How do you load you Stone Glacier?

[Jacob Chapman]

I have the Sky 5100, heading out next weekend for a quick bomber scouting trip to the area I plan on chasing muleys this fall.
I have a Shires Stratospire 2 that is on the way, a big Agnes lone ranger sleeping bag and a thermal estate pad that stays in the bag. Going to pick up a stuff sack and probably lash that to my pack.
Curious to see how everyone is organizing their SG's? I have 2 camp pockets and a pull out pocket.

Will most likely bring my bow for stump shooting, along with a tripod for glassing, food, water storage and sawyer mini squeeze for filtration.

 

[hammer0419]

I am new to Stone Glacier. I really like the comfort of the frame and suspension. I am however not used to their packs bags. I am high on organization and really like pockets which don't exist on SG. I do have almost a dozen Kifaru pullouts I will try and utilize for organization. My hope is Kurt will come out with a pack or two for all those wanting pockets. That's really the only complaint I have ever read about SG.

 

[husky390]

Please share how you packed yours. I'm still training with mine but will be going on a weekend trip in two weeks with my 7400. Right now I have the sleeping bag in the bottom, two 5lb weights on top of that and a 25lb sack of rice sitting on top of the plates. Then I'll throw a water bladder that holds a gallon of water on top of everything. I imagine I'll load mine with the sleeping bag on the bottom, stove and pot kit, air mattress, food, then clothes and binoculars. I'll lash my tent and tripod to the outside and that should do it. I did use their tripod pocket on a quick day hike and it worked well.

 

[tttoadman]

Not a sky bag, but I have been loading the Solo bag for a few years.
Sleeping bag on bottom.
I narrow the bag to push everything up.
All my small gear goes in small dry bags.

I have been running an XTL lid for awhile. I have been putting water in a dry bag and tucking the water under the XTL lid. All my food goes on top of the Solo bag and the in the XTL pocket. Prior to having this lid, I loaded water and extra food in dry bags strapped to the side of the bag. Still trying to decide which one I like better.

My tripod mounts to back of the bag.

Pretty basic info, but I thought I would share.

 

[GibsonKuenzi]

I bought some cheap bags from rei to organize my essentials, kill kit and fire kit. I use my lid and 2 belt pockets for organization as well. I love this method.

If your looking into the bag from the zipper I put my sleeping bag on the bottom, tent on the left, spotting scope and water on the right, essentials and clothing above those. All else fits in the lid, belt pockets or in the main bag.

 

[LJ Buck]

I have a SKY 5100 Sleeping bag on bottom horizontal (Mountain Hardware 0deg or 30deg) I slide my polls in vertical that go to the Kifaru Sawtooth, I also put my swaro scope and tripod in the same way and then i start with my stuff sacks. All my gear is organized in Kifaru pull outs. I usually start with the larger heavier items cloths, tarp, dry food in the middle the go to the smaller things on top.

 

[5MilesBack]

Here's a pic of my Solo last year with two spotting scope pockets. My 100oz bladder is in the pocket on the right, and my Jetboil, Nalgene, and a few other items are in the pocket on the left. My tent strapped on the bottom, with everything else inside the bag. This year I'll be running the Skyarcher 6200 with the Approach bag as my daypack.

 

[snowcamoman]

I put my sleeping bag in an eVent compression bag on the bottom along with my shelter and Thermarest pad. Above that I have my clothes in a Ultrlight Silnylon drybag, compressed down. Then I lay my food for 10 days inside the SG Load cell along the middle part of the pack, trying to keep it aligned in the middle so I have room on the outside areas for my kill kit stuff, stove, crampons, and rain gear. I try to make sure my gear is in more cylinder shapes than balls, but the sleeping bag is always a ball and just fits the bottom of the pack decently enough. By keeping cylinder shapes stacked vertical, I'm able to fit a big 80mm spotter and a tripod wrapped in my light foam seat close to the vertical zipper. In the lid I put items I might want quick access to (TP, Snacks, etc). I'm using the SG camp bags this year to keep my toiletry stuff in and they seem to be working well in the pack and give me easy, consistent access. In my hip pockets I keep the GPS, Range Finder, lens cloth, and headnet. Hope that wasn't confusing sounding. If you get your gear into small bags as to how you will use the stuff, then mess around with packing it at home, you'll find that there's definitely a strategy to it.

 

[gmajor]

Just ordered a solo (yesss). I actually like simple pocket layouts, so I'm excited to see it in person. I'm imagining the outside small pocket + swing out bag will be perfect, along with the hip pouch. On my current bag I don't really like the big lid.

I'm planning on slipping one or two of my tripod legs underneath the side straps. Is this how most of you guys are doing it?

 

[charvey9]

I have a 7400 sky, but have always used it in bivy mode. Anything shorter than 7 days and I don't even need the lid.

I put my tent, sleeping bag, bivy, and pad into a large Kifaru compression sack and cinch it down. My food and cooking gear goes in a eVent roll-top bag. The rest of my gear goes in various size Kifaru pullouts. One for clothes, one for electronics, one for tools, one for my camera, etc. You should be able to fit everything except the tripod in the bag with a good compression sack for you sleep system. I'd recommend a good set of pull-outs, like Kifaru, to keep everything organized.

 

[gmajor]

I have a 7400 sky, but have always used it in bivy mode. Anything shorter than 7 days and I don't even need the lid.

I put my tent, sleeping bag, bivy, and pad into a large Kifaru compression sack and cinch it down. My food and cooking gear goes in a eVent roll-top bag. The rest of my gear goes in various size Kifaru pullouts. One for clothes, one for electronics, one for tools, one for my camera, etc. You should be able to fit everything except the tripod in the bag with a good compression sack for you sleep system. I'd recommend a good set of pull-outs, like Kifaru, to keep everything organized.

Yeah I've been doing it almost the exact same way for a few years with my old pack (without kifaru pullouts - I just organize using thin silnylon stuff sacks + compression for my quilt), with just the tripod on the outside. Was wondering if people have experience slipping a tripod leg or two under the pack's horizontal straps without the straps loosening. I think an extra bag attachment seems like overkill, and it certainly looks like slipping a tripod through the straps would work, so I imagine this is what most people were doing.

Oh and I still use my old zlite as a pad, so I suppose I have to mention that being on the outside as well. Cheap, light, couple panels break away for a seat. Comfortable enough for me. But i've always ended up throwing a couple lines of shock cord on the back of a pack to slip it into, so I think that's what I'll do when the SG arrives. Maybe one day I'll get a fancy inflatable insulated pad. I am a gear nut, but I just can't seem to kick my old zlite. Just keeps on tickin'.

 

[airlocksniffer]

Really the one top pocket on the Solo is enough for me. Stuff sacks are enough organization on the inside. I concur on the zlite. It's not the most comfortable pad but is pretty much bombproof.

 

[husky390]

Just got back from an overnight backpacking trip with my wife. The trip was about 6 miles in, uphill all the way to the lake. The pack felt great and actually felt better than it does with my 50lb training load. I'm thinking it's because I was able to get the heavier items higher up on my back. Pack weight for this trip was 65lbs (happy wife, happy life). Here's how I loaded it.

Bottom to top
10lb 3 man tent on outside bottom
My wife's Coleman 0 degree mummy bag (things huge)
Stove and pot set and BA Qcore air mattress
Water bladder shoved in. (MSR 1 gallon Dromedary)
Puffy, raincoat, and HPG Serape
Bag of food, bag of snacks, empty nalgene bottle
Water purification system
hatchet slid inside on the side of the pack, fishing rod on the other
Small pouch of fishing tackle with reel
REI Flexlite Chair and Kifaru Field Chair
Exped Synmat 7 (total p.o.s.)
10x binoculars
Misc gear in the lid
Fly rod lashed to side of pack
tripod lashed to outside of pack
CROCS

 

[RAdamDavis]

All super helpful stuff. Just getting started with all of this so even simple things that most don't think about anymore are always great for me to learn.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Just got back from an overnight backpacking trip with my wife. The trip was about 6 miles in, uphill all the way to the lake. The pack felt great and actually felt better than it does with my 50lb training load. I'm thinking it's because I was able to get the heavier items higher up on my back. Pack weight for this trip was 65lbs (happy wife, happy life). Here's how I loaded it.

Bottom to top
10lb 3 man tent on outside bottom
My wife's Coleman 0 degree mummy bag (things huge)
Stove and pot set and BA Qcore air mattress
Water bladder shoved in. (MSR 1 gallon Dromedary)
Puffy, raincoat, and HPG Serape
Bag of food, bag of snacks, empty nalgene bottle
Water purification system
hatchet slid inside on the side of the pack, fishing rod on the other
Small pouch of fishing tackle with reel
REI Flexlite Chair and Kifaru Field Chair
Exped Synmat 7 (total p.o.s.)
10x binoculars
Misc gear in the lid
Fly rod lashed to side of pack
tripod lashed to outside of pack
CROCS

I just bought the exped down 9 .. what’s wrong with your 7

 

[Holocene]

The design philosophy behind SG packs is to minimize extra pockets and zippers, because these add considerable weight and bulk. The packs are built and marketed as ultralight hunting frame packs. If you need integrated pockets, look at other makers like Mystery Ranch, Exo, Kuiu, etc. These will all be heavier.

This is coming from someone who runs a SG 40/56.

I pack a first aid kit in the very bottom, sleeping bag next in an e-vent, tent to one side (if carrying), clothes and food beside that, bugle tube and a trekking pole in the spotting scope sleeve, and other gear on top. Sometimes I use a lid, other times not. A small swing out or two holds a kill kit and a "daily grab bag" that I use to hold things I'll need to access often. Things I need to access once or perhaps never go toward the bottom.

The latest Stone Glacier catalogue has a great article from their marketing director explaining their design goals and how he packs his bag. Worth checking out.

 

[Jacob Chapman]

I ended up getting the Approach bag as well, combined with my Sky 5100 I should be able to do up to 10 days.

Nice part is I can just rock the approach on my frame and leave the big bag for stuff I won’t need back @ camp (that’s the thought anyway).

 

[husky390]

I just bought the exped down 9 .. what’s wrong with your 7

It failed and deflated on me overnight and they wanted me to pay for freight to ship it back to them so they could repair the POS. I’ve been using my Big Agnes Q-Core and have never looked back.


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