review: kifaru g2 zxr backpack.

[JV3]

specs: 5,200 cubic inches - 6 lbs., 13 oz. 85 liters - 3 kg.

kifaru's g2 zxr description: "Our Zulu has been so popular that we've designed the Zulu Extreme Ruck for those who need even more capacity. We've created a ruck that is more than just a "bigger" Zulu - we've kept some of the favorite features such as slot pockets, over the top compression straps and extendible top lid. By combining features from the Zulu, Pointman and EMR, and adding even more new features, we feel the ZXR is in a class of its own when it comes to combat rucks."

here's lmt66's review of the g2 zulu: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/threads/834563-Kifaru-G2-Zulu-cold-weather-loadout

my zxr was just delivered last friday (i waited 6 weeks from order to delivery) so here's my first impression review. i'll add more notes as i use it in the field in the coming weeks. the front is covered in molle webbing. i went with the standard top lid. they have an optional top lid called an xtl and if you order it with a pack you get a 40% discount i think.

there's an inner compression sleeve that's usually folded inside. it adds an extra 7" of coverage.

the bottom is also covered in molle webbing. there are 4 of these web loops (the first 2 are circled on the left) and 2 plastic loops (circled on the right). more on these plastic loop attachment points in part 2.

carry handle loop and the quick-release buckle for the compression strap on the main compartment.

a much more heavy duty quick-release buckles on the shoulder straps. tug on the loop hard away from your body and it releases. also, the male buckle has this beaver-tail shape that makes loosening the strap very easy. as a side note, my complaint on maxpedition falcon ii is once the shoulder straps are cinced down tight, it takes two hands to loosen the straps enough to take the pack off.

what i find on most packs is only the front 2 straps on the top lid are adjustable so even if the sleeve extends well above the main compartment, it's pretty useless since the top lid can no longer cover it. the zxr's top lid's 4 straps are completely adjustable and can be removed completely.

back view. even after the main compartment is stuffed to the max, i can still stuff a rolled-up sleeping pad, jacket, etc. under the lid.

there are 3 smaller compartments surrounding the main compartment. all 3 fits a completely filled, insulated, 3-liter camelbak hydration bladder.

with the hydration bladder completely pushed in, the top of it sits about an inch from the edge. with the horizontal compression strap pulled tight, even shaking the pack upside down the bladder isn't going anywhere.

the compartment is about 17" deep.

...and about 9" wide.

each of the 3 smaller compartments also has this d-ring for attaching a lanyard, carabiner, etc. so smaller items can be easily retrieved instead of sinking all the way in the bottom.

...end of part 1 of 3.

 

[JV3]

looking inside the main compartment, there are 4 plastic loops (only the 3 visible ones from this pic are circled) for attaching pouches. you can also see the hydration bladder compartment with the drawstring compression sleeve.

un-zipping the main compartment's bottom shows another 4 plastic loops.

the included accessory pouch removed. that figure 8 attachment point is made of metal. there are various sizes and colors available.

this is how the accessory pouch is attached to the plastic loops:

there's a full length zipper on the main compartment's top back for accessing a radio. the hydration bladder's hose is also routed through here.

the beefy waist strap that's also covered in molle webbing. instead of pulling the side straps right and left to tighten the belt, they designed it to pull away towards your front to maximize the leverage. this small detail actually works much better than the typical design!

also, part of the long wait for their packs is because it's semi-custom made. they ask you for your height, inseam, weight, waist size, and if your back is flat or not (more on this later). the waist belt comes in various sizes and on mine with just a t-shirt and shorts when it's fully tightened there's only about a 2" exposed belt webbing on either side of the belt buckle. they basically maximized the amount of padding that surrounds your waist.

the padding of the waist belt isn't just a thick piece of foam. it has a nice give to it so it forms more closely to your waist. also, the padding seems to have a memory - that is, if you press against it and lift off it doesn't immediately bounce back...more on this later when i show the lower back padding.

side by side next to my maxpedition falcon ii. you can clearly see the falcon ii's inferior waist strap (the torso length is too short for an adult too) so all the load is on your shoulders instead of on your waist. for those reasons i think the falcon ii is only good as an edc pack or ultralight hiking pack. maxpedition labels it as a tactical military assault pack but it clearly can't support any real world load in my experience...but that's for another thread.

the zxr empty and completely maximized. the falcon ii (1,520 cubic inches/25 liters) is on top for comparison.

pulling the 6 horizontal, 2 top lid, and 2 bottom compression straps as tight as they can go compresses the zxr quite a bit.

...it now has the same width as the falcon ii and the torso length/height extends about 7" past the falcon ii's. the saying "a big knife can do most of what a small knife can do but not vice-versa". i'll take a bigger pack anyday over the same design but smaller - i can easily compress it down if need be but won't have to strap all kinds of stuff on the outside and throw off the balance when i run out of space.

i have no idea what the triangle-shaped loops on both sides are for. i'll ask them later or maybe someone here already knows? the arrows are pointing to around 1/2" thick, curved padding. if you're in the military or other occupation where you're wearing a bullet resistant vest, they modify this padding (on other models, not sure about the zxr itself) so it's removable/can be anchored to the side so your vest can nestle between it and prevent the pack from moving side to side.

also, they ask if you have a flat back or not. the lady said if you lean flat against the wall and you can put your hand against the small of your back and wall then you have a curved back (most people are). if it's flat they modify the padding to fit your back better...this is another reason why it's a semi-custom pack.

the back padding of the waist strap has this rubbery piece on it. this piece is much larger than the g1 (generation 1) packs. they said it remains grippy even when wet so i poured water on top and rubbed my fingers on it. yup, it's still grippy when wet. this pack isn't going to move side to side once it's strapped on your back!

another angle of the back padding. this is thick! when properly adjusted (one reason why they ask for your body specs is so they can get the torso length, etc. adjusted close to your body) this padding rests against my tailbone area instead of on my lower back/spine area.

a closer look at the padding. like i mentioned earlier, this foam has a memory to it. i put a coin and pressed it on multiple times and the foam took a few seconds to bounce back to it's original shape and the coin indentations to disappear.

...end part 2 of 3.

 

[JV3]

a closer look at part of the frame. i think this is called a "stay". on kifaru's ultralight series packs these are made of carbon fiber and some type of wood for stability. don't quote me on that since i didn't research their other packs that heavily once i decided the zxr met all my requirements. the stamp on the aluminum says "sapa 60-61 t6511".

alright, i already know some of you are wondering if maybe one of the custom knife makers here can make that out of knife steel so you can sharpen it in the field in case you lose your knife or something

pulling the waist belt out.

there are slots on the waist belt where the stays are inserted.

there are two delta straps on each side of the waist belt. on my other packs that only have one strap, the two strap design is noticeably better at pulling the weight closer to my body...anyway, if i undo these straps the waist belt can now be completely removed from the pack. why make it removable to begin with? like i said earlier, they come in various sizes to maximize the padding around the waist in case you lose/gain weight, winter clothing, or sell the pack to someone else.

how the torso length/shoulder straps are adjusted. they adjusted it from the factory based on my measurements. plenty of tutorials out there on how to properly fit a backpack so i'm not going to cover it here. the rest of the shoulder straps have the typical adjustments found on other packs.

i pulled out the stays just to satisfy my curiosity. i didn't weigh it since this pack itself is 6 lbs. all the features are meant to carry a heavy load so it's not for the weight conscious to begin with.

the pack's back follows this contour. aside from the two general spots, a lot of the back has a generous amount of air flow feel to it. i'll update this thread once it's full blown summer to see how sweaty my back gets with this pack compared to others.

i'm curious if they cut any corners so i cut the tip off the main compartment's drawstring...yup, it's a 7-strand, 550 paracord. by now i'm not surprised at their level of attention to detail.

short of breaking out my reloading caliper and measuring the width of each and every molle webbing for 1/100th of an inch uniformity (my level of ocd isn't quite up there yet. i just decided to get drunk instead ), i have yet to find any flaws in this pack...i gotta find at least one!

this is the closest i got - there's this small, white piece of label sewn into the upper right (while wearing it) shoulder strap. it says "u.s. patent 5, 725, 139". that white label against the all-black will definitely hurt my high-speed, low-drag, mall ninja operator image and i will demand a full refund asap

moving on...there's a lot of compression straps on this pack. i'm waiting for a couple of itw web dominators to take care of them:

in the meantime, i'm using rubber bands:

i'm not a patch guy nor do i get into political arguments - i own a spyderco bushcraft (it's made in taiwan). with that said, kifaru is 100% made in the usa. they are berry amendment compliant so it really is 100% made in the usa...i think this patch is fitting.

i'm 5'9", 170 lbs...empty and completely compressed:

maxed out but snow collar is not used:

completely maxed out including the snow collar:

in summary: i think this pack is well worth every penny they charge for it :thumbup:
...end part 3 of 3.

 

[JV3]

this is one of the external pockets that kifaru calls a "long pocket". i have the hybrid version - it attaches to any molle webbing in two ways.

one way is by the molle webbing on the back. it already comes with the malice clips which are made by tactical tailor.

the 2nd way is what kifaru calls a "dock & lock".

the female end of the buckle can be installed on any molle webbing and it's not permanent. i think this is an itw invention rather than a kifaru exclusive. not sure why maxpedition hasn't used this method on their pouches yet. i tried and that kifaru female buckle is not compatible with the maxpedition male buckle...hmm. i'm wondering if a female buckle from itw will fit though.

now that the long pocket is docked to the zxr, i can compress it tight. it's obviously not as tight an integration as the molle webbing but if the items inside aren't insanely heavy, the pocket won't sag.

the long pocket can be released from the main pack in a split second, leaving the female buckles behind. this is also a good way of making a first aid kit without using a red pocket or one of those ones with velcro backing and whatnot.

another thing that surprised me is how beefy the zippers are on the kifaru (the top zipper is from my maxpedition falcon ii). not just the "sliders" but the actual teeth are also pretty big but it still slides and operates noticeably smoother than on my falcon ii or any of my other packs for that matter.

in case anyone is wondering why i only have 1 long pocket - i probably won't need it to be on the outside most of the time so i'll stick it inside the main compartment. if i need more room in the main compartment, i'll dock it to the outside and stuff my big knives/axe on the opposite side to keep the weight balanced.

 

[JV3]

kifaru "organizer". nothing really special here, just a way for me to store my firesteel, tinder, bandanna, etc. on the outside but not on the top lid.

i was going to order the optional "xtl" top lid since it contains a pocket and other various attachment points but i usually hang my pack from a tree limb at chest level and i find that i end up stuffing the top lid and when i try to access stuff from the main compartment the top lid always gets in the way since i can't fold it back and stay that way with all the stuff inside.

the pack above is a north face terra 65 pack (65 liters) for the curious. pretty good pack for the money but it wasn't modular/big enough for me so the reason for switching to kifaru. that pack along with this jansport goshawk 40 (40 liters. i've had it since the mid '90s!) pictured below (that pic was from last year by the way, not mid 90s) will be my control packs. they both offer incremental ergonomic/performance improvements along with their incremental price increases from school "book bags"...time will tell if the kifaru's massive price jump over those packs will also show a massive improvement.

one thing to note is that the zippers on the organizer looks to be "standard" size, not the beefy ones found in the long pocket and zxr. i guess they don't go overkill just for the sake of going overkill on stuff. the organizer is only an inch thick so it's hard to put anything inside it that'll weigh enough to really stress the zippers anyway.

one thing i want to change on it is i wish it had more molle webbing on the outside instead of that female velcro. i know, i know...molle webbing = tacticool but i really don't care what others think. if it meets a legitimate need then i'm fine with it. one thing is i can't add another pouch to it and toss the whole thing inside the main compartment and keep them together.

 

[JV3]

another external pocket but this one is mainly designed to be attached to the waist belt.

kifaru designed the shape so it matches with the waist belt's without interfering with it. they could've made it a small rectangle that's shorter than the shortest part of the waist belt and called it done and no one would ever really notice (or complain), but they didn't and instead tried to maximize every little bit...another proof of their attention to detail.

the pocket is ambidextrous since it has the same molle webbing on both sides. i can just pull off the malice clips and move it to the other side to mount it on the left waist strap.

all mounted up on the right waist strap.

i only ordered one since i wasn't sure how useful it is but this picture shows how spacious it really is (i already have another one on order for the left side after doing this review and realizing how useful it is), and more importantly, it doesn't get in the way of my normal movement at all. the shotgun shells are just there to show how roomy it is/the stretch loops.

another measure of the capacity - it fits 4 altoids tins comfortably. that is, i can easily open and close it one-handed as if it's empty. i then stuffed a standard-sized bandanna in there and it felt like it was on the verge of being overstuffed/cannot be closed without my other hand compressing the zippers closer.

disclaimer: i just read my review and holy crap, i think i overdid it. i don't work for kifaru or affiliated with them (although after reading what i wrote, i'd love to work for them!). too bad i'm just a software developer who happens to have a job-induced ocd when it comes to details...anyway, i'm just sick and tired of the one-liner "get a maxpedition falcon ii!" advice i've read over and over again and nothing else to back it up...hence this review and the updates in the coming weeks.

 

[JV3]

placeholder for comments after using it for awhile.

 

[GoNadz]

Lookin' good so far, brother. You're gonna love Kifaru packs. Pricey, but well worth it. Next time we're out, we'll get a pic of the ZXR next to the Scout. Should look like a Remora next to a BK9

-Nadz

 

[Bladite]

how much are these? typically?

 

[spoolup]

Bladeite, They start at 500 and go up with accessories.

JV3 Great post, and even better pack. The ZXR is still my favorite Kifaru pack. Hands down. I own 4 of his packs, 4 shelters, 3 sleeping bags, some pants, and a tote full of other things. So yeah Im a fan.

The loops are great for the dock n lock pods, lash kits, etc. The M pod and top zip long pocket are still my go to space adders.

Cant wait to hear about you getting out and getting some use on it. Im sure you will enjoy it.

Atop the peak behind the capital

The pack is against the tree on the left

This summer, around memorial day, I am going to do the Lake Blanche hike up cottonwood canyon for a 2-3 nighter to just relax. Will be taking the ZXR, and trying out the new sawtooth w/ med stove.

Then in late June/ Early July I am going to spend a few days up in the high Unitas doing some hiking around naturalist basin. Hope to be able to take the 8man on that trek for the elk hunt conditioning.

Cant wait for the rest of the write up.

 

[LMT66]

Excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to post this. These packs are worth every penny!

 

[neeman]

Nice pack

Fill her up and take her out!
Enjoy

 

[Cpl Punishment]

It's really hard to beat Kifaru's quality. They aren't cheap, but hey are worth every penny.

Every so often I redo my analysis of equipment I carry, and start with a fresh sheet of paper to design what I'd consider the "perfect" [whatever]. When I get to packs, what I come up with each time is fulfilled by my Zulu. it literally has every feature I want, a few more that are nice to have, and nothing I don't like.

BTW, I hope you ordered a whole pack of Web Dominators -- my Zulu used all 10 in a 10-pack.

 

[OwenM]

Excellent review, and great job pointing out all the features. I lean towards designs without all the extraneous webbing, but a friend of mine has 3 Kifarus, and there is nothing lacking-quality beyond reproach, and lots of options for additions and upgrades. They sure sound like a great company to deal with, too, making so much effort to fit the individual user.

 

[JV3]

Lookin' good so far, brother. You're gonna love Kifaru packs. Pricey, but well worth it. Next time we're out, we'll get a pic of the ZXR next to the Scout. Should look like a Remora next to a BK9

-Nadz

schedule an overnighter and i'm in! i want to see how it handles with 3 liters of maker's mark on top of my usual load of 10 knives

how much are these? typically?

5 bk-10s, 5 reinhardt kukris or any combination of those two will find my zxr in your doorstep in 2 business days or less

The ZXR is still my favorite Kifaru pack. Hands down. I own 4 of his packs, 4 shelters, 3 sleeping bags, some pants, and a tote full of other things. So yeah Im a fan.

thanks, spoolup. i've been researching the zxr since last fall and i actually have a lot of your pics saved up! thanks for those pics by the way. it definitely helped me in my research.

i'm already eye'ng the x-ray to replace my falcon ii as my edc/mountain biking pack. i just wish it had a drawstring closure instead of the top zipper. i think i'll probably go with their shelters next though.

where did you buy the pants? i don't see it listed on the site.

Excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to post this. These packs are worth every penny!

Nice pack

Fill her up and take her out!
Enjoy

Excellent review, and great job pointing out all the features. I lean towards designs without all the extraneous webbing, but a friend of mine has 3 Kifarus, and there is nothing lacking-quality beyond reproach, and lots of options for additions and upgrades. They sure sound like a great company to deal with, too, making so much effort to fit the individual user.

thanks, guys. i'm happy you find my review useful. it's more of a convenience for me more than anything. i know my friends will be asking me about this pack so i can just copy and paste this review and e-mail it to them. saves me time better spent on drinking

BTW, I hope you ordered a whole pack of Web Dominators -- my Zulu used all 10 in a 10-pack.

yes, sir - i ordered a 50-pack i'm not really going to use all 50 obviously but the price of the 15 or so (for my other packs as well) isn't that much less than the 50-pack special. i'll use the extra shock cord as a tie-down for the sleeping pad and whatnot.

 

[PackDude]

DUDE those pictures of SLC make me homesick!!

 

[JV3]

DUDE those pictures of SLC make me homesick!!

what's "slc"?

 

[crossada]

Another great Kifaru review! I'm glad i just got my Xray or i would be having convulsions from reading all of this.

Thanks!

 

[Bladite]

5 bk-10s, 5 reinhardt kukris or any combination of those two will find my zxr in your doorstep in 2 business days or less

ah, see, the thing is, i'll let you HOLD a Reinhardt, for a few minutes, and even swing it around and go yarrrrr! but that'll cost you one of each zxr variant plus web dominators...

 

[spoolup]

SLC= Salt Lake City, Utah. Home of many wives (I don't have any), LDS (I ain't), Pro-gun (I am), great outdoors, John Moses Browning (again pro-gun), and the 2002 Olympics, man was that fun still miss the Swedish red cross girls, they kept me warm a few times when I was working security downtown:thumbup:.

As for the pants. They are part of the "packlock" line which they are no longer making, they are rumored to start them up again before fall for people who want them before the colder hunts. I was going to buy a few pieces when I got back stateside, and like a tard waited and the day I went to buy them was the day they were discontinued. I called and they had some "pre built" last of the line stuff. the only thing in my size was pants, but they had armor added, which makes them weight a little more but the knees and butt are reinforced with Cordura. Lucky they gave them to me at the non armored price, they are DAM warm and only something I will wear when it is near or below 0. My girlfriend hates them, she said it looks like I am wearing a sleeping bag... well they are like their bags, so go figure. I still want a vest with added sleeves for flexibility. The pants are roomy enough to use with my existing layers, easily don-able, even with boots already on due to the full length zippered legs, weigh VERY little, compress very well, but they cost a bit more than say your average mountain hardware insulated pant. The fit is the same as the mountain hardware compressors. The Large was tight, the XL was a little roomie, but since I was only wearing std levis, instead of my smartwools and camo cargo pants, they fit much better now, and they only look hugh in the photo since the cordura armor is pulling the legs out straight, but after using them a few times and hanging them up the legs have much more flow to them. They fit great under my Arcteryx alpha pants too. Toss on a pair of gaiters and your set. I already own multiple coats, jackets, and such, so the legs were the weak part of my gear, so it really did help, otherwise I would have gone with the compressors by MH.

And yeah, Im not much of a model, so lay off the comments. HAHA

Yes, they are on under these gortex pants

Packed in a small 3 string stuffsack

If it were not for the armor, they would shrink even more, but alas that is all they had.

As for shelters, I have a 8man, sawtooth, paratipi, and my "go to" supertarp. Really hard to beat the supertarp for a shelter due to packed weight and size.