Travel Pack/Day Pack Recommendations

[TxLite]

Funny, I actually purchased all 3 of those packs in my quest for the perfect day pack (and I live in Hawaii).

I purchased the Shape Charge first. After all my research I thought it would be the perfect one based on features and feedback from others. My friend has a Door Gunner that I love, but since they don't make them anymore that wasn't an option. Unfortunately, I hated the Shape Charge the minute it arrived. For me, the frame was super uncomfortable. It was way overbuilt, bulky, and heavy. It really wasn't going to work for me here. I ended up sending it back, losing over $100 in shipping charges that left me with a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Oh well, paradise tax.

I bought the SG Avail 2200 next. I liked it well enough, but the lack of water bottle pockets, placement of the hydration port, arrangement of the many many straps, the belt configuration, tendency to barrel when loaded full, and more, left me less than impressed. Let me come back to this in a moment.

I bought the Kuiu Ranger 2200 on a pretty good sale. Figured I'd give it a try. I had the Venture 1800 before, which I really liked for its layout and materials, but the frame was uncomfortable. I bent the aluminum stays in the Venture to make it much better, but a big problem I have with Kuiu day packs is that the frame and pack extend several inches below the hip belt causing the pack to ride hard into the top of my butt. I hate that. Maybe some people like that? Idk, ymmv. The Ranger has a very similar layout and materials to the Venture but a much more comfortable frame. I like it except that it still suffers from that extension below the hip belt. I'll generally only use it when I'm wearing a thick coat which keeps the frame from riding on top of my butt. I may do some modifications to the bottom to make it more comfortable for me, because it otherwise is a pretty decent pack for my uses here in Hawaii.

After trying out the Ranger, I decided to give the Avail another go. With a bunch of modifications, I'm starting to like it more. First, I swapped out the hip belt. I'm using the belt from a 5.11 tactical skyweight 24l pack. For hipbelt pockets I pulled my exo mtn gear pockets off my K4 that I only use for longer hunts. I also cut a small rectangle from a thick yoga mat to beef up the lumbar pad. It's just wedged in there with the belt. I pulled out the frame and added a curved aluminum bar to the frame sheet at the same position as the top compression straps to help keep it from barreling. That helped a lot. I opened up the top seam to allow my water bladder hose to pass out the top so it could go over my right shoulder and not snag bushes or my bow string. I pulled a bunch of the buckles and straps off and only have the ones I need. I may actually cut some more straps and loops off that are really just extra tangle spots (for my use case, specifically. Others may have use for these in different environments). At this point, I like this pack fairly well. I've used it for travel several times. I got the Access bag, and when I get on the plane I put the stuff I want in my seat in the Access bag. When I get to my seat, the main pack goes up above and I put the Access bag under the seat in front of me. Water, headphones, charger, book, snacks. Really all I need.

I took the Avail on an archery deer hunt to Lāna'i recently. Shot a doe with my longbow and butchered it out and put the roughly 20lbs of meat in the bag and walked very comfortably the mile back uphill to the truck. I think for now I'm happy with this pack in general, unless a Door Gunner shows up somewhere. I've done some training hikes recently with 15-20 lbs in the pack and it carries nicely. Sure wish it had stretch pockets on the outside though.

I'm picky when it comes to packs, if you couldn't tell. Really just comes down to comfort for me, I'm happy with a wide variety of features. Hope these thoughts help.

Very helpful and confirms some of my suspicions with the avail

Also confirms some concerns I had with the kifaru in regards to bulkiness

 

[Lawnboi]

Iv tried a lot and the avail is the day pack I always come back to. They are dirt cheap on the used market as well.

It does nothing super well, but does everything good. Pockets would be nice but it also is shaped perfect as a pack you don’t want to feel when it’s there. That alone keeps me from the absolute need for a bottle pocket, I can just keep it in the pack.

From no belt with day stuff with the family to a 30lb training hike with the belt, to a 3 day backpacking trip in the summer it has worked well. I also use it as a range bag for shooting matches.

 

[Whitefox82]

There may be some Mystery Ranch packs still available and on sale. I picked up one of their day packs when Yeti bought them out and it was like 40% off. Shortly after, I received a KUIU Ranger 2200 for Xmas. The Myst Ranch is the better pack between the two imo but I’ll find some use for the KUIU somewhere, probably tree stand hunting once my Badlands Superday is finished. It’s seen much better days.

 

[TxLite]

There may be some Mystery Ranch packs still available and on sale. I picked up one of their day packs when Yeti bought them out and it was like 40% off. Shortly after, I received a KUIU Ranger 2200 for Xmas. The Myst Ranch is the better pack between the two imo but I’ll find some use for the KUIU somewhere, probably tree stand hunting once my Badlands Superday is finished. It’s seen much better days.

I had a MR sawtooth before I got my stone glacier and found it to be uncomfortable with any weight in it. For basic day pack use it might be fine but honestly it soured me a little on their packs

 

[Kow]

If you want one pack to do both, I’d probably narrow it to the Shape Charge or the Ranger 2200. The Shape Charge seems better if travel use is a real priority since it has a more everyday layout, but the Ranger 2200 probably makes more sense if hunting use is going to win most of the time. Since you already mentioned the Avail could double on your Xcurve, that’s a real advantage, but the bottle access issue would bug me too for travel. If it were me, I’d pick the one you’d be happiest wearing on the travel side, because all three can work for short day hunts.

 

[isleofGough]

I use a Kuiu divide 1500 or MR Coulee 25 for short day hikes, but you might consider the HPG Umlindi is you need more capacity or weight.

 

[FrankNess14]

It may not be the size you are looking for (18L/1100cu), but the FHF EDC backpack is very nice and made in the USA. It would be more specific to EDC/travel, not so much for hunting since its pretty slick on the outside (no pockets or straps. I thought I'd hate it not having an external stretchy water bottle pocket, but it turns out that the side zip pocket they made for water bottles is stellar. Nalgene/GSI fits great. Zippered pocket on other side fits a tall, slim coffee mug very well also. Straps are bomber. I routinely ruck with 40-50# in it for miles as exercicse.

I'm also a big fan of the Kuiu Venture 1800, but...its tall and skinny, kinda not ideal for underseat plane usage.