Just looked at some of these yesterday, and was amazed at how well they seem to be designed as far as allowing ventilation to reach the back. I sweat heavily, and with most light packs and day packs I end up drenched from shoulder blades to kidneys and freeze the minute I stop and take off the pack for a breather.

I have the 2200 and gave it a good workout this past season. Had my Lone Wolf a steps strapped to it along with a load and it handled it all well. I really like mine a lot, very comfortable, good room, smart design with the zippered entrance in the back. I had 60-70lbs in it and was just fine.

Bill, buy a couple of Icebreaker 140 or 150 wt. MERINO WOOL T-shirts and wear one as an underlayer every time you wear a backpack. You will find that this WILL keep your back from feeling cold when you are sweatsoaked and expose it on a rest stop.

This WORKS, I wear these to "tote that bale" in every month of the year, ESPECIALLY June-Aug. in the heat. Buy ICEBREAKER, not some other brand, Google them as they have an outlet in OR.

I like mine but I have had nothing to compare it to. You can't beat the warrenty.

I own a Badlands Superday and the 4500. They make the best packs in the world. I can’t recommend them more.

+1, I've got the 2200 and the 4500 and have been very pleased with both of them. For the price I don't think that you can do much better.

I have the 2200 and really like it,very tough pack ,good luck

I'll allow myself to offer a dissenting opinion - at least as far as the Badlands 2200 is concerned.

I have managed to tear apart I don't know how many day packs in the past - possibly because I bought too cheaply, or possibly by carrying too big a load (a boned out antelope does weigh a few lbs, after all)... So,,, I thought "this time I'll get something well made that will stand up to whatever I can throw at it"... My choice after much Internet research was the Badlands 2200. Not cheap, but supposedly well made.

Sadly, reality turned out slightly differently than what I had imagined. It seems that these days (and Badlands may not the the only manufacturer guilty of this), a pack has to have every last feature in the Universe to be sold. All well and good, but the drawback is that by packing every possible feature into the Badlands 2200, IMHO the pack became unnecessarily heavy, even for the high quality it supposedly has. Case in point: the hip belt *had* to have a double walled construction so that zippers and pockets could be added to the belt. All well and good, but the high weight comes from somewhere, little bits and pieces add little bits of weight. This would have been an easy place to compromise in terms of functionality to reduce the (much too high) weight for volume offered.

Perhaps some other Badlands user here can educate me, because I never managed to make the Badlands pack fit well. It seems to drift around on my back, and although (possibly) allowing for perspiration to evaporate, it buys this feature by an exceptionally poor fit to my back. I don't know if there is some internal device which can be bent in some form to allow the pack to be better supported on the back??

All in all, I would not have bought this product had I known what I know now - high quality or not. YMMV.

- mike

I have the 2800. It's the older model that the top, sides fold out to expose a giant area for packing out game. After you bone out or otherwise get your kill ready for transport, you set the load in the exposed compartment and fold the top and sides over it. It all buckles together to secure the load. Pretty cool.

I also have the 4500 older model but haven't really needed to use it as I haven't done any multi day pack hunts. It looks good to me though. It has a detachable day pack and fanny pack to use when you get to your camp for day excursions.

I agree with the weight comment. I was actually surprised at how much it weighed empty. But I have found once it's loaded I forget about the weight of the pack and just think of it as one load. My pack fits me great, I like the narrowness and length. Fits secure and adjustable. I didn't test 20 packs so there might be something better, but this doesn't leave me wanting anything more. And again, I really like the entry through the inside of the pack without having to open everything up to get at something.