Who uses a NON HUNTING backpack for overnighters??

[mtnwrunner]

I'm more curious than anything else but who runs a normal non specific hunting backpack for their overnighters?
I've run several models over the years......mainly an older Dana designs bighorn.
I just picked up an osprey aether pro 70 and dying to give it a try. Just had knee surgery couple weeks ago so jonesin to get out.
Let's see what ya all run.

Randy

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

So what’s the game plan to get meat out when you’re using a setup like this since most of these presumably don’t have a load shelf?

 

[mtnwrunner]

So what’s the game plan to get meat out when you’re using a setup like this since most of these presumably don’t have a load shelf?

If you see in my photo above with the bighorn, I put my camp in a bag and then that goes on the outside. Meat goes inside.
That being said, I bone everything and if you have a decent size pack, you can put some items on the bottom, meat in the middle and then some stuff on top. It's doable.

Randy

 

[DRP]

I’ve been thinking about using a non hunting style pack a lot lately. I have a kuiu frame with an 1800 and 6000 bag but for day hunting I get tired of having an ironing board on my back. I tried on the osprey aether 50 and it was extremely comfortable, I’m probably going to buy it before September. My hunting partner uses a deuter aircontact 60l for all his hunting and packing.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I’ve been thinking about using a non hunting style pack a lot lately. I have a kuiu frame with an 1800 and 6000 bag but for day hunting I get tired of having an ironing board on my back. I tried on the osprey aether 50 and it was extremely comfortable, I’m probably going to buy it before September. My hunting partner uses a deuter aircontact 60l for all his hunting and packing.

Give a look at that pro 70......I'm impressed with it so far and I did a ton of research. It's been on a few everest expeditions and on top.
Here is a review that Andrew Shurka did on it.

Long-term review: Osprey Aether/Ariel Pro 70 || Tough mid-weight load-hauler - Andrew Skurka

Need more volume & load-carrying capacity than afforded by a lightweight pack? Does sub-4 pounds sound better than 5 to 7? Then start here.

andrewskurka.com

Randy

 

[mtwarden]

Hmmm- what would be the advantage of the Osprey over a Seek Outside pack, say the Divide!

it’s not price, the Divide is in the $400 range

not weight, the Osprey is heavier than the Divide

I’d be very surprised if the Osprey would out haul the SO, but I’ve been surprised before

 

[Archerichards]

My view: we need to get past the hunting/non-hunting labeling of our equipment. The places and animals we truly love have never been more threatened, and anyone who goes outdoors to enjoy them for whatever reason is an ally. I myself am a Kuiu/Kifaru/Patagonia/Osprey/Sitka/LLBean user, and wouldn't give up any one of these great brands for anything.

 

[DRP]

The aether pro model says the belt pockets are removable but I have not found a picture of the hip belt with them removed. Could you put a pistol on the hip belt if one of the pockets were off? This is my biggest complaint about non hunting packs is not being able to have a pistol on my hip

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I've used a number of different "non-hunting" packs for multi-day backpack hunts over the years. My favorite is actually my old golite trek 65. I've really loaded that thing down with gear and meat without any issues which is surprising for how light and flimsy looking it is. The problems I had with it were the thinly padded waist belt cutting into my hips with heavy loads of meat, and lack of good ways to evenly distribute the weight on packouts. I would always bring a few extra cam straps to help attach gear or game bags to the outside but it was always less than desirable. Now I mostly use my Mystery Ranch pack for hunting and love the thickly padded waist belt and load carrying system. The pack weighs significantly more but does what I want it to do on hunts and I appreciate the design.

 

[slick]

My view: we need to get past the hunting/non-hunting labeling of our equipment. The places and animals we truly love have never been more threatened, and anyone who goes outdoors to enjoy them for whatever reason is an ally. I myself am a Kuiu/Kifaru/Patagonia/Osprey/Sitka/LLBean user, and wouldn't give up any one of these great brands for anything.

I’m calling total BS on feel good spin.

Animals aren’t more threatened than they ever ever been.

Look at whitetails, elk, black bears, waterfowl etc. 100 years ago.

Some species, maybe, others not so much.

To add, I haven’t used non-specific brands outside of scouting, due to hunting backpack manufacturers building specific to the activity.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

My view: we need to get past the hunting/non-hunting labeling of our equipment. The places and animals we truly love have never been more threatened, and anyone who goes outdoors to enjoy them for whatever reason is an ally. I myself am a Kuiu/Kifaru/Patagonia/Osprey/Sitka/LLBean user, and wouldn't give up any one of these great brands for anything.

I'm not sure you're going to get much support for that movement here. You could try telling that to all of the marketing departments of the thousands of outdoor gear retailers that advertise to specific user groups though. Use whatever gear works for you.

 

[mtnwrunner]

The aether pro model says the belt pockets are removable but I have not found a picture of the hip belt with them removed. Could you put a pistol on the hip belt if one of the pockets were off? This is my biggest complaint about non hunting packs is not being able to have a pistol on my hip

It would take some ingenuity I think.

Randy

 

[mtnwrunner]

Hmmm- what would be the advantage of the Osprey over a Seek Outside pack, say the Divide!

it’s not price, the Divide is in the $400 range

not weight, the Osprey is heavier than the Divide

I’d be very surprised if the Osprey would out haul the SO, but I’ve been surprised before

I've had an SO......wasn't for me. I'm not too concerned about its meat hauling capabilites as 95 percent of the time, im not doing that. I've had an rei xt85 and it's hauled a heavy load and meat just fine. I plan on using the osprey for regular backpack trips and gonna try it out on a couple hunting trips. The hip belt seems to be fairly robust.
My main point of the thread is to see what others might use.

Randy

 

[mtwarden]

I've had an SO......wasn't for me. I'm not too concerned about its meat hauling capabilites as 95 percent of the time, im not doing that. I've had an rei xt85 and it's hauled a heavy load and meat just fine. I plan on using the osprey for regular backpack trips and gonna try it out on a couple hunting trips. The hip belt seems to be fairly robust.
My main point of the thread is to see what others might use.

Randy

My journey on a do it all pack

https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/complete-heresy-one-pack-only.268379/

 

[mtnwrunner]

No kidding.

 

[sargent]

Last fall I took a Mountain Laurel Designs Prophet on an eight day elk hunt. I was hunting solo, so packing out was going to be a multi-trip effort no matter what. I got lucky and killed an elk, left most of my stuff on the mountain, and packed a front quarter, backstraps, and tenderloins back to the truck with the MLD pack. I switched to a Stone Glacier for the rest of the packout. Carrying the MLD saved me about three pounds while scouting/hunting.

 

[alpine_troop]

Used a Gregory Baltoro 75 to help a buddy pack out elk meat before I really got into hunting. I was thankful we only had to move the meat a relatively short distance to get it into position for horses, but it was very rugged terrain. The Gregory was noticeably over-taxed by the 90ish lbs. If we had had to move the meat the whole trek back to the truck, it would’ve been miserable with that pack. In my experience with several non-hunting brands, Gregory has damn good weight management and hip belt structure… for a backpacking pack. It handles up to 65-70 lbs great.

Even if you could reliably achieve a similar high-and-tight-to-the-back weight distribution with meat in a regular backpack, the overall frame and belt/strap structure of the regular packs has a tendency to yield and flex too much to maintain comfort.

 

[Poser]

I don’t personally see a reason to use non hunting brand packs for backpacking. The high end high brand packs are superior and higher quality to all of the equivalent, conventional backpacks on the market. You could make a case for the boutique brand, ultralight frameless packs if you are staying until that weight range, but that’s a different class of packs.

My GF got a new Osprey pack this year and I was impressed with the design updates in the adjustability as well as the addition of power pulls. Still though, there is a lot of design emphasis on making the pack “look cool” vs. actual functionality. Hunting brands get sucked into that with camo, true, but you don’t have weird ass pockets that look cool and aren’t so functional or built in rain covers.