Budget Pack for 2-3 Nights with Child in SEAK

[forrrresty]

Recently I moved back to SE AK with my family. My oldest son just turned 10 and has passed hunter education. His present was a .22 this year.

I'm looking to bring him up into the higher elevation to chase after some Ptarmigan On the weekends before weather gets bad hopefully. I don't have much experience with packs and have always gotten whatever I could at Sierra Trading Post.

Needless to say the information is overwhelming. Any input on a BUDGET pack to carry enough gear for 2-3 days for my son and I? Resistant to the tough brush and devils club, won't soak through with a pack cover? Also could work as a pack for 4-5days and carry out some black tail deer. I only have a sportsman warehouse in town, although I do have a 175$ gift card to there that I could add another 125$ or so.

 

[cuerro viejo]

I would just buy a used K3/or K4 frame, add crib and buy a 3-5k cu in dry sack.

With that said you could do same with Kifaru or Stone Glacier

 

[canyonhunter47]

Hard to beat these for your price range at sportsmans. Same frame and materials as the hunting line except colors

 

[forrrresty]

View attachment 597570
Hard to beat these for your price range at sportsmans. Same frame and materials as the hunting line except colors

Well I ordered the Terraframe 65 and unfortunately they shipped me a small and all of their Large and XL are sold out. Now I'm trying to fins something else available through sportsmans. Might end up spending a bit more than I previously wanted too.

 

[canyonhunter47]

Well I ordered the Terraframe 65 and unfortunately they shipped me a small and all of their Large and XL are sold out. Now I'm trying to fins something else available through sportsmans. Might end up spending a bit more than I previously wanted too.

The belt and yoke can be swapped to change size. Might be worth it depending on the price of other options

 

[Lando]

If getting your money back from Sportsmans is an option, you may consider looking into the Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor in the 40-60 liter or 60-80 liter sizes. The pack was designed by Andrew Skurka, who is a very well-regarded hiker first and foremost, but one who happens to hunt as well. The pack is very lightweight, but also has a unique, lightweight stay system that makes it quite good at packing weight for such a lightweight pack. Andrew used the prototype of the pack to carry out elk quarters, with a Kifaru pack as a backup and didn't ever feel the need to get the Kifaru pack out of his car for the second trip. You can deal with the water issue by doing what most backpackers do, which is to put all of the items inside your pack that need to be dry in a contractor-grade trash bag and you can throw two in your pack if you want to keep blood off your other items in the pack. The best thing is that the packs are on clearance right now for $125-150. I have two and they're so great that I sometimes leave my Stone Glacier pack at home in their favor.

Flex Capacitor 60-80L

Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor 60-80L and other great adjustable-volume, lightweight backpacking packs at BackcountryGear.com.

www.backcountrygear.com

Flex Trail 40-60L

Sierra Designs Flex Trail 40-60L and other great adjustable-volume, lightweight backpacking packs at BackcountryGear.com.

www.backcountrygear.com

Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor 40-60 Pack

Presenting the Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor Pack Series, a trio of backpacks that redefine versatility. Each pack in this impressive line-up is equipped with an adjustable volume feature, designed to

www.sunnysports.com

Here's the hunt report referred to above:

Brown is down | Hunt Report: Second Rifle Colorado Elk - Andrew Skurka

Last Saturday I shot and killed, and then — with the help of my hunting partner, Noel — field dressed and packed out a cow elk from Colorado’s Indian Peaks Wilderness. It was my first-ever successful hunt, and the emotional and physical effort was about as significant as I expected. Next week I...

andrewskurka.com