Upgrade Time. Kifaru, Exo or Stone Glacier

[Lambchop]

After a couple weeks in the mountains thIs year I have come to the conclusion I am in need and want of a pack upgrade. I am looking for some input, pros and cons.

For the past few seasons I have been running a Eberlestock Big Top. The bag as a whole isn’t bad but has some cons in regards to comfort as well as zipper/pocket layout and the functionality of the design. I am looking to replace this bag with something that will handle 7-10 day trips.

Some bags I am interested in hearing about are Kifaru (Cavern, Crater, Muskeg and Hoodlum). Stone Glacier Sky Series (5900, 6200 or 6900) and whatever frame you prefer. The last pack, one I have seen the least information on the Exo K3 6400. Feel free to chime in with other recommendations as well. So those of you that may have used one or all of these let me know what you liked, didn’t like as well as anything else you want to add.

Thanks in advanced

 

[BeaverHunter]

Switched from and Eberlestock to a Mystery Ranch to a Kifaru Reckoning and could not be happier. In my opinion under heavy load, the Kifaru is vastly superior. I really like how you can make the Reckoning really small like a day pack but then expand it out to haul as much as I could physically carry in the bag. And of course the meat shelf is awesome.

 

[Lambchop]

Switched from and Eberlestock to a Mystery Ranch to a Kifaru Reckoning and could not be happier. In my opinion under heavy load, the Kifaru is vastly superior. I really like how you can make the Reckoning really small like a day pack but then expand it out to haul as much as I could physically carry in the bag. And of course the meat shelf is awesome.

Which Eberlestock did you have? Mine has what they call the shooter harness? The shoulder straps don’t offer much cushion and the angle isn’t optimal for my shoulders.

How many days are you able to get in the reckoning? Isn’t it like a hoodlum except the side pockets don’t zip? So many options to choose from.

 

[BeaverHunter]

I had the eberlestock dragon fly. Going to the the mystery ranch was a big upgrade and then to the kifaru wasn’t even in the same ballpark. It was way better than the Eberlestock. I got 2 weeks of wearing the kifaru and 3 deer pack outs with full camp and half a deer twice. As comfortable as a guy could be with 80-90 pounds on his back in my opinion.

 

[Lambchop]

I had the eberlestock dragon fly. Going to the the mystery ranch was a big upgrade and then to the kifaru wasn’t even in the same ballpark. It was way better than the Eberlestock. I got 2 weeks of wearing the kifaru and 3 deer pack outs with full camp and half a deer twice. As comfortable as a guy could be with 80-90 pounds on his back in my opinion.

That’s what I like to hear. I have a few deer, and lots of miles bivy hunting on my Eberlestock. I’m looking for something to make every mile feel better.

 

[realunlucky]

I'm loving the Initial Ascent 4k. I used a Kifaru for years before trying the IA this year. For me the lumbar pad is more comfortable. Les and my Rokslide review is a sticky in the back pack forum.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Krieg Hetzen]

I switched from an Eberlestock Dragonfly to a SG Sky Guide 7900 with the X-Curve frame. Comparing the load bearing, the SG with 90lbs (2 45lbs plates) loaded in the load shelf carries better and more comfortably than the dragonfly did with a single 45lbs plate. After 10ish minutes or so under load with the dragonfly on the treadmill my neck and top of shoulders would be sore. Yesterday and today I did 90lbs in the pack for 30 minutes on my lunch breaks and the SG felt great and I’m still dialing it in. I think my final Step to make the SG perfect for me will be to adjust the lumbar pad on the hip belt, it’s a bit firm.

I feel like I can easily transfer the weight from my hips to my shoulders with the SG and vice versa, it doesn’t leave any red marks on my shoulder from the strap pressure like the dragonfly did and it is not as tiring to carry. In short, for me, the SG is a 10x better pack when carrying twice the weight of the dragonfly.

Lastly when using the dragonfly I had to unbuckle almost everything to use the two pockets on it. I believe that the bag, strap and buckle layout on the SG is vastly superior and will only take unbuckling 1-2 things to retrieve small items instead of yard sailing my gear everywhere. I’ll be loading the SG up for Wednesday’s work break workout, if you have any questions I’ll do what I can to help get you answers.

 

[Catahoula]

No complaints on my Kifaru pack. So comfortable.

 

[Lambchop]

I'm loving the Initial Ascent 4k. I used a Kifaru for years before trying the IA this year. For me the lumbar pad is more comfortable. Les and my Rokslide review is a sticky in the back pack forum.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

I will be sure to check it out. If I have any other questions I will reach out to you.

 

[Lambchop]

No complaints on my Kifaru pack. So comfortabl.

What bag and frame are you running?

 

[Lambchop]

I switched from an Eberlestock Dragonfly to a SG Sky Guide 7900 with the X-Curve frame. Comparing the load bearing, the SG with 90lbs (2 45lbs plates) loaded in the load shelf carries better and more comfortably than the dragonfly did with a single 45lbs plate. After 10ish minutes or so under load with the dragonfly on the treadmill my neck and top of shoulders would be sore. Yesterday and today I did 90lbs in the pack for 30 minutes on my lunch breaks and the SG felt great and I’m still dialing it in. I think my final Step to make the SG perfect for me will be to adjust the lumbar pad on the hip belt, it’s a bit firm.

I feel like I can easily transfer the weight from my hips to my shoulders with the SG and vice versa, it doesn’t leave any red marks on my shoulder from the strap pressure like the dragonfly did and it is not as tiring to carry. In short, for me, the SG is a 10x better pack when carrying twice the weight of the dragonfly.

Lastly when using the dragonfly I had to unbuckle almost everything to use the two pockets on it. I believe that the bag, strap and buckle layout on the SG is vastly superior and will only take unbuckling 1-2 things to retrieve small items instead of yard sailing my gear everywhere. I’ll be loading the SG up for Wednesday’s work break workout, if you have any questions I’ll do what I can to help get you answers.

Thanks for the detailed reply. Very informative. If the SG or Kifaru carry weight that much better I will be in heaven. I have a X2 I use for tree stand hunting here in the Midwest and it’s money. The Eberlestock BigTop I was using in the mountains was lack luster. I am with you. It has so many buckles and straps I felt like I was doing some kind of math equation just to load and unload things. The main bag has two zipper portions I thought I would like but hated it. If it had full length zips and half the straps it may be okay, and would probably weigh a pound less.

 

[*zap*]

Very happy with my SG sky 6200. I am using an ILBE lid which is larger than the SG lid and has webbing for some pouches on it and camp/swing out pockets in the pack body for organization. With a piece of webbing and buckles I can strap the lid to the tree and keep stuff very handy and the larger lid cover the top of my bow......the pack body side zip is also handy in the tree. Carries stand/steps and cold weather outer layers/boot blankets with no troubles. I may add an access bag to it in the future for winter camping gear.

 

[Marble]

My experience is with kifaru. I got a Cavern with a guide lid, and pockets on the belt with nalgene holder. I carried it around loaded with all my camp going all the way to the top of the ridge, gaining around 2500' elevation from trailhead to top.

Back, shoulders and the rest of my body felt just fine. All of the other packs I have ever carried would give me all sorts of issues with my back. Especially my upper back.

The pack collapsed down to almost nothing and the guide lid was large enough to keep all of my essentials for the day, food, gloves and hats etc. I would just take the lid off and put it in the pack while hunting. When loaded, it sat on top.

I packed out one cow elk on that trip. Didnt weigh my pack, but one load had 75 pounds of meat with about 5 pounds of gear and the pack. The other load was my camp and about 60 pounds of meat. So well over 100 pounds.

No uncomfortable spots anywhere from the pack. Even days later, with super sore feet, my back and shoulders were great.

I used it in Colorado, partial pack out of one bull and one buck.

Bottom line, the pack is the beat piece of gear I have purchased in years.

I'm now considering getting another thats slightly smaller. But we will see. Been eyeing the 44 mag. Dont really need it....

 

[kboatman107]

I have an exo k2 and love it. The other two guys I usually hunt with have kifarus(not sure what model) and they’re just as nice.

 

[wind gypsy]

Prefer the bag options of EXO and SG. The included lids, side pockets, and bottom pouch on side pockets just works well with how I organize stuff without adding accessories. They tend to be lighter too. Also like that the EXO and SG frames come with load shelf provisions. You can rig something in to work similarly in a Kifaru.

Ultimately they all work. For some folks the Kifaru frames are more comfortable, especially with more weight and that might trump everything else as you can use other bags on a kifaru frame if you desire. For me, SG xcurve hauls weight the best. EXO hauls weight second best but is probably the most comfortable with light loads.

 

[Lambchop]

My experience is with kifaru. I got a Cavern with a guide lid, and pockets on the belt with nalgene holder. I carried it around loaded with all my camp going all the way to the top of the ridge, gaining around 2500' elevation from trailhead to top.

Back, shoulders and the rest of my body felt just fine. All of the other packs I have ever carried would give me all sorts of issues with my back. Especially my upper back.

The pack collapsed down to almost nothing and the guide lid was large enough to keep all of my essentials for the day, food, gloves and hats etc. I would just take the lid off and put it in the pack while hunting. When loaded, it sat on top.

I packed out one cow elk on that trip. Didnt weigh my pack, but one load had 75 pounds of meat with about 5 pounds of gear and the pack. The other load was my camp and about 60 pounds of meat. So well over 100 pounds.

No uncomfortable spots anywhere from the pack. Even days later, with super sore feet, my back and shoulders were great.

I used it in Colorado, partial pack out of one bull and one buck.

Bottom line, the pack is the beat piece of gear I have purchased in years.

I'm now considering getting another thats slightly smaller. But we will see. Been eyeing the 44 mag. Dont really need it....

Awesome. Thanks for all the info. What’s the total weight of the setup you are running?

 

[Lambchop]

Very happy with my SG sky 6200. I am using an ILBE lid which is larger than the SG lid and has webbing for some pouches on it and camp/swing out pockets in the pack body for organization. With a piece of webbing and buckles I can strap the lid to the tree and keep stuff very handy and the larger lid cover the top of my bow......the pack body side zip is also handy in the tree. Carries stand/steps and cold weather outer layers/boot blankets with no troubles. I may add an access bag to it in the future for winter camping gear.

How’s it holding up carrying a stand and rails, or steps on it?

 

[Lambchop]

Prefer the bag options of EXO and SG. The included lids, side pockets, and bottom pouch on side pockets just works well with how I organize stuff without adding accessories. They tend to be lighter too. Also like that the EXO and SG frames come with load shelf provisions. You can rig something in to work similarly in a Kifaru.

Ultimately they all work. For some folks the Kifaru frames are more comfortable, especially with more weight and that might trump everything else as you can use other bags on a kifaru frame if you desire. For me, SG xcurve hauls weight the best. EXO hauls weight second best but is probably the most comfortable with light loads.

The one thing really drawing me toward the Exo and SG is the organization built into the bag and the included lid as well as volume to weight ratio. My eberlestock is like a big duffle similar to what most Kifaru bags would be and I didn’t really enjoy it. Which SG bags have you used and did you prefer the layout of the Exo or SG more?

 

[coyotecreek]

You won't find better customer service than Stone Glacier. I have an Xcurve frame with the sky 5900 bag, and a Krux frame with the Solo 3300 bag. Both packs are awesome, however the Xcurve fits me much better and I gave the Krux and Solo bag to my son. Any time I've had questions or wanted to add something to my setup the guys at Stone Glacier have been awesome to work with, and get things shipped out right away. I've never been around Exo or Kifaru, but both look like great packs, but I did have an Eberlestock X2. There is night and day difference between the Eberlestock and my SG packs. You won't regret going with either Stone Glacier, Exo, or Kifaru. I think they all make great packs and are worth the price tag.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I have kifaru and stone glacier, both are great products with great customer service/support. My main gripe about my kifaru is that it is heavy (about 10lbs empty). And it just has an excessive amount of straps to deal with any tome you open it up or close it.

my stone glacier is 5lbs lighter and carries very comfortably. The kifaru is probably better with heavy loads, the stone glacier is More trim and simple.