Looking for a good/tough pack...

O

oilburner

Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
249
I've gone through an old alice pack and 2 gun show specials in the last year. I travel for work everyweek 5 days a week, so I carry 4 days worth of clothes, toiletries, extra pair of shoes, food (normally in a seperate cooler though), a collapsable fishing pole and some tackle, various other outdoor essentials. It's like packing for a weeks camping, because you never know if your going to be hiking in to a job site or staying in a hotel. It's basically a bug out bag on steroids to me. I cary an extra, small, hydration pack for all my fishing gear and usually piggy back it to my full pack. The gun show specials have all ripped their stichings in various places, and the alice pack just doesn't hold enough. I can't break the bank on a bag, but need something I can load pretty heavy and stay together. Any suggestions? I may try trading something for one on the forums, so any advice will be appreciated. Mark.
 
check out Duluth Pack -- traditional style canvas packs with a lifetime warranty.
not inexpensive, but will last. (I have a "wanderer")
 
I say check out camelback Military packs, I got a couple and they are tuff...
 
Check out Kifaru. They make some pretty sweet packs. I'm looking to get the Zulu for my next ruck to take to afghan with me.
 
For traveling check out the Doppelduffel and Fliegerduffel packs by Maxpedition. They are plenty big enough and very rugged.
 
Thanks for the advice so far everyone. I'm off for work for the week, I'll probably be ready to find something real soon (read:the end of this week). oruacat2, I'll get with you maybe friday night. Mark.
 
oilburner said:
I've gone through an old alice pack and 2 gun show specials in the last year. I travel for work everyweek 5 days a week, so I carry 4 days worth of clothes, toiletries, extra pair of shoes, food (normally in a seperate cooler though), a collapsable fishing pole and some tackle, various other outdoor essentials. It's like packing for a weeks camping, because you never know if your going to be hiking in to a job site or staying in a hotel. It's basically a bug out bag on steroids to me. I cary an extra, small, hydration pack for all my fishing gear and usually piggy back it to my full pack. The gun show specials have all ripped their stichings in various places, and the alice pack just doesn't hold enough. I can't break the bank on a bag, but need something I can load pretty heavy and stay together. Any suggestions? I may try trading something for one on the forums, so any advice will be appreciated. Mark.
Click to expand...

I've been bag-hunting myself, though for a messenger-type. I zeroed in some of your requirements and suggest these brands -

Tactical-ish:

Maxpedition
Camelbak
Mystery Ranch

Civie:

Patagonia
Osprey
 
Without knowing exactly what you need (price range, tactical or civilian, how large/heavy your usual loads, etc) I have no idea if this would interest you, but I have a Dana Designs (the ancestor of Mystery Ranch) Loadmaster Longbed I'm selling on some backpacking forums. It's argueably the greatest external frame pack ever made - 6100cu.in. capacity and bombproof. I bought it back in the late 90s, used it a few times, and then discovered that I loved canoe-camping more than lugging all my stuff around on my back. If I praise it too much it'll sound like I'm trying to push it on you, so just Google it and read some of the reviews out there yourself. I'm gonna give it a few more days on the backpackers' sites and then post it on some hunters' forums, as I've been told it's a hot commodity amongst big game hunters because it carries a large, heavy load so comfortably and is sturdy enough to last a lifetime.
Anyway, I don't want to post a link to a rival forum on this board, but if you're interested I'll email a link to you.

Good luck!

BTW - now that I'm getting back into it, I'm trying to go smaller-and-lighter, and I love, love, LOVE my Camelbak TriZip. It was a collaborative effort - a Camelbak Hydration pack with a Mystery Ranch suspension. Helluva pack at a much lower price than MR's own line of packs. But again, without knowing how you define "load pretty heavy" I'm not sure if it's the one for you. Worth looking into, though.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I'm seeing that if I want to upgrade to something like what I think I need, (I like the serious hiking bags with the full frames you guys linked too, like the Mystery Ranch and Maxpedition stuff) they are out of my price range for now. Think maybe I'll try the packing the alice pack a little tighter for now and tying on another bag of some sort. But I'm going to have to do something before winter hits, at that point all the clothes get heavier, and there's a lot more of them. It's 20 degrees on the ground and windy, and where I'm going is any where between 180 to 700ft. Layers of layers of winter gear. I'll start saving for the bag now I guess. Thanks again, much appreciated. :)
 
Maxpedition is certainly worth the money. Strong dbl stitching, pockets for everything, and MOLLE straps everywhere.
Variety of sizes as well.
 
Kifaru's tactical line of bags has multiple bags that could work for you, bomb-proof by all accounts.
 
Kifaru is the bomb for tuff. Mapedition is good, as is Tactical Tailor. I have overused different bags from all three.
 
Hey Oilburner - shoot me an email at
kwd101@insightbb.com

I'll send you a link to my pack (not sure what the rules are here on BF). If you have any interest at all, I'm heading up to the Adirondacks in 3 weeks and will be passing through your area (also have a brother and some nephews in Syracuse). If you want I'll throw this pack in my truck and bring it along for you to inspect in person.

Kenny
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top