. I have a kifaru duplex with cargo panel and large pouches for elk shed hunting and longer trips.

 

[tttoadman]

One and done. The only thing I really mess with anymore is what lid to put on it. Convincing yourself to wear an Eberlestock is not a fair test. A stripped down SG bag and frame is almost invisible, and can still carry a full load out.

 

[DRUSS]

I am using a nimrod lumbar pack this year. It has been great for deer shed hunting and I elk hunt about like you are describing . I just don't like wearing a full frame pack while bow hunting. With the Nimrod I can bring out a first load of debone meat , add the frame and go back for the rest.

i use this setup also i think its called the wilderness pack. works great for day trips but for multiple days i own a duplex and AMR ,guide lid that can haul more than i can...

 

[Gumbo]

I'm kind of a gear nut and have tried several packs over the last 20 years or so. I started out with a collapsable frame in a Badlands day pack. I realized it sucked wearing a daypack on my chest after I shot an animal. I switched to an Eberlestock. This was better, but really wore me down after a day or two because it was very uncomfortable and it didn't cinch down well. And the scabbard was a waste of space/weight because I never used it. I then went back to a different Badlands day pack and used the weapon sling for a quarter for the first load. I only did that once...absolute misery. Then I got a MR Crew Cab and was blown away by how well it carried weight. It is perfect for day trips but unfortunately I didn't like it for overnight trips (nowhere to put the meat when loaded with gear), so I added an SG 5100 to the arsenal, but it was very uncomfortable on me regardless of the amount of weight I had in it and the meat shelf didn't allow me to walk upright when it was used with a full pack. I sold it and am ready to try out a Kifaru AMR for extended trips. So far it has been great this summer when loaded down with weight.

So for me I want two packs at this point...some type of medium capacity daypack with load hauling capabilities and a VERY high capacity overnight pack that I can cinch down to a reasonably tight package but still stuff a quarter into along with all my gear.

 

[5MilesBack]

I have my Stone Glacier "do it all pack", a hauling frame, and a daypack. I still use all three.