Yesterday I received my order of the Seek Outside Peregrine (3500 cu in) in the mail. I thought I'd share my first impressions of fiddling and walking around with it for a few hours.
First, a bit about my circumstances. This is my first high-end hunting backpack - in fact I'm brand new to hunting this year. For the last ~9 years I've been backpacking with a North Face Terra 60L, which probably never carried a load heavier than 35 pounds. The pack served that purpose well, but after deciding the take up hunting, I decided to load test it. I put a 50 lb sand bag in the pack and walked about the neighborhood, and that was enough to learn that I needed something better for heavier loads. The frame was not large really not large enough for 50 lbs - too much weight caused the pack to sag, rendering the load bearers useless and putting too much on my shoulders (I have a 20" torso), regardless of how much I adjusted the torso length. Given that I got a good 9 years out of it (and may still have good use for it), I didn't feel too bad about an upgrade.
I mention all of this to emphasize that I can't provide any comparison between this pack and any other of the premium hunting backpack companies. My frame of reference is an old backpacking backpack that was probably around $200 new.
After much deliberation I decided on a Seek Outside Peregrine. This satisfied the most important requirements: designed to carry hunting loads, break-away functionality with load shelf, light weight, customizable. I chose them specifically because they seemed to have some clever, new (to me) ideas (e.g., waterproof bag, frame extensions), and it seemed like lots of folks on Rokslide said that their frame and suspension were very comfortable. My plan was to try out the pack and see if it was much of an improvement: if not, I'd return it.
First impressions: high quality workmanship. I really like the seemingly endless customizability: multiple frame extensions allow me to go between 24", 26", and 28" frames; floating vs. captured belt, with or without lumbar pad (haven't decided whether to keep lumbar pad yet); many possible combinations by which to run the compression straps, which are easily changed around with the gatekeeper connections; torso size adjustments; water bladder inside or outside the bag; multiple attachment points of frame to suspension. Fiddled around for a while until it felt good.
The capacity is 3500 cu, which is about 57 liters, supposedly a bit smaller than my old North Face. But to be honest the Peregrine actually feels bigger. Maybe that's the big roll top, or maybe it's just the honeymoon effect. Either way, when you add the big open side pockets, it's certainly more than I had before, at no additional weight. It's not a *big* pack, but I backpack light and intend to hunt light too. I was able to strap my rifle into the large side pockets, so no need to buy a weapon carrier (I wouldn't be able to get it out without taking off the pack, but if I'm actively hunting I'll be carrying my rifle anyway).
Next, the 50 lb load test. I tried 26" and 28" frames, and both in the bag and on the load shelf between bag and frame. I didn't get a whole lot of time to walk around, but it felt quite good - especially the 28" frame, which allowed best use of the load lifters. Glad I got both extensions (might return the 26" if 24" and 28" cover my needs). Certainly much better than the old pack, so I'm happy. Still need to experiment with the lumbar pad. There were some noises from the suspension when I made bigger movements with the heavy load - not concerning, but if it becomes a problem I'll look into it. I had read complaints about the lack of forward pull on the belt, but for me it was easy to get as tight as I wanted.
No real field test yet, but hopefully soon. If any important new findings come to light (good or bad), I'll share them with you. But for now, I'm quite impressed and intend to keep it.
First, a bit about my circumstances. This is my first high-end hunting backpack - in fact I'm brand new to hunting this year. For the last ~9 years I've been backpacking with a North Face Terra 60L, which probably never carried a load heavier than 35 pounds. The pack served that purpose well, but after deciding the take up hunting, I decided to load test it. I put a 50 lb sand bag in the pack and walked about the neighborhood, and that was enough to learn that I needed something better for heavier loads. The frame was not large really not large enough for 50 lbs - too much weight caused the pack to sag, rendering the load bearers useless and putting too much on my shoulders (I have a 20" torso), regardless of how much I adjusted the torso length. Given that I got a good 9 years out of it (and may still have good use for it), I didn't feel too bad about an upgrade.
I mention all of this to emphasize that I can't provide any comparison between this pack and any other of the premium hunting backpack companies. My frame of reference is an old backpacking backpack that was probably around $200 new.
After much deliberation I decided on a Seek Outside Peregrine. This satisfied the most important requirements: designed to carry hunting loads, break-away functionality with load shelf, light weight, customizable. I chose them specifically because they seemed to have some clever, new (to me) ideas (e.g., waterproof bag, frame extensions), and it seemed like lots of folks on Rokslide said that their frame and suspension were very comfortable. My plan was to try out the pack and see if it was much of an improvement: if not, I'd return it.
First impressions: high quality workmanship. I really like the seemingly endless customizability: multiple frame extensions allow me to go between 24", 26", and 28" frames; floating vs. captured belt, with or without lumbar pad (haven't decided whether to keep lumbar pad yet); many possible combinations by which to run the compression straps, which are easily changed around with the gatekeeper connections; torso size adjustments; water bladder inside or outside the bag; multiple attachment points of frame to suspension. Fiddled around for a while until it felt good.
The capacity is 3500 cu, which is about 57 liters, supposedly a bit smaller than my old North Face. But to be honest the Peregrine actually feels bigger. Maybe that's the big roll top, or maybe it's just the honeymoon effect. Either way, when you add the big open side pockets, it's certainly more than I had before, at no additional weight. It's not a *big* pack, but I backpack light and intend to hunt light too. I was able to strap my rifle into the large side pockets, so no need to buy a weapon carrier (I wouldn't be able to get it out without taking off the pack, but if I'm actively hunting I'll be carrying my rifle anyway).
Next, the 50 lb load test. I tried 26" and 28" frames, and both in the bag and on the load shelf between bag and frame. I didn't get a whole lot of time to walk around, but it felt quite good - especially the 28" frame, which allowed best use of the load lifters. Glad I got both extensions (might return the 26" if 24" and 28" cover my needs). Certainly much better than the old pack, so I'm happy. Still need to experiment with the lumbar pad. There were some noises from the suspension when I made bigger movements with the heavy load - not concerning, but if it becomes a problem I'll look into it. I had read complaints about the lack of forward pull on the belt, but for me it was easy to get as tight as I wanted.
No real field test yet, but hopefully soon. If any important new findings come to light (good or bad), I'll share them with you. But for now, I'm quite impressed and intend to keep it.
