In the past five years, between the two of us, we have spent a small fortune on packs. Our opinion, it does not matter where you hunt or what type of game you hunt a good pack in most instances is crucial and, if you are going to hunt the mountains of the west not only crucial but a must.
As simple as it sounds or may seem with regards to choosing the right pack for your needs, it just is not that easy and, like I mentioned a small fortune can be spent finding the right one.
In the past seven years we have run the gamut of name brand packs from Kuiu, Sitka, Eberlestock, Tenzig, Outdoorsman and, Exo. All have certain aspects that are awesome and, a best case scenario for us as hunters would be if one of them would buy out all of the others and combine all the specific awesome features into one pack but, that¹s probably not going to happen so moving forward we suggest you choose your pack based on these certain guidelines.
– Pack Size: What do you need this pack to do with regards to size?
Simple tip, purchase a pack that is slightly larger than you think you need. This will save you money if you decided to expand your hunts down the road and too, nothing packs as tightly as you think it will so you will need the extra room.
– Pack Comfort: Try it on!! There are a lot of pack sizing videos out there. Watch them and get an idea how to size a pack, put it on correctly and, adjust it to fit you then, put weight in it and walk around the store with it on before you purchase. As you do this if there is any inclination of discomfort re-adjust the pack and try it again. Keep in mind if it feels not quite right in the store, imagine what it will feel like full of gear on day 5 of a hunt.
-Overall durability: In this day most mfg¹s are building their packs to withstand a beating and the elements but look it over well, insure the zippers/enclosures are weather tight.
-Frame or No Frame: Our opinion, even if your hunting needs currently do not require a frame, get a pack with a frame it will save your ass in the long run. Obviously a frame is a necessity if you will be packing out game out west but even on our farm it has come in handy over the years where the swamp water levels were high and we had to walk in 3/4 of a mile due to not being able to get in along a swamp with the UTV.
-Budget: We use the same theory here as with our optics. Spend as much as your budget can afford.
If we had to pick two of our favorites out of collection of packs, the Exo Mountain Gear and the Outdoorsman probably come out on top and, though not pictured, our Kuiu packs, fall in the cream of the crop list as well. All of them offer a good solid frame, great construction overall, great comfort if fitted and adjusted properly and, each have unique features of their own that we really appreciate.
For more detail on our wins and loss’s with packs drop us an email we will be glad to help.
