Help deciding on 2020 MR Sawtooth or Pintler

[2-Stix]

If folks, I am a rifle deer/elk day hunter that runs treaking poles, water bladder & hip pouches with a long history of backpacking/mountaineering with osprey packs for 20 years. I like a day pack around 35-40L typically. What do you find as the pros and cons on these packs? Or is it so close it doesnt matter?

Also I am always in the short wide size of no mans land. 5'7" 180#. Is that a M or L size?

Thank folks.
Josh.

 

[Desk Jockey]

They are both great.

I had a pintler and updated it to a sawtooth A couple of years ago. The pintler is a top loader but the Tri zip gives good access. The sawtooth is a panel loader With better access to the contents Of the main bag as long as you don’t strap anything on the outside of the pack. Has a few more pockets for organization and a little more capacity. I feel like maybe my pintler was a little bit less sloppy running in day pack mode And I do miss having a nice sized pocket at the top for carrying items you access often without having to unzip the pack.

after using both, I have a preference for the pintler but it is slight. I had used a military version of the pintler for years and got used to how I packed it. I miss the daisy chain on the back face more than I expected And I had gotten used to packing my fast grab items in the top pouch. The sawtooth is fine and I really think my preference is borne out of packing habits more than true functionality.

lastly, if you are just looking for a daypack, check out the pop up 38. I bought a 28 when they came out and now have used a 38 as my whitetail daypack all season As well as some other hiking. I used to switch to the pintler/ sawtooth later in season when I carried extra clothes. But with a 38L bag, my sawtooth hasn’t been outside since the pop up 38 arrived. It is more compact than a smaller pack on the guidelight MT frame and it can haul quite a load when needed. I have had a quartered whitetail plus gear in mine for a +3 mile hike back to my truck. It doesn’t carry quite as well as my full size frame but for a pack that spends 95% of the time as a daypack, it is awesome.

 

[2-Stix]

Thanks. I went a head and ordered both. One in L and one in M to try both. Thanks for your response.