Kifaru with HPG harness

[calico pig]

I apologize if this has been discussed before. I searched and could not find anything. I just ordered a new Kifaru Hunter Frame and am thinking about trying to use my HPG shoulder harness on it. Is this possible or worth doing? I find the HPG shoulder harness very comfortable. I have not tried the Kifaru so maybe it's not necessary but I like the way the HPG harness spreads out the weight across my shoulders. I'm thinking someone has done this already?

 

[Outdoorsman3830]

I have the new hunter frame from Kifaru and a HPG harness, but have not used them together. However, I am confident that it can be done if you have some extra 1-inch nylon webbing lying around.


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[badkneesbro]

I have the prairie belt that I use on my bikini frame. One of you guys needs to do this.

 

[flyinsquirel]

As stated above, some 1" webbing and a couple triglides will get it done. I ran one on my Bikini frame for a while, but went back to the Kifaru straps after not too long. I think the HPG harness fits barrel chested folks better then slim dudes like me. I ended up selling mine to SHTF and that dude has fondled and experimented with more pack/frame/harness frankenstein creations than anyone on here. I bet he has a picture of just what you're thinking of doing.

 

[calico pig]

I have the prairie belt that I use on my bikini frame. One of you guys needs to do this.

Do you find the prairie belt more comfortable than the duplex belt? I have an extra prairie that I may try out. i may be headed towards frankenpack.

 

[badkneesbro]

I never had the newer duplex belt. My bikini frame came with the old belt that had the old power pull that didn't work at all. Im also one of those guys too fat for the medium belt & too skinny for the large. On top of that, the pals webbing on Kifaru belts is too small for the malice clips I use for my handgun setup. The HPG belt in size large deals with all of my issues spectacularly. I can also remove the padding in the belt if I want & that gives me another inch or two of length if I need it, which I don't. So far Ive only used it with lite loads, & have only used it without the padding which feels fine. Ive found that with a quality belt I don't need the padding. I had an old Kifaru ultralite pack that didn't come with padding, & it road fine. For what its worth.

 

[Walker6]

It works. You'll need some HPG load lifter straps and a couple long pieces of webbing. The only real hiccup I ran into is that the padding on the kifaru straps also provides back padding, which is lost with the switch. I cut a few strips from a blue foam sleeping pad and stuffed them into place, and it seems to work. It's also a little wobbly when you pick it up with some weight in it, but once you get it on its money.

 

[Clinch]

I've been interested in this idea as well. Glad it is being looked into. I like the HPG harness because it is thin and I can shoulder a rifle.


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[hernando]

This is how I did mine. I do not like the kifaru shoulder straps at all as they sit very awkwardly on me (I have 'slopey' shoulders). As a poster said, you will need some foam (I used rolled up 4mm evazote that I had lying around). You can also clip a kclip into the frame webbing loop (at the top of the back padding) to act as a strap guide, didnt work for me as I needed to get the harness as low as it could go for my short torso, the kclip stopped that as it eventually came into contact with the harness triglide, as stated previously its not perfect as the strap needs a guide at the top, but once its on you its fine though. For straps I just used a kclip compression straps and clipped the kclip into the frame harness adj ladderlock webbing loop, that way i can just adjust at the hpg harness end, you dont have to do that and can just use some webbing. Thats a 22" ultralight frame.

It is WAY more comfortable. Less thick and much wider straps are definately the way to go.

 

[hernando]

 

[hernando]

Got my harness lower with the kclip guide by threading the hpg harness, then going through the kclip, then going back through the harness triglide to lock it in place. Just used a piece of webbing for the strap so adjustment as stock.

 

[JungleDan]

reviving this thread because I'm about to try this out- getting an old Kifaru bikini frame that I will put HPG harness and belt on- not sure if there's anything special about the bag I'll attach, hoping I can just strap anything to it, get a more modular thing than I have with my Qui-Ya

 

[strongarm]

Curious about this as well to some degree. In my case I'm not looking to use the entire HPG harness, but wondering about just using the HPG Prairie Belt on a Kifaru setup.

Like @badkneesbro, I'm between a medium and a large in a Kifaru duplex belt. Medium doesn't wrap enough, large bottoms out under load and when I'm down in weight. I'm wondering about others who may have rigged a way to attach shoulder and delta straps to a HPG Prairie Belt. I can't see the photos here anymore due to this being an old thread. Wondering if @hernando or @Walker6 or others may have photos.

It appears like the Kifaru frame will slip into the HPG belt (perhaps with modification, taking out the center stitch). I'm curious if the tabs surrounding the stay pockets on the HPG belt could be candidates for the shoulder straps, perhaps using K-clips or some other hardware. Alternately, some of the PALS webbing may also work with a split three bar slider, perhaps. Geometry would be important here. Unsure about the delta straps.

 

[WRM]

I have the prairie belt that I use on my bikini frame. One of you guys needs to do this.

Some one on another thread said they wanted to use one on a Kifaru frame. I didn't know if it was possible (but figured it was). Run mine on an EXO--M O N E Y

I'd check the HPG forum. There is a ton of info there on rigging. Or email one of the brothers if you can't find it. Super nice guys.