An update on the Eberlestock X2 (the one that I decided on) ... I will paste my post from the other thread that I had going in deciding on a pack. I have been seeing a lot of the camelbaks on servicemen when travelling this christmas, and they look great, but I would definitely still choose my eberlestock.
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As an update, I went with the Eberlestock X2 (smaller than the half track). I have now put it through the paces to some degree. I have gone on two outings with it--the first was an afternoon hike where I hauled two full 2-liter bladders of water in the side compartments that are specifically designed for that purpose. I learned that (1) the pack carries the water weight very, very well (sounds like carrying the water in the side packs may be a lot more user friendly than in the middle), and (2) that is a ton of water to carry, and in the future I don't need to carry that much.
The second outing was three days of whitetail hunting in the snow, at very cold temps, over a lot of layers. I didn't need to carry any water, and I just took the essentials--first aid kit, emercency bivvy, small survival kit, some ammo, etc. It was pretty tough country, and hiking through the snow is no walk in the park. But even though there was a good amount of weight in that pack, it didn't slow me down much. Unlike most of the packs of its size, it is built as a great weight-bearing system.
I have found that the 5.11 tactical 6.10 vertical pounch almost seems custom made to hook onto the PALS webbing on the side panels, and I need to order another one of these as a way to increase the carrying capacity if I need to. I use one for my first aid kit. Eberlestock has some side pouches that they sell, but the 5.11's are a lot cheaper.
I would echo everything that razor says about the quality of the pack and the materials and workmanship that went into it. It is obviously very tough, and the attention to detail and creativity seems to surpass its price. Attention seems to have been put into even the smallest details.
The flap design is made to allow you to come up with creative ways to comfortably carry awkward, cumbersome gear. There are dozens of different configurations that can be used.
In the end, it seems to be a great amalgam of some great features of a lot of different types of packs--the materials and toughness and PALS webbing from military packs (like, say, an ATS RAID), the hydration and load bearing construction of a hiking pack, and the awkward gear carrying capabilities of a hunting pack (like, say, a badlands). That is why it was a clear choice for me and it turned out to be exactly what I had hoped for.
