Welcome to Western Edge Gear, builders of kids' backpacks

[Mark]

I bought one of your packs for my grandson a couple years ago. He loves it! He packed out my antelope cape and head last Monday. He's used it on a few turkey hunts as well. Great packs, well made and functional.

 

[nodakian]

@Mark, Congratulations on the hunt, and I'm glad the pack is working out. I'll bet your grandson was stoked!. Antelope are a great way to introduce kids to big game hunting. Were you able to get an action photo?

 

[Mark]

@Mark, Congratulations on the hunt, and I'm glad the pack is working out. I'll bet your grandson was stoked!. Antelope are a great way to introduce kids to big game hunting. Were you able to get an action photo?

He packed the head and cape. You'll notice the tattoo on his arm of the antelope hoof. He dipped the hoof in blood and pressed it to his arm. He loves that pack! It fits him well and gives him a sense of "being one of the guys."

 

[nodakian]

Thanks for the great pictures. That’s one happy dude!

I’ll have to keep the tattoo idea in mind for my grandkids. The teenagers probably won’t allow it.

 

[Marbles]

Awesome, been looking for packs to fit my daughter's as they get old enough.

 

[Mark]

Awesome, been looking for packs to fit my daughter's as they get old enough.

I doubt you could find a better youth pack. The quality is as good as any high end pack that I've seen. As far as construction goes, I would put it on par with a Kifaru pack.

 

[rjID]

How cool! Awesome someone is doing this...

 

[nodakian]

I doubt you could find a better youth pack. The quality is as good as any high end pack that I've seen. As far as construction goes, I would put it on par with a Kifaru pack.

Thank you. One of my goals is to make them durable enough to maintain decent value after kids grow out of them.

 

[nodakian]

We've been testing some new features this fall with the hope of releasing them in 2021, primarily a meat shelf, PALS grid on the belt, detachable lid, and longer shoulder straps.

The longer straps will make the pack useful for taller kids and shorter adults (like me at 5'8"), although lift function will obviously decrease with longer torsos. For instance, the 20" frame recently worked great with over 30 pounds of survey gear on a 4-mile jaunt through the Badlands. Definitely more comfortable than similar jobs I've done with my MR 3 Day Assault.

Last week we tested the meat shelf on a mule deer doe hunt in MT. Jake carried 3 bone-in quarters and a backstrap for a total of 47 pounds. Such a heavy load (proportionate to body weight) was a new sensation, but he did well and could have easily handled the other quarter. Pictures below show the shelf being loaded and in use. He said it was better than the 32 pound pack with a turkey we strapped to the outside last spring.

One of my goals is to make these as compatible as possible with other products. For instance, the belt PALS will allow the use of any PALS-compatible pouches, and the detachable lid will allow use of a Kifaru Guide Lid or similar item.

A few more tweaks and we'll be ready to go.