Stone Glacier X Curve and Sky 5900 initial impressions

joelbiltz

joelbiltz

WKR
Joined
May 19, 2012
Messages
912
Location
Brookville In
So my Stone Glacier X Curve and 5900 bag arrived on Thursday. Spent a little time Saturday learning the pack and getting it to my initial fit. This was a simple process after watching the pack fitting video from Stone Glacier on YouTube by making sure the place on the shoulder straps where the grey and black material meet is positioned directly over the collar bone.

The adjustments of the shoulder straps is quick and simple by hook and loop or Velcro.

One concern I had at first was that I am a big guy. Big thick chested and broad shoulders. A quick email to Pete at SG said that the shoulder straps could be angled to make them a little wider. This feature I really thought might benefit me as my last pack a Kifaru UL hunting frame always seemed to pinch me so to speak.

Today I loaded up 30 pounds in the load sling strapped the pack on and did a 3.7 mile hike. Now I know 30 pounds is not a true test I just wanted to get a feel for the pack and test my initial setup. To say I was happy is a understatement. Even with only the 30 pound weight this was the first training hike that I have ever done that I did not have to adjust a pack on the fly. I did not touch one adjustment on the whole 3.7 miles. This was a first for me. I could hardly tell the pack was there and happened to be the first pack that did not sag down on me. The SG pack stayed put and did not move. The last Kifaru pack which was a great pack I just could not find that sweet spot that would fit and not need touched as I was hiking. It always seemed to need adjusted.

Now I know that I have only made one short hike with this pack my initial impressions are very favorable. I plan on adding 20-30 more pounds and seeing how that does next Sunday.

Let me know if you have any question and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
 
Glad the pack workout for you. I have big shoulders and a broad back and i spent hours yesterday trying to get the new X Curve to feel good with a 30 lb sand bag in it, its just a no go for me with my broader frame. I have worn a lot of different packs over the years and this frame just cut into my shoulders and neck. I think its an awesome pack for smaller or more normal framed guys, its just to narrow of a set up for me, even at my leanest i dont think it would work. No hate at all on the pack though, its just me and my preference and my broad shoulders and back. I think its a great product, and im super disappointed it didnt work out.
 
westrnwild said:
Glad the pack workout for you. I have big shoulders and a broad back and i spent hours yesterday trying to get the new X Curve to feel good with a 30 lb sand bag in it, its just a no go for me with my broader frame. I have worn a lot of different packs over the years and this frame just cut into my shoulders and neck. I think its an awesome pack for smaller or more normal framed guys, its just to narrow of a set up for me, even at my leanest i dont think it would work. No hate at all on the pack though, its just me and my preference and my broad shoulders and back. I think its a great product, and im super disappointed it didnt work out.
Click to expand...


Did you try angling the shoulder straps outward? This really seemed to be the ticket for me. At least for my initial trip.
 
Yeah that was the very next thing i did after my first attempt with weight in the pack. It did make an improvement and at least took the weight off my neck but i still struggled to get the weight from digging in and 30lbs aint much. I spent hours playing around with it. To the point my shoulders were getting soar...I walked with my daughter in her kid carrier, water, food , jackets and toys (close to 50lbs in total) for 5 miles and 1800 ft gain loss the next day and that didnt make my shoulders feel as bad, and those kid carriers arent the best. I just think its the way im built...I think they make a fantastic product and for 99% of guys its gonna be the ideal awesome pack. IM glad you got it to fit you well i hope you really enjoy it .
 
Couldn't get my xcurve/ sky talus to fit right and I'm pretty normal build. Sent it back. It's one size fits all with no real torso length adjustment.
 
fishslap said:
Couldn't get my xcurve/ sky talus to fit right and I'm pretty normal build. Sent it back. It's one size fits all with no real torso length adjustment.
Click to expand...

?????????? Care to elaborate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The pack is super adjustable, thats why i spent a long time playing with it. Almost to adjustable but id never complain about that. For me it just didnt feel that great, which will happen from time to time with some people. The only thing that makes it harder for guys with a broad back and shoulders that i can figure is how the straps go through the sewn in loops on the frame, not allowing you to spread them out, you can only angle the straps, unfortunately for me, the angling only helped a little bit.. Again.. i think its an awesome product and im bit depressed it didnt workout for me, but id say 99% of people will be extremely happy with this pack
 
Westrnwild,
We have a few sets of shoulder straps in our design room I had built that have a wider angle as they come off the frame. These straps will ride wider over the shoulders with a broader curve under the arm as well. If you would like to shoot me an email at [email protected] we can send you a set as they would likely solve the issue you are having.

FIshslap, the Xcurve has approximately 9" of vertical torso adjustment on the frame with the ability to rotate the straps on the frame to adjust the width. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, we also have a fit video on our Instructions page of our site that will detail fit and adjustment.

Best,
Kurt
 
Kurt said:
Westrnwild,
We have a few sets of shoulder straps in our design room I had built that have a wider angle as they come off the frame. These straps will ride wider over the shoulders with a broader curve under the arm as well. If you would like to shoot me an email at [email protected] we can send you a set as they would likely solve the issue you are having.

FIshslap, the Xcurve has approximately 9" of vertical torso adjustment on the frame with the ability to rotate the straps on the frame to adjust the width. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, we also have a fit video on our Instructions page of our site that will detail fit and adjustment.

Best,
Kurt
Click to expand...

Sent you an email Kurt...Thanks so much for the stellar customer service, hope this works.
 
Great CS Kurt. I am loving it so far. Hopefully as the weight goes up everything is still great. Plan is the same hike with 60# this weekend.
 
sr80 said:
yes they are, SG is the most adjustable pack there is. Either he didnt know what he was doing, or hes trolling.
Click to expand...

Maybe just ask the question first before accusing me of trolling. It is possible that I didn't get it adjusted the way it was meant to. I emailed with SG, called, and watched the video. They were very supportive and responsive. It seemed like a great pack and I really wanted it to work but I never could get it adjusted to where it felt like it wasn't pulling back on my shoulders (unless it was really tight). You can obviously adjust the shoulder strap length. You can also rotate where the shoulder straps/pads sit on your shoulders by undoing the Velcro attachment to the frame. My statement was about the fact that this still doesn't change where the shoulder straps actually attach to the frame. That is where any residual weight from the hip belt is transferred. That's a fixed point by the nylon straps that the shoulder straps feed through above the Velcro attachment. Basically, I felt like I needed a different dimension between the hip belt and where the residual weight of the pack is transferred from the frame to the shoulder straps. Seemed like a good pack otherwise and might work for everyone else, just didn't for me. I tried on a different pack Friday afternoon and with little adjustment it felt completely different for me personally. Maybe I just couldn't figure out the SG.
 
Moving the shoulder straps up and down is how you adjust the torso oength and it does change the point of contact with the top of the strap and frame.
 
fishslap said:
Maybe just ask the question first before accusing me of trolling. It is possible that I didn't get it adjusted the way it was meant to. I emailed with SG, called, and watched the video. They were very supportive and responsive. It seemed like a great pack and I really wanted it to work but I never could get it adjusted to where it felt like it wasn't pulling back on my shoulders (unless it was really tight). You can obviously adjust the shoulder strap length. You can also rotate where the shoulder straps/pads sit on your shoulders by undoing the Velcro attachment to the frame. My statement was about the fact that this still doesn't change where the shoulder straps actually attach to the frame. That is where any residual weight from the hip belt is transferred. That's a fixed point by the nylon straps that the shoulder straps feed through above the Velcro attachment. Basically, I felt like I needed a different dimension between the hip belt and where the residual weight of the pack is transferred from the frame to the shoulder straps. Seemed like a good pack otherwise and might work for everyone else, just didn't for me. I tried on a different pack Friday afternoon and with little adjustment it felt completely different for me personally. Maybe I just couldn't figure out the SG.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I'm a little baffled at what your describing. Not saying the frame didn't work for you but just can't visualize what your describing. When you move the shoulder pads up or down, your literally moving where they attach to the frame, which is responsible for the torso length, it works like any other pack on earth.

Maybe the lingo is where we all are getting mixed up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
tipsntails7 said:
Honestly, I'm a little baffled at what your describing. Not saying the frame didn't work for you but just can't visualize what your describing. When you move the shoulder pads up or down, your literally moving where they attach to the frame, which is responsible for the torso length, it works like any other pack on earth.

Maybe the lingo is where we all are getting mixed up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm talking about the frame height, which I thought corresponded to torso length. It seems like there should be different options or ability to adjust the distance between the hip belt and upper part of the Velcro on the frame where the straps attach (along with the horizontal webbing strap that the shoulder strap feeds through on the frame). ...or maybe I don't realize how much I don't understand about pack fit
 
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