Who makes the best versatile pack?

[EndOfTheRoad]

Hey guys, I already had a post sort of similar, but still trying to make a final decision. I am 17 and from the Midwest. I'm looking for a pack I can use for my late season Colorado elk hunt, but also looking for a pack I can use for a September archery hunt that I can throw all my gear in hike back couple miles and set up a camp. It would also double as a daypack. I have a small budget of only $250 so I'm thinking I'll go with used pack. Also what size do you all think I should go with?
(I hope that makes some sense)
Any brand or pack recommendations would be appreciated


Those of you that have experience with the KUIU PRO 3600 pack let me know what you think of it.


Thanks for any replies or advice!

 

[Elk Wallow]

I don’t think there’s just one best backpack for everyone. It’s all about how they fit and function for the individual.
I have a Kuiu Icon pro 3200 that I’ve had for 7 years or so. It has worked very well for me. I’ve packed out several elk with it without a problem. I don’t carry a lot of gear with me so I put the meat inside the pack. It will fit a whole hindquarter with the bone in. The load shelf does work good though.
I don’t think you’ll have a problem with the Pro 3600.

Kevin

 

[gtriple]

Exo and Stone Glacier make the best, lightweight hunting packs. I own 2 Exo and 1 SG for different style hunts. I prefer the Exo for comfort.

Watch the below video. It is the best comparison of packs I've ever found.

As far as size, what is your height and weight?

 

[EndOfTheRoad]

32 wast 6' tall 150lbs

 

[Venom One]

This 2-part backpack review is excellent and will answer a lot of questions you have.

The Backpack Showdown - Part 1 - Rokslide

Backpack hunter Zach Herold of Battle Mountain Media takes nine leading backpacks through five carefully designed performance tests.

www.rokslide.com

 

[WV Mountaineer]

There are people who can’t get certain packs to work. My opinion is that is very rare. It happens but, you’d think it was common by threads on Internet forums. Go figure. Anyways, I’d buy any decent pack, fit it properly, and go hunting.

You gotta remember, few of us get to hunt as much as we want. So, we tinker with gear. Therefore, things get noticed or invented that likely wouldn’t if we spent more time hunting and less time tinkering between hunts.

In My opinion, any will work ok. I prefer my Kifaru tactical frame the best. My SO is a great pack too. I haven’t had it long enough to say it’s as good as Kifaru. I suspect it is. And, I have zero reservations about it. It’s more pricey but, it’s the lightest hunting frame and bag currently on the market.

Both of these trump all others I’ve owned. Loaded and unloaded with heavy weight. Im sure SG and EXO would be great choices too. But, if you are stuck on that budget, a kuiu is likely where you are headed. I’ve owned three of their frames and various bags. They weren’t the best. But, they aren’t bad either. Plenty comfortable. Just stiff.

Good luck.

 

[roosiebull]

Hey guys, I already had a post sort of similar, but still trying to make a final decision. I am 17 and from the Midwest. I'm looking for a pack I can use for my late season Colorado elk hunt, but also looking for a pack I can use for a September archery hunt that I can throw all my gear in hike back couple miles and set up a camp. It would also double as a daypack. I have a small budget of only $250 so I'm thinking I'll go with used pack. Also what size do you all think I should go with?
(I hope that makes some sense)
Any brand or pack recommendations would be appreciated


Those of you that have experience with the KUIU PRO 3600 pack let me know what you think of it.


Thanks for any replies or advice!

For your budget, I think the horn hunter full curl system would suit you well, buy a few spare buckles and you are good to go.

I personally don’t like kuiu packs, for several reasons, but some seem to like them a lot.

 

[stringunner]

I searched for the “best universal pack” for many years. Finally settled on a SG 5900 and xcurve. I held there for 4-5 years. It was a great pack. Likely the best pack and pack layout I have ever had. The frame sent me looking again after 4 years of wrestling with comfort. Always wondering if there was something just a bit more comfortable. Transitioned last year to a Kifaru tactical with styker xl pack. Super impressed so far with the frame comfort under heavy load. And the Stryker is a great day bag and it carries treestands better than any other pack on the market that I have found. But alas, I broke down and purchased a Kifaru 357 mag this year to use as a day hunting pack. Now between the 2 I think I have the “best” options. Lol. Likely 4-5 years from now I will get the itch to try something else.

 

[AKEK]

If your budget is only $250 then most of the high quality packs can't be purchased in that price range. If you can afford a little more than you can find an AKEK pack right now for lower cost and still very high quality. You can see them on akek.com

 

[Citizen]

I highly recommend saving for something nice since you could have it for so long and get so much use out of it with your age. A striker or XL would be a good fit.

 

[roosiebull]

Hey guys, I already had a post sort of similar, but still trying to make a final decision. I am 17 and from the Midwest. I'm looking for a pack I can use for my late season Colorado elk hunt, but also looking for a pack I can use for a September archery hunt that I can throw all my gear in hike back couple miles and set up a camp. It would also double as a daypack. I have a small budget of only $250 so I'm thinking I'll go with used pack. Also what size do you all think I should go with?
(I hope that makes some sense)
Any brand or pack recommendations would be appreciated


Those of you that have experience with the KUIU PRO 3600 pack let me know what you think of it.


Thanks for any replies or advice!

One more thing….

Many, probably most of us, have navigated our way through the upgrade process with most of our gear, I think it’s good to go through it, so down the road, when your gear is dialed, you can really appreciate good gear, and how much more functional it is, since we gained experience along the way.

I also think many of us want to give the advice to just keep saving until you can afford a buy once, cry once pack, and I’m often inclined to give that same advice, knowing how much money it will actually save skipping the upgrade costs and losses selling on the way (high end packs have great resale value, lower end packs are the opposite)

I also think it’s easy to forget the path, but don’t let that discourage you like you need a 700$ pack to go hunting, even backcountry backpack hunting… every one of us who went through the upgrade process made do with what we had at the time, and got by just fine, and the suffering along the way inspired these upgrades as we could afford them.

I think the biggest thing is get something that will work and worry about the details later, you’ll figure it out… might not be as comfortable, but most of us did some suffering that inspired future purchases and no worse for wear

 

[trophyhill]

Well so far I’ve hunted whitetail out of a tree in Ohio, western whitetail aka Coues, antelope and mule deer spot n stalk style, elk about any way you can hunt them including but not limited to up to 14 days in the backcountry and rifle Barbery Sheep, as well as countless major hikes/camping while scouting and last 4th of July weekend my pack accompanied me on a 4 day ride on the Harley crisscrossing CO and back to NM with camp on my bike.

Versatility? Both of my Kifaru’s do it all and do it well.

 

[LaHunter]

17 year olds aren't meant to have good gear . A budget of $250 is gonna limit your options. The good news is that you are 17 years young, so you can endure more physical pain and misery than older guys. Pay attention to the classifieds and you can find a used pack for a pretty good deal.

 

[sndmn11]

@Ucsdryder hook him up with your 26" Forloh pack.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Go to an outdoor show and try on as many packs as possible if that's not possible ask around on here and other places to see if anyone by you has a pack they would let you try on. Like boots, everyone's built a little differently. Then buy used on Rokslide or other forums or eBay.

Take the time and effort to get the backpack fitted correctly. I hunt with people every year that tell me they are having issues with their pack but really, it's just not properly adjusted.

 

[Whitey Fisk 88]

For your budget, I think the horn hunter full curl system would suit you well, buy a few spare buckles and you are good to go.

I personally don’t like kuiu packs, for several reasons, but some seem to like them a lot.

So many of my friends who have had them refer to them as "that damn kuiu pack". The one i tried was extremely uncomfortable as well.

 

[taskswap]

This is one of those "ask 10 people, get 11 opinions" type of things!

You might do well to watch a ton of gear reviews on Youtube. Plenty of people walk through the popular pack systems and talk through how they use them. This is a super opinionated thing and you need something that fits your hunting style (and you) very well. If you're like most of the rest of us, in about 10 years you're going to own a dozen packs.

For flexibility, I was a huge fan of the Eberlestock J34 Just One. It's a modular system with a pull-out duffel bag and an expandable center section with load-carrying options plus a rifle scabbord. It also has a suite of matching accessories like pouches and bino harness that all work together. The idea is you pack in, pull out the duffel and drop it, then the pack cinches down for lightweight day-hunting. I just sold mine because while it was ideal for multi-day trips, I just wasn't doing that as much any more.

I'm now using a Mystery Ranch that's new to me so I'm more "hopeful" than "sure" about it. Again it's flexible but it takes a lot longer to fuss with the buckles to put it in its different configurations. But it's about 2lbs lighter and I like that the "lid" can become a day pack, so my day load is <3lbs not counting water and lunch.

For archery or day to "day+1" hunts, I use a Badlands Superday. This is a super cost-effective pack that can just barely fit a front quarter in a pinch, so I can run-and-gun with a super lightweight load, bring a shelter if I need to stay the night, and still be able to pack one quarter or my meat bag out (to save a trip) while I head down to my truck to get my meat hauler. One thing I love about this pack is it has a ton of attention to detail in terms of noise reduction. They use a felted fabric on the outside, the zippers have little covers to keep them from swinging, etc. This is my favorite pack for archery season but again, my needs may be different - when I do archery (or muzzleloader here in CO, same month) I tend to hunt from my truck, roaming a few miles and then pushing further down the road. So I don't need as much space.

Just what works for me...

 

[Recondo]

Hey guys, I already had a post sort of similar, but still trying to make a final decision. I am 17 and from the Midwest. I'm looking for a pack I can use for my late season Colorado elk hunt, but also looking for a pack I can use for a September archery hunt that I can throw all my gear in hike back couple miles and set up a camp. It would also double as a daypack. I have a small budget of only $250 so I'm thinking I'll go with used pack. Also what size do you all think I should go with?
(I hope that makes some sense)
Any brand or pack recommendations would be appreciated


Those of you that have experience with the KUIU PRO 3600 pack let me know what you think of it.


Thanks for any replies or advice!

I wish something like this wax around when I was 17. That being said I would recommend as a starter try a Camelbak BFM. It is a good pack with lots of features (like a clip to hold your car keys) and many mesh pockets and a hydration bladder. With all of the Molle attachments you can expand as big as your imagination will carry you. Hope this helps.