Vote for who has the best pack in 2023.

[plebe]

you mean effective w/ minimal weight

No. I don’t.

 

[Alaska92]

My piece of junk Kuiu packed out a bison… must’ve had a defective one.

These polls aren’t worth much. Different folks will swear up and down against brands they've never tried, or hand fondled at an outdoors show and decided against.

I liked my MR metcalf before I sold it to get a Marshall on a newer frame, and couldn’t stand that new pack! Doesn’t mean I’ll rail against MR the rest of time, it just didn’t fit my body type apparently.

An observation. The side pic loaded heavy caught my eye. Excessive belt slipping? Frame too short for you? Suspension not adjusted correctly? Some or all of the above? It appears the top of the frame is below your shoulders. Zero to negative load lift. For me personally, that would be a very uncomfortable pack out. To my point, as I’ve mentioned on here before, I believe that a number of the “that pack was super uncomfortable” statements made, are because of one or more of these. Not always, but certainly a number of them.

 

[plebe]

An observation. The side pic loaded heavy caught my eye. Excessive belt slipping? Frame too short for you? Suspension not adjusted correctly? Some or all of the above? It appears the top of the frame is below your shoulders. Zero to negative load lift. For me personally, that would be a very uncomfortable pack out. To my point, as I’ve mentioned on here before, I believe that a number of the “that pack was super uncomfortable” statements made, are because of one or more of these. Not always, but certainly a number of them.

 

[Alaska92]

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Congrats on the buck! It appears to me your frame could be a bit taller or the heavy load has negated some of its height. It looks like the load lifter straps meet the shoulder straps towards the rear of your shoulders. Typically the preferred location would be near the collar bone. That adjustability sure can affect comfort for many people. Whether they realize it or not. I think back to my early backpacking days in the 80’s and some of the packs we used. Ugh! We must have been tougher back then. I still have my trusty “Dwight Schuh” pack from the late 80’s early 90’s. No load lift. Some of us here are old enough to remember the ole’ Coleman Peak 1 frames. We have come a long ways.

 

[huntnful]

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@Dioni A is still learning how to pack deer out. You should give him some guidance on how you pack out all your animals. I’m assuming your use is extensive with how critical you are of everyone else.

 

[huntnful]

I’m going to be totally honest. I don’t normally get to see how my pack is fitting from an outward view. I fit it the best I can by feel, and get to work. A 100+ pound pack isn’t going to be perfect and all peachy over the course of several hours. That’s reality.

 

[Alaska92]

@Dioni A is still learning how to pack deer out. You should give him some guidance on how you pack out all your animals. I’m assuming your use is extensive with how critical you are of everyone else.

Oh……I don’t think critical is the right word. Just observations. I’ve packed a few heavy loads in the last 40 years. Some more painful than others. Learned along the way.

 

[huntnful]

Oh……I don’t think critical is the right word. Just observations. I’ve packed a few heavy loads in the last 40 years. Some more painful than others. Learned along the way.

Sorry that wasn’t directed towards you. Your observations are pretty accurate. An excessively heavy load is pretty tough to get situated perfectly. No question about that.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I should not have called it a piece of junk. It can definitely do the job.

They make a great fire starter, especially after you dump a gallon of 50/50 gas/diesel on em!

 

[Alaska92]

I’m going to be totally honest. I don’t normally get to see how my pack is fitting from an outward view. I fit it the best I can by feel, and get to work. A 100+ pound pack isn’t going to be perfect and all peachy over the course of several hours. That’s reality.

I’m going to be totally honest. I don’t normally get to see how my pack is fitting from an outward view. I fit it the best I can by feel, and get to work. A 100+ pound pack isn’t going to be perfect and all peachy over the course of several hours. That’s reality.

I’m going to be totally honest. I don’t normally get to see how my pack is fitting from an outward view. I fit it the best I can by feel, and get to work. A 100+ pound pack isn’t going to be perfect and all peachy over the course of several hours. That’s reality.

Absolutely! Most don’t get to see their pack loaded heavy. I didn’t used to either. In recent years, when I get a new pack, I load it up with 90 lbs. ( 2-45lb. plates) and stand in front of a mirror. I adjust accordingly. It may even tell me I need to send the pack back because I ordered wrong. Frame height, shoulder strap length, etc. Obviously there is a bit more than that to pack fitting but it should be part of the process. When you order a pack from Dan McHale, he sends a pack to you to put on and have someone else take a video. He uses the visual for building your pack with the correct fit.

 

[Alaska92]

Sorry that wasn’t directed towards you. Your observations are pretty accurate. An excessively heavy load is pretty tough to get situated perfectly. No question about that.

No worries…….carrying heavy loads in a pack with relative comfort can be a science.

 

[pugwylde]

The comment that set this all off made it seem like a load shelf was something special about EXO, when the EXO approach is really quite basic.

I'm fairly certain Steve at Exo would agree with this statement. He doesn't seem to care much for complicated, just well built.

 

[plebe]

@Dioni A is still learning how to pack deer out. You should give him some guidance on how you pack out all your animals. I’m assuming your use is extensive with how critical you are of everyone else.

Not criticizing @Dioni A. Awesome buck, deserving of that big smile.

It’s just belt settling is something that I’ve been seeing with the K4 sometimes. Since I own one, I feel I have the right to be critical of it.

It still may be my favorite frame (that I’ve tried) overall btw.

 

[mikeafeagin22]

Definitely a possibility! There is no way you could vote for Kuiu, if you’ve used any of the other 3 packs currently at the top. I have tons of Kuiu gear, but that pack is a piece of junk.

I have used the 3 at the top, and exo fit my needs the best. But I would not be disappointed in using any of them honestly. They’re all good. I just think exo is gooder

My first “high end” pack was a kuiu. Going from a Cabela’s special I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Got a bull down and packed it off the mountain with that thing solo.. ordered a K3 as soon as I got home from that trip. That Kuiu frame flexes way too much once you get any real weight in it. Like trying to benchpress with a wet spaghetti noodle.

Edit*** I have no idea if Kuiu has updated their frame in the last few years so don’t roast the heck out of me if that’s no longer the case.

 

[Alaska92]

Not criticizing @Dioni A. Awesome buck, deserving of that big smile.

It’s just belt settling is something that I’ve been seeing with the K4 sometimes. Since I own one, I feel I have the right to be critical of it.

It still may be my favorite frame (that I’ve tried) overall btw.


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It makes one consider the lumber pad/belt interface on a 3 piece belt. That seems to be the location where the vertical load is being transferred to the horizontal support. Some packs have “structure” in that location. Some don’t. It appears structure there can be helpful.

 

[plebe]

It makes one consider the lumber pad/belt interface on a 3 piece belt. That seems to be the location where the vertical load is being transferred to the horizontal support. Some packs have “structure” in that location. Some don’t. It appears structure there can be helpful.

The K4 belt has plastic sewn in there.

It stays put on lots of people too. I experience some settling with mine, and it’s just something I noticed afterwards in pictures here and there. Not sure why it happens.

Steve did a lot of testing and you can see the improvement. I’m not the only person critical of EXO gear, lol.

 

[207-12A]

An observation. The side pic loaded heavy caught my eye. Excessive belt slipping? Frame too short for you? Suspension not adjusted correctly? Some or all of the above? It appears the top of the frame is below your shoulders. Zero to negative load lift. For me personally, that would be a very uncomfortable pack out. To my point, as I’ve mentioned on here before, I believe that a number of the “that pack was super uncomfortable” statements made, are because of one or more of these. Not always, but certainly a number of them.

That quarter weighed 162 pounds (by far my record).

When a pack gets over the 75ish mark I tend to alternate in between super tight load lifters and sternum strap (putting the weight all on my chest and shoulders), and then loosening both to put a bunch of the weight on my hips. When that picture was taken I was in the latter. This switching method works well for me on long pack outs, in that Copper River bison case 4 miles (terrible idea!).

It was probably too much weight for my Kuiu, true. I also don’t think there’s a pack in existence that makes anything over 75 feel good. You’re just suffering at that point. (Kifaru fanboys come smashing through the ceiling to yell about 100 pounds disappearing when they snapped a picture in their kitchen after unboxing).

I’m a new owner of a Kifaru but still find myself reaching for the Kuiu on most trips. Thing has just worked well for me! Also as a packraft hunter, the Kuiu is the only frame I’ve ever used that can fit inside a classic cargo fly without any modification (taking the bag and/or suspension off). Having your pack quickly go in and out of the raft is a pretty big convenience factor for me, and safer on whitewater than lashing it to the top of a raft.

I think the moral of the story is try as many quality brands as possible before dismissing offhand because your favorite hunting celebrity shit on carbon fiber a decade ago.

 

[TheGDog]

Honestly don't know how I forgot to put them in there considering my favorite elk hunter uses them. Have you used one?

Been using one for awhile now. The way their lumbar pad is, doesn't exacerbate my area of injury on lowerback the way the Kifaru EMR II did to me (Shame to, I reallly liked the EMR II in terms of being big and having convenient pockets and addtl hipbelt pouches).

 

[AI Shooter]

EXO Mountain Gear, Mystery Ranch (depending on the model and use), and Stone Glacier in that order for me.

 

[The_Yetti]

I can't believe no one mentioned the gold standard in packs, maybe even the platinum standard! The Flextrek Whipsnake!