Thoughts on eberlestock packs

[KurtR]

I still have a1x1 my kid wears so he can feel a little pain and suffering before getting a pack with functional load lifters. Ran the j34 for just one year in Idaho and it beat the crap out of my shoulders and was not comfortable at all north of 50 pounds. The rifle scabbard is nice but the gun bearer is better

 

[Tradchef]

I ran an x2 for 3 seasons. If I remember right I packed out 12 animals with that bag. I had to moleskin wrap the frame bar as it would squeak against the fabric but other than that it was a super tough pack. It rode well with lighter day pack gear. It wasn’t super comfy loaded down with meat but it gets the job done. They are solid packs and the lay out on most of them is well thought out. I went to kifaru after those years after I saved some coin and sold some gear and it’s worth every penny spent. Lots of great options out there.

 

[kevlar88]

I hunt in a lot of different situations from backpacking in the mountains to sitting in a stand for pigs at night and I really like the modularity and versatility that the Eberlestock provides. I currently have the little big top with the carrier frame and this covers just about every situation I've ever hunted. I will echo what others have said, it does not carry heavy weight well with its almost nonexistent load lifters. This was easily remedied with a couple carbon fiber rods to make my own load lifters, what a world of difference. To me it does everything really well, just nothing spectacularly well.

 

[jspradley]

I had a Phantom for a while, was a good tactical type pack and the rifle scabbard is good for transporting a rifle but not a good hunting pack.

They are well made though

 

[Boarmaster]

I bought one 15 years ago. It had a plastic sheet in the back for support. The sheet got bent in half and lost its rigidity. It was about worthless then as a backpack. It was heavy and very well constructed. I removed the waist belt and repurposed it for an ATV bag a year or two after I bought it. I will say its the best dang ATV bag I ever had. Except for that plastic sheet its indestructible. I moved on to other packs.

 

[5 shot group]

I used to have a J107 Dragonfly. I purchased all the little extras (spike duffle, zip in cover, pockets, and the chest pack) and liked it when the weight was around 50lbs. Anymore then that, and it really sucked for me.

I purchased a kifaru and kicked myself in the ass for not doing so earlier. With all the extras, I was almost the same price.

Watch the classifieds here and get a used kifaru, MR, SG, or something similar. You will be better off from the start.

 

[JtAnvil]

Thanks for all the Input fellas , still got some brainstorming to do about which route imma take

 

[Newtosavage]

I hunt in a lot of different situations from backpacking in the mountains to sitting in a stand for pigs at night and I really like the modularity and versatility that the Eberlestock provides. I currently have the little big top with the carrier frame and this covers just about every situation I've ever hunted. I will echo what others have said, it does not carry heavy weight well with its almost nonexistent load lifters. This was easily remedied with a couple carbon fiber rods to make my own load lifters, what a world of difference. To me it does everything really well, just nothing spectacularly well.

I have thought of doing this exact thing with my Dragonfly pack. If I could make them pop-up lifters, it would be even better.

 

[Newtosavage]

I'm going to offer slightly different advice than 5 shot. I bought my Eberlestock Dragonfly on clearance last year about a month before I left for a 2nd rifle elk hunt. When I got it out of the box, my initial reaction was 1) it's huge and 2) it's heavy. I wasn't sure if the weight cost of the rifle scabbard would be worth it. I nearly sent it back, but for the price I paid I figured what the heck - give it a chance and if I didn't like it I could probably sell it for what I paid.

Well, after 10 days in the mountains and countless miles, I fell in love with that pack. No, it's not a lightweight pack, but it carries MUCH lighter than it is - to me at least. Not sure what it is about the shoulder straps and hip belt, but they fit me like a glove. No other pack I've ever worn is as comfortable to wear. 30# in my Dragonfly feels like 20 in any other pack. Also, I fell in love with that rifle scabbard. What a brilliant feature.

Having said that, I read all the reviews here about other packs and couldn't get my mind off of the Mystery Ranch Pop-up 28. It just looked like the handiest thing ever. So I ordered one on father's day sale and figured it would replace my Dragonfly pack. Immediately I didn't like the way it fit. The pad in the center of the small of my back just felt odd the whole time. I weighted it down and it still didn't feel right. I made countless adjustments to it over the course of a week, took it on hikes, etc and still didn't like it. I also didn't like how far from my back the pack sat when I loaded my camp gear in my spike duffel on the overload frame. So off it went. Sold the pop-up for what I paid for it to a member here. Still have the Kifaru Gun Bearer that I had intended to use with the pop-up.

I've happily gone back to my Eberlestock Dragonfly and will use it again this year. I did buy the spike duffel (which I love and use all the time now) and my camp fits in there and it fits perfectly inside of my pack with the wings open.

I always bring a pack frame for hauling meat, so I don't rely on my Dragonfly as a primary meat hauler. I figure I'll take out the first load with it, then grab my pack frame in the truck and carry out the rest of the loads with it.

The Dragonfly is durable as heck, extremely well designed and super comfortable for me to wear. Sure, there are lighter packs out there but I'll sacrifice the few extra pounds of weight for the rifle scabbard, durability and comfort.

 

[JtAnvil]

I'm going to offer slightly different advice than 5 shot. I bought my Eberlestock Dragonfly on clearance last year about a month before I left for a 2nd rifle elk hunt. When I got it out of the pack, my initial reaction was 1) it's huge and 2) it's heavy. I wasn't sure if the weight cost of the rifle scabbard would be worth it. I nearly sent it back, but for the price I paid I figured what the heck - give it a chance and if I didn't like it I could probably sell it for what I paid.

Well, after 10 days and countless miles, I fell in love with that pack. No, it's not a lightweight pack, but it carries MUCH lighter than it is - to me at least. Not sure what it is about the shoulder straps and hip belt, but they fit me like a glove. No other pack I've ever worn is as comfortable to wear. 30# in my Dragonfly feels like 20 in any other pack. Also, I fell in love with that rifle scabbard. What a brilliant feature.

Having said that, I read all the reviews here about other packs and couldn't get my mind off of the Mystery Ranch Pop-up 28. It just looked like the handiest thing ever. So I ordered one on father's day sale and figured it would replace my Dragonfly pack. Immediately I didn't like the way it fit. The pad in the center of the small of my back just felt odd the whole time. I weighted it down and it still didn't feel right. I made countless adjustments to it over the course of a week, took it on hikes, etc and still didn't like it. I also didn't like how far from my back the pack sat when I loaded my camp gear in my spike duffel on the overload frame. So off it went. Sold the pop-up for what I paid for it to a member here. Still have the Kifaru Gun Bearer that I had intended to use with the pop-up.

I've happily gone back to my Eberlestock Dragonfly and will use it again this year. I did buy the spike duffel (which I love and use all the time now) and my camp fits in there and it fits perfectly inside of my pack with the wings open.

I always bring a pack frame for hauling meat, so I don't rely on my Dragonfly as a primary meat hauler. I figure I'll take out the first load with it, then grab my pack frame in the truck and carry out the rest of the loads with it.

The Dragonfly is durable as heck, extremely well designed and super comfortable for me to wear. Sure, there are lighter packs out there but I'll sacrifice the few extra pounds of weight for the rifle scabbard, durability and comfort.

So you pack your camp stuff in the duffle then take the dragonfly pack itself out hunting everyday?

 

[Newtosavage]

So you pack your camp stuff in the duffle then take the dragonfly pack itself out hunting everyday?

Correct. The spike duffle is designed to fit inside the pack with the wings out. It can also be zipped to the wings on the outside if you really have a lot to carry. If I'm overnighting, I put all my camp stuff (tent, bag, pad, pillow, stove, fuel, extra food, etc.) in the spike duffel and put it inside my pack. Then when I get to where I'm going to camp, I just pull out the spike duffel collapse the pack and use it for my day hunting pack in the smaller configuration.

One of the features I really like about the dragonfly are the top and bottom "wings" that buckle together. I wasn't sure how I would like that, but boy do they do a great job of carrying jackets, sitting pads, and whatever else you need to throw on your pack but still get to quickly.

BTW, that spike duffel makes a great all-around duffel bag. On our recent family trip to Colorado, we spent a week traveling and all my clothes and toiletries went in that duffel in the back of the car. It was super easy to grab, unload, load, and toss back into the car. Easily worth the price I paid for it.

 

[Poser]

Had an X2 for a couple of years. No adjustability for torso length and I could never get the pack to sit right on me as a result. I had some trouble with the frame creaking, too. The biggest design flaw was the load lifters as they had no positive angle and therefore did not offer any mechanic advantage. Load lifters must attach to a point on the frame that is higher than your shoulders or they are basically worthless. Like most stated above, that’s not a big deal at 3O# but completely incompetent at 50+ lbs.
there is no justification for a dedicated hunting pack to lack mechanically advantageous load lifters.

 

[Newtosavage]

Had an X2 for a couple of years. No adjustability for torso length and I could never get the pack to sit right on me as a result. I had some trouble with the frame creaking, too. The biggest design flaw was the load lifters as they had no positive angle and therefore did not offer any mechanic advantage. Load lifters must attach to a point on the frame that is higher than your shoulders or they are basically worthless. Like most stated above, that’s not a big deal at 3O# but completely incompetent at 50+ lbs.
there is no justification for a dedicated hunting pack to lack mechanically advantageous load lifters.

Unless you only intend to use it to haul smaller loads for the initial trip back to the truck. I wouldn't call the Dragonfly "incompetent" at 50 lbs. Now my buddy's Badlands 2200 - that I would call incompetent at 50 lbs.

My Dragonfly has adjustable torso as well.

 

[AlleghenyMountain]

I started looking at packs a few months ago and looked at the Eberlestock. At the recommendation of someone on another board, I went with a Kuiu Icon Pro 3200 from the Outlet, so I saved some money. You might want to take a look in that direction. I'm here in the east and will probably just use mine as a day pack and to haul meat.

 

[superA]

I wouldn't want to go backpacking with one...but I've used a halftrack for years as my travel/vacation bag. In that role I imagine it will outlast me.

 

[NBKYSCAR]

I just picked up a ‘tall’ mainframe along with the zip in dry bag and batwings. I haven’t hauled around much weight with it yet but The tall gets the load lifters up where they should be so I’m hoping it’ll work pretty well.

Between the dry bag and the batwings I have a similarly configurable bag to a dragonfly but I can remove everything if I just want to haul meat.

 

[deerkiller]

I like the scabbard idea for daypack hunting - in '15 my son and I got "Team Elk" packs for a WY bull hunt, the worst pack for a head and/or meat I've EVER experienced (should rename them "Team Misery")

 

[sapinid]

I just used an Eberlestock HIspeed II for 2 weeks in the jungles of Southeast Asia, carrying up to 65 lbs in it training as well. It was great, I felt it was more comfortable then other packs I have had that were a lot more expensive. I have carried heavy many times with many rucks and this was a great surprise for me for how comfortable it was. The only thing I didn't really like was the mesh over the shoulder straps, but didn't make the load carry any worse, just in hot weather I wore a thin tshirt and could feel the mesh.
Don't get fooled into thinking that you need an expensive pack to be able to carry loads. Eberlestock is a great bag, but the weight issue is something you should consider. It will be at most a couple pounds heavier then more expensive bags, but you will probably be able to make some modifications to make it lighter.

 

[Perrin713]

Just sold my X2. Worked great for carrying mule deer out but a elk? No way.... killed my shoulders and back. Sold the pack and just bought a Kifaru frame and pack.

 

[jog]

I ran the X@ for a long time but wised up eventually. I now have their mainframe with another brand pack on it. I will be getting the suspension system that goes with the pack next year and ditching the mainframe- the center pad on that frame does not sit well on my body. I also do not like that most Eberlestock packs do not center the hydration. It does matter. They also are behind the times in regards to main compartment access/design and IMO lack some of the features that more R&D gain you. Many Eberlestock packs are military derived and some of those features do not always translate well for hunting. The X@ is very wide for its size as an example. I just love my Kuiu 1850. Too small for your needs but as a day hunter in the Rocky Mtns its just fantastic.
I will say the Eberlestock packs are very rugged and I have no complaints with the durability of the ones I used.