Stone glacier pack help

[Jon_G]

So, I hope I don't get made fun of somehow for this...

I tried using my stone glacier evo 40/56 for backpacking. I packed it for an overnight stay and just a 12 mile trip - one way. Total package weighed under 35 lbs. I haven't backpack hunted with it so I've never packed it with as much things and weight inside of the actual space. I've taken it hunting once but there wasn't much in it since the vehicles were not very far from legal hunting grounds.

Now to the problem I'm having... The backpack is extremely uncomfortable. I can feel my water reservoir digging against my back because my gear was pushing it against me and there's a board that was bending, in the backside of the pack, really digging into my back. I adjusted my gear and it took some pressure away but not all. I packed my osprey atmos 65 with exactly the same gear and to my surprise, it felt much, much lighter on my back somehow. It felt better through the shoulder straps and all. The SG felt heavier, and I adjusted it like 6 times and couldn't get it to be as comfortable. Is this normal? Or am I simply not using the right tool for the right job as they say? When I load it for the first time with an animal, am I going to have to deal with this discomfort?

 

[Dos Perros]

Which frame?

 

[MT_Wyatt]

That’s both really easy and really tough to answer. No, it isn’t normal. Using their pack to backpack with should certainly be comfortable. You don’t have to have 90lbs in it for there to be comfort, and it isn’t going to get better because you put an animal in there.

I don’t follow how the “board in your back” feeling could be happening, or how you could feel a flexible water bladder poking into your back given how stiff their frame is? Vertically it should be stiff, so much so that there’s no deflection into your back. It sounds to me like something is broke, which would be surprising.

I’d start with a few things:
- loosen all of the straps.
- confirm torso/harness length are set correctly. See the SG vid guide for this. Fabric on should straps should transition colors about on your collar bone.
- get waist belt setup: there’s dual tension locks to adjust how it hugs your hips, and make sure it’s set there. The hip belt is the first thing to set when you put it on after fitting.
- should straps should be tight, but not completely maxed down on your back. Same with load lifters. Engage then so there’s tension, but if you over do it the weight will shift from spread through the upper back and shoulders all to the front of your shoulder.
- confirm your lumbar needs - stand against a wall and see how much hand you can slip behind your lower back.

Call SG and run through all that with them. You may need to adjust where the pressure lands in the lumbar pad, which they can talk you through. The pack should not be uncomfortable like you describe.

 

[nobody]

Follow this. I can’t see how a water bladder would “dig against your back” through the carbon fiber frame sheet unless something is broken? That said, this video is stupid easy to follow from them. If after doing this it STILL doesn’t fit right, call them. From my experience they’re the most helpful hunting and outdoor brand going right now when it comes to customer service.

 

[MT257]

Call stone glacier up they will walk you through it. We just went through this fitting a new pack for my wife.

 

[Dos Perros]

I don't think there is a carbon fiber frame sheet, it's a thin sheet of HDPE, and it is flexible. Sure the frame stays are carbon, but they can still barrel.

 

[Tradchef]

like everyone said give them a call. I backpack with mine all year as well as hunt. It’s heavier than my osprey but I use the stratos so it’s just a day pack to an overnight pack so apples to oranges. Give ‘em a call. They are all really good people at the shop and will help you out

 

[Jon_G]

Thanks for everyone for your responses. I attached a picture so you can see what I mean. See how that thin sheet is bend outward towards my back? This is with absolutely nothing inside of the bag. I can't bend it back and it's always been like that as far as I know. I've always stored the backpack on a hanger in my storage shed. On top of that, the backpack felt really heavy on my shoulders until I switched over to my osprey. Of that I am certain it is most likely a fitting issue even though I already did follow the video that someone here posted. I'll give them a call. Thanks everyone.

 

[Dos Perros]

That's the HDPE sheet. It should flex to your back if nothing in your pack is pushing on it.

 

[Jon_G]

Thanks for the info. Well it's not flexing lol. Instead it's just that hard lump that doesn't go anywhere. I can push inwards with my fingers but it pops back out. I even tried Bending it the other way as to counter the bend but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

 

[Jon_G]

Thank you guys for all the help. I called stone glacier and they told me to send the frame in. I sent them some pictures and they said something didn't look right. I expected nothing else from those guys they were awesome like they always have been.

A buddy of mine said he heard the Evo krux frame was discontinued because they tried to make it too light and it had some issues. SG said that wasn't the case and they made it in 2 different colors now and changed the name a bit for marketing purposes. Not sure that was completely truthful lol but at least they said they'd take care of me. I will update you guys when they either fix it or send me something different.

 

[nobody]

They just revamped their pack lineup completely. They’ve replaced the Krux Evo frame with the Krux frame. Same frame sheet configuration as the X Curve, only difference is the shape of the stays. Both frames are available in both colors. I’m sure they did it to streamline and simplify inventory and manufacturing. They’ve done the same thing with their bags too.

Glad you’re getting taken care of! They’re a good group of guys, they’ll do right by you when this is all said and done! Keep us posted!

 

[Jon_G]

They just revamped their pack lineup completely. They’ve replaced the Krux Evo frame with the Krux frame. Same frame sheet configuration as the X Curve, only difference is the shape of the stays. Both frames are available in both colors. I’m sure they did it to streamline and simplify inventory and manufacturing. They’ve done the same thing with their bags too.

Glad you’re getting taken care of! They’re a good group of guys, they’ll do right by you when this is all said and done! Keep us posted!

So they did in fact change something lol. Will definitely keep you guys posted though! Unfortunately I won't get it back before my big hunt next weekend but I'll just take my backpacking pack and make it work!

 

[Jon_G]

Update! I got the frame back today. As expected, they fixed it and we're super nice about it. They said they don't know why that little plate was popping up but if they had to guess, it was bent during storage. Which by the way I forgot to mention I bought the backpack from scheels because I was going to be ordering other things from them that day. Either way, the reinforced it by adding some extra seams that will actually reinforce the Carbon stays. In all honesty I don't know what the hell they all did lol but I'm glad it's fixed. Those guys and gals at stone glacier are the best.

 

[Highlands Hunter]

Great to hear they addressed the issue and took care of you.

 

[bwhtr26]

do these packs allow you to comfortably carry 50-60 lbs, if so do you feel it is because of the amount of padding in the shoulders and the waist belt. i practice carrying loads with an old kelly red cloud 5400, 50 lbs is about the max i can use with that, i know you get what you pay for and wouldn’t mind spending the money for a high end backpack if they really provided that comfort above 50

 

[nobody]

do these packs allow you to comfortably carry 50-60 lbs, if so do you feel it is because of the amount of padding in the shoulders and the waist belt. i practice carrying loads with an old kelly red cloud 5400, 50 lbs is about the max i can use with that, i know you get what you pay for and wouldn’t mind spending the money for a high end backpack if they really provided that comfort above 50

Comfort is all relative. You get above 60-ish and it’s all tiring and not necessarily “fun” to do, but I feel Stone Glacier does a great job of distributing weight effectively and cutting down on fatigue from imbalance.

I’ve also felt that more padding IS NOT a good thing. More padding leads to more slippage in my experience, which is why I love the stone glacier stuff. More padding means you have to cinch things down tighter to get appropriate contact in your load bearing areas, which can lead to restricted movement and pinching. Mystery Ranch comes to mind. It was fine until I hit 35 or 40 lbs, then the padding that made it so nice when light caused me to have issues when loaded heavy (pinching, restricting blood flow to my toes, feet falling asleep while hiking). Stone Glacier has enough padding to be comfortable, but not so much is causes other problems. It’s a balance, and they strike it nicely.

 

[Jon_G]

Comfort is all relative. You get above 60-ish and it’s all tiring and not necessarily “fun” to do, but I feel Stone Glacier does a great job of distributing weight effectively and cutting down on fatigue from imbalance.

I’ve also felt that more padding IS NOT a good thing. More padding leads to more slippage in my experience, which is why I love the stone glacier stuff. More padding means you have to cinch things down tighter to get appropriate contact in your load bearing areas, which can lead to restricted movement and pinching. Mystery Ranch comes to mind. It was fine until I hit 35 or 40 lbs, then the padding that made it so nice when light caused me to have issues when loaded heavy (pinching, restricting blood flow to my toes, feet falling asleep while hiking). Stone Glacier has enough padding to be comfortable, but not so much is causes other problems. It’s a balance, and they strike it nicely.

You couldn't have said this better man. I have packed my stone glacier once with a little over 40 lbs and it's definitely not fun like you said but the weight felt nicely distributed. I have not tried others, but with the way these guys treat you if something goes wrong, I don't think I need to trey others at least for quite a while.

 

[nobody]

You couldn't have said this better man. I have packed my stone glacier once with a little over 40 lbs and it's definitely not fun like you said but the weight felt nicely distributed. I have not tried others, but with the way these guys treat you if something goes wrong, I don't think I need to trey others at least for quite a while.

It kills me when guys say things like “my XYZ pack made me feel light as a feather with a front and hind quarter off my 9 year old bull in it.” I call BS on that. Anybody packing 60+ EXTRA pounds and saying that trekking off trail through deadfall is easy needs to join seal team 6 as a walk on.

The worst offender was a guy in the Kuiu booth at the hunt expo this February. My cousin in law was shopping for a pack and the Kuiu employee took it upon himself to tell us how he put all 4 BONE IN quarters in his Kuiu pack, plus the tenderloins, and hiked it out (along with his rifle and other gear) in December in deep snow several miles without even needing a rest because his “Kuiu Pro suspension system made the load feel as if it weighed at least 75-80% less than it really did.” Yeah ok GI Joe, bet you walked 15 miles to school uphill both ways. we promptly left the booth.

I once heard somebody else put it perfectly: heavy packs always suck, no matter the brand. But proper fit makes it suck a little less.

 

[Jon_G]

It kills me when guys say things like “my XYZ pack made me feel light as a feather with a front and hind quarter off my 9 year old bull in it.” I call BS on that. Anybody packing 60+ EXTRA pounds and saying that trekking off trail through deadfall is easy needs to join seal team 6 as a walk on.

The worst offender was a guy in the Kuiu booth at the hunt expo this February. My cousin in law was shopping for a pack and the Kuiu employee took it upon himself to tell us how he put all 4 BONE IN quarters in his Kuiu pack, plus the tenderloins, and hiked it out (along with his rifle and other gear) in December in deep snow several miles without even needing a rest because his “Kuiu Pro suspension system made the load feel as if it weighed at least 75-80% less than it really did.” we promptly left the booth.

I once heard somebody else put it perfectly: heavy packs always suck, no matter the brand. But proper fit makes it suck a little less.

I can see them saying that. I was actually there that day and I heard one of the kids that works there say that he is certain their camo patterns have made him more successful lol.

I have actually read some bad reviews on kuiu packs. When it comes down to "which pack is best", I rarely hear anyone jump at the opportunity to talk about how much they love their kuiu packs. It's always stone glacier, exo or kifaru that you read about.

You also bring up a good point. Not every will love the same pack. Some will got you better than others. I've never really heard anyone saying they would never try another SG again or that it totally sucked though. So that should tell you something.