5.11 72 hour rush or Eberlestock X4 with extra pouches

[Street Samurai1978]

Looking for a good outdoors bag and liking these two for both price and size. Will be doing hunting, hiking, camping, all for extended periods. Help me decide which one, or if you have any other suggestions. Which one of these holds up better over time with normal wear and tear?

 

[OwenM]

Neither of those is made for doing anything for extended periods.

The 5.11 pack is more of an upsized and militarized daypack marketed to tactical wannabes, and the suspension sucks.
It's listed at 2639ci, that's 43L.

The Eberlestock has a much better suspension, and is doubtless a much better pack in most regards, but its little packbag is divided into two sections, neither of which is large enough for real multiday gear like shelter and insulation. It's listed as a 1300ci, 21L pack.

You really need to look at what you'll be carrying in the pack, and let that guide your choice. You wouldn't have arrived at two totally dissimilar packs if you'd established a very realistic view of how the pack will be used.

 

[Marcelo Cantu]

Like all things, everything has a niche, and ts uses. Like Owen pointed out, they are two different packs for different uses. I have loaded @ 40 lbs. into the Rush 72 on a 4 day AT thru-hike (@6 - 7 miles a day, didn't need to pack water). and had no issues. It held up fine and I didn't really feel more tactical but quite stylish really. Where it fails IMO is that It fit ME fine, I'm 5'11" @200 lbs but there is no adjustability for longer or shorter torsos. I got lucky I think. For the money and if it fits well, its a good buy. I you can budget for it, and you like that look, my choice would be with Mystery Ranch. Miles ahead in terms of comfort. IMO the best suspension in any niche.

I have no experience with Eberlestock but wish I did.

 

[Mastalerz]

I have no experience with either, but you can attack a tarp/shelter and sleeping bag to just about any pack using bungie cords or something similar, if you fold it up nice and tight you can bungie it to the top or bottom of your pack. This is of course thinking that you want to go with a smaller pack and it may not fit all your necessities for a 72 hour hike. You can even get an Alice pack frame and attack a trash can and other items such as a tarp and sleeping bag using bungie cords. Some packs just aren't worth the money unless you plan to get a lot of use out of it or you just don't mind spending the cash. There are always ways to fit your gear and save money.

 

[OwenM]

Where it fails IMO is that It fit ME fine, I'm 5'11" @200 lbs but there is no adjustability for longer or shorter torsos. I got lucky I think. For the money and if it fits well, its a good buy. I you can budget for it, and you like that look, my choice would be with Mystery Ranch. Miles ahead in terms of comfort..

Yeah, the main problem with that bag is that along with the lack of adjustability, it's frameless. If it's less than a perfect fit, it won't ride or distribute the weight properly. My older MR Dragonslayer just has a framesheet vs the new ones with the X frame suspension, and even with a perfect fit, I still have to watch how I pack it. Carrying stuff attached to the outside that has any weight to it can turn into a miserable experience, especially. I've done it with a rope bag a couple of times this year, and it seriously degrades the comfort, especially if I pack a bunch of hardware in with the rope. Does much better with everything inside the pack.
The newer Dragonslayer lacks a few features, but I bet with the frame it's a much better pack than the one I have. It weighs about the same, actually a little less, than the Rush 72, too. It's $120 more, but that would seem like nothing if you had to carry a load in it for very far, or very often. Still not a backpacking pack, but as a do-it-all hunting, hiking, climbing, etc.(and tacticool!) pack, that thing is hard to beat.

 

[Marcelo Cantu]

......My older MR Dragonslayer just has a framesheet vs the new ones with the X frame suspension, and even with a perfect fit, I still have to watch how I pack it. Carrying stuff attached to the outside that has any weight to it can turn into a miserable experience, especially. I've done it with a rope bag a couple of times this year, and it seriously degrades the comfort, especially if I pack a bunch of hardware in with the rope. Does much better with everything inside the pack.
The newer Dragonslayer lacks a few features, but I bet with the frame it's a much better pack than the one I have. It weighs about the same, actually a little less, than the Rush 72, too. It's $120 more, but that would seem like nothing if you had to carry a load in it for very far, or very often. Still not a backpacking pack, but as a do-it-all hunting, hiking, climbing, etc.(and tacticool!) pack, that thing is hard to beat.

I just picked up an older Dragonslayer this July and I'm pretty excited about it. So far I've only taken it on day-hikes but I'm loving it so far. I had to play around with the fit a few times at first. I have really been trying to pare down the amount of gear that I carry and would love to see how it handles for a 3 - 4 day stint.

 

[OwenM]

Marcelo, I've used it for 3 days in the fall, with lows in the 30s, using my ID bivy and a 40F bag. Since it wasn't cold enough to need bulkier stuff like a bigger sleeping bag or down puffy, it was enough. Since yours is the older one like mine, you can use the pockets that the waistbelt folds into for some items. I can actually get my Tarptent Notch in one of them. That intrudes into the main compartment some, but it's also handy for smaller stuff you don't want to dig into the packbag for, like a water filter.