Is there a light day pack that's capable of carrying out the first load of meat or horns till I can get to my bigger packs? Have a Badlands 2200 and a Blackhawk blackcliff but to me the're large packs.

quote:

Originally posted by Baddwuf:
Is there a light day pack that's capable of carrying out the first load of meat or horns till I can get to my bigger packs? Have a Badlands 2200 and a Blackhawk blackcliff but to me the're large packs.

Mystery Ranch 3 Day Assault Pack.

I have one and it will carry loads like no other small pack I have seen in over 50 years of using them. I have a LOT of packs, over a dozen and have used many more and Mystery Ranch is the BEST production pack I know of.

Dewey, checked out their web site , sure looks like a nice pack, at 5 lbs its pretty heavy empty. does it have an internal frame? I notice their nice frame with a load sling weighs about the same. I guess thats an option

Yes, it has a very stout internal frame, the NICE is an excellent rig, as well, I have two of them fully rigged. Mine are the NICE OK frame with 6500 bag, Daypack Lid, twin Longpockets and so forth and the NICE Gen I with Crew Cab and Daypack Lid, plus I have a Loadsling. I have now owned ten packs by Dana Gleason, the owner-designer of MR and currently have eight, this since 1978.

I never bother with any of my other packs now and have been slowly selling them off as my MR and Dana Design packs work so well for me.

I bought one of the Sitka packs and used it on last year’s hunts. I bought the mid size pack and I really like it. Very light weight and the frame keeps the pack away from your back which prevents excessive sweating. I packed out half of an antelope using it and it worked well. It is not a heavy duty setup but is great for carrying the spotting scope, Water, Lunch and a few other necessities on day trips.

I have an older style Badlands 2800. It has to big side zippered pouches, a regular bottom zippered fanny area pouch, and an on-top zippered pouch.

All of these fold together and latch. When you kill something, you just un-latch them to expose a huge cavity in which to carry out your meat. Put the meat in the cavity in your game bags and fold everything back together latching tightly.

A buddy and I were on a mule deer hunt and off of the same stump for a rest, killed two 6 pointers that were hanging together across the canyon. We were able to completely bone out everything but the rear quarters and pack out the horns too right there on the spot. I figure my pack must have been 80 lbs.

Dewey: Wondering how you would compare it to a DanaDesign Bomb pack? If you had the chance to use one. I've been using my DanaDesign' packs for about 20yrs now. I recently searched for them and maybe they are outa business. I havent used one for hunting, just ice climbing, backpacking, and day hikes. I really like the beavertail for snow shoes -- thinking would be good for deer sized meat. Probablt to small for elk or larger.

Lowe Alpine "Sting". "better" in every way than a 3DAP

The "Dana Design" label was discontinued a little while ago, by "Marmot" the owner/maker of the DD packs for quite a few years now. Dana sold DD to K2 in 1995, IIRC and stayed on as a supervisor in the Baja plant for some time.

The DD-K2 packs made when he was there are excellent and the K2 packs made shortly after he left are very good, I had one but sold it as it did not fit me perfectly, after I bought it off the 'net.

The Marmot packs and latest K2 packs did not impress me and I would not own one.

I bought one of the first "Bomb" packs that Dana made, when he called his company "Kletterwerks", used it hard, still have it and it is in excellent shape...amazing quality. However, IMO, the suspension on the MR packs is vastly superior under any real load and the 3DAP will handle a load of meat with ease.

I bought a Lowe Alpine Systems pack from Jeff Lowe about the same time I bought my first Dana, my younger brother packed out a "Booner" Elk with it and said, "I will never carry that f*****g thing again" and he is one TOUGH guy when hiking and hunping big loads is concerned.

I have never seen a Lowe pack that came close to any pack made by Dana Gleason, but, WTF, would I know about it.

If, I were doing it now, I would use the "Dragonslayer" model over the 3DAP and would really prefer a "Bighorn" for a hunting day pack here in BC, the Yukon, NWT. The extra volumn is a big help in carrying what you need to have plus some meat, horns, whatever.

The Sting is part of the military range and is a totally differant beast to the "normal" Lowe Alpine stuff.I had a LA TFX system pack and they are "chalk and cheese" to this.I have also compared it to my friends 3DAP and to my MR Nice and the only fault i can find is that its made in Vietnam.

But then what would I know,Ive only compared them side by side

Perhaps, you might have told us this in the first instance? I would also point out that I did NOT make any derogatory comments concerning your Lowe pack, I ONLY spoke about what I have actually EXPERIENCED in Lowe, Dana and MR packs, so, your "jab" at the end of your post is just foolish.

Now, just how many Elk have you packed off a mountain in wilderness areas? I get the impression that you might not really have done this, too often.

What regiment are you a member of or are you an "enthusiast" about military gear?

Dana Gleason (Dana Design Packs) owns Mystery Ranch Packs, just off the freeway on the frontage road east of Bozeman. So, I guess you can assume the designs come from the same mind.

quote:

I have never seen a Lowe pack that came close to any pack made by Dana Gleason, but, WTF, would I know about it.

Who started what.

Now, just how many Elk have you packed off a mountain in wilderness areas? I get the impression that you might not really have done this, too often.

You are correct,I havn`t done this but I have packed more Fallow and roe deer of the hill then I care to remember and given that I average more than, animals per year,and Ive been doing this for a while,and these are carcasses and not "boned out meat", I have a litle knowledge.

No affiliation to any military regiment,just a user of gear that works.

Oh, and I didnt have to use swearing to get my point over.

Back to the original question here, the lightest day pack is not always the best choice for hunting, although it may well be for some activities. If, as posted, this pack will only be used to take the initial load to your vehicle and you are not in Grizzly country, which is my situation, then a lighter, smaller pack will be OK, no question.

If, you are hunting where Grizzlies can and will get your meat if you do not quickly get it out to a meat pole or horses or vehicle, then, a different option is much better. I tend to choose gear based on the harshest use/situation I expect to need it for and it will then work in easier conditions.

I very seldom choose any military gear as it is usually more complex and heavier than one requires when hunting and better options are available. The MR NICE series did come from military designs as does the 3DAP,but, they lack a lot of the specialized aspects of much military gear and thus fit into wilderness hunting very well, IME.

So, as with so much of this, it is "horses for courses" and I would choose based on what my hunting situation is. I have packed enough whole carcasses of Blacktail and Whitetail Deer, halves of Mulies and quarters of "bone in" Elk and Moose to know that a light small pack is not my first choice for hunting.

A 6x6 Elk, gutted and quartered at 6900 ft. with over three miles of rough trail to your 4x4 is a very tough load and using the best pack makes it a little more "fun".....NOT that much!

Thank guys for all the great info. I primarily hunt whitetail and black bear here in Pa and have packed out exactly one cow elk in colorado. I'm not used to carrying anything more than a small back pack while hunting at home, just for extra clothes and lunch, so when I hunt out west, pack frames and even the badlands 2200 seem like an unnessary burden until you get an animal down .

For much mountain hunting, I have found that the Badlands 2200 sized packs are not really big or stout enough to cope with everything you potentially have to deal with.

From 2006 onward, I have used my two MR NICE rigs almost exclusively and am probably going to sell a number of my other packs, as these work so well, in my situation.

I sometimes hunt Blacktail on Vancouver Island and never bother with a pack, just using a Badlands Monster Fanny for knives, lunch and jacket. But, in almost all of BC, a wise hunter does not leave camp or vehicle without a light emerg. camp and packframe for meat. Each to his own.

quote:

Originally posted by ROSCOE:
I bought one of the Sitka packs and used it on last year’s hunts. I bought the mid size pack and I really like it. Very light weight and the frame keeps the pack away from your back which prevents excessive sweating. I packed out half of an antelope using it and it worked well. It is not a heavy duty setup but is great for carrying the spotting scope, Water, Lunch and a few other necessities on day trips.

Roscoe, they make more than one mid-size - do you know the model you have?