Guide lid with X-Ray Straps?

[Elnicko]

Hey guys,

I’ve been using my guide lid quite a bit as a backpack when I know I won’t need my whole pack and frame and it’s great. The only thing I would change is the straps. The ones that come on the guide lid are a little thin and tend to slide off my shoulder when carrying a rifle. I’ve tried crossing them which works OK but is kind of a pain especially when you need to get something out of the lid. Has anyone ever tried using the X-Ray straps on the guide lid? Seems like it would be a more comfortable option especially with the chest strap. Can the X-Ray straps be attached to the guide lid straps and clip into the female buckle on the bottom of the guide lid? I tried to look at the pictures on the kifaru website but there isn’t really one that shows the connections clearly. Also, how much more room would the X-Ray straps take up when inside the lid? I like to put my water bladder inside the Velcro pouch and was wondering if there would be enough room for both. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[collin47]

You would do pretty much the same thing as upgrading to the padded shoulder straps on the E&E. The guide lid uses 1.5 in webbing that is necked down to 1 in to be compatible with the 1 in male buckles. I would cut the strap near the bottom of the wider part. Feed it through the 2 in 3-bar slider at the top of the x-ray straps. You might get a little side to side movement vs the E&E with the 2 in webbing, but if you loop it back through I doubt it would be too bad. At the bottom of the guide lid remove the split female buckles and attach a k-clip strap to either side. Feed the webbing of that k-clip strap through the ladder lock on the bottom of the x-ray strap. Full disclosure, I haven't actually tried to do this

 

[Elnicko]

Thanks for the response. I ordered the x ray straps from kifaru and got them the other day. It was easier to attach than I thought. I cut the original straps above and below where they are necked down. The upper part got threaded through the three bar slider and doesn’t move even though the webbing is smaller than the slider. The bottom part just goes through the ladder lock on the straps. I left the buckles at the bottom instead of using k clips. It is much more comfortable and doesn’t move as much or fall off my shoulder when carrying a rifle. The straps fit fine in the Velcro pouch even with a 3l water bladder in there. There’s also plenty of room in the main pouch for other stuff. Figured I’d post this up in case anyone else wanted to try it.