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Kifaru Frames

C

ckschubach

New Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Messages
16
Anyone used the Kifaru frames & packs?

I have (2) main interests:
  1. Have you used the Kifaru frame on your back while hanging climbing sticks & wearing your saddle - if so, was the frame comfortable, noising, what would be your pros and cons?
  2. Kifaru Frame Packs vs Mystery Ranch Guide Lite Frames - for those that have used both what would be your pros and cons (I know cost will be first thing mentioned)

The (2) packs I'm looking at are the Kifaru Stryker with Duplex Lite (1/8" frame sheet) 24" Frame Length or the Mystery Ranch Mule on Guide Lite Frame
 

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I’ve owned both those frames, and a EXO K2. For me, speaking western hunting it goes Kifaru,EXO and then MR. but everybody is built different and what fits me well may fit you poorly. For whitetail eastern hunting I’d suggest the MR. can be had for far less and you will be happy with it.


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Kifaru is top notch, I have a 2015 Hunting frame, currently with a Fulcrum bag and have been eyeing the Stryker.

MR, Exo, Stone Glacier make great gear too so I'd try as many of them as you can, can't go wrong with either of them.

Kifaru is all US Made too if that matters to you.

I'm still a tree hunting noob but I started climbing up with everything in my bag and it doesn't get in the way at all.
 
I have the tactical Kifaru 24" frame with 22 mag an Sherman pocket. I can wear it with stick hanging off my saddle an climb the tree. It's not ideal but it can be done.
 
I have a kifaru frame that I've put 85 lbs on and it did great. Your legs will die before it will. That being said, I'm switching to the mystery ranch 38 as my do all since it can collapse the frame. It doesn't feel like it can haul the weight as much, but I don't hunt out west very often, so it's not as big of a deal.

So if you want a kifaru 26", I know a guy :)

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I might be interested in your 26
BCHunter said:
I have a kifaru frame that I've put 85 lbs on and it did great. Your legs will die before it will. That being said, I'm switching to the mystery ranch 38 as my do all since it can collapse the frame. It doesn't feel like it can haul the weight as much, but I don't hunt out west very often, so it's not as big of a deal.

So if you want a kifaru 26", I know a guy :)

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Click to expand...
I might be interested in your 26" frame.
 
I have a stone glacier xcurve frame and 5900 pack and straps to compress any pack on it. It comfortably carries way more weight than I ever could as an eastern whitetail hunter. It is 26” high.

The only, and I mean only, ding is that the 26”, top of the frame, can get caught up in PA/NJ briar filled swamps and mountain laurel patches. But it would do wonderfully in the back country.

I have a MR pop up 38 on the way. I am going to put it, and myself, through some paces. I hope it carries half as comfortable as the SG xcurve frame. And let’s me more easily pass through thorn filled thickets and mountain laurel.

Bags don’t excite me. Comfortable frames where i can customize what I want to carry are where it is at for me.

I think any high end, properly fitted, pack frame will work. But keep in mind how tall you want the pack wrt carrying weight and environment you will be using it in and utility of load lifters.

After that, it is a matter of choosing what bags/packs you want to attach to the frame.
 
Thanks for all the comments & recommendations. If I end up with the Stryker it will be on a 24" frame, I'm only 5'-9" tall.

I've also eyed the MR Popup 38 - can't wait to see some user reviews on it
 
I like the idea of the MR Pop up 38, I just think it would be way more than what I would need 90% of my hunts here in hot SC. I'm probably only gonna make it out of state once or twice a year. As you can see in the attached picture, I really have a compact setup, but yes no way to pack meat out and pack in/out layers for colder weather. I'm currently running the Tenzing TX15, which has the side access to main compartment which I love; the MR 38 has this same feature. I just don't like to pack my cold weather layers inside my pack due to having to fight them in and out making noise at my hunting location. So the way I'm thinking about things with a different pack that has a shelf (MR Mule, Kifaru Stryker) is I can pack my cold weather layers in the shelf along with my sticks, platform on outside of pack like shown in attached picture, and whatever else I need inside the pack.

With the setup I have, I show up to the tree, take my pack off, remove sticks, put pack back on, hook doyles gear hoist to bow, place first stick on tree, other (3) sticks hang from saddle, get to last stick, hang pack on hook, remove platform and hang on tree. Put my tether on and climb on platform, pull bow up.

If I go to a pack like MR Mule or Kifaru Stryker, I will probably pack in like said above, but when arriving to tree - remove pack, remove platform from pack, but my bow where the platform was, use my tether as a sling for platform to go on my back and climb tree as mentioned above, hang platform, and pull my pack/bow up at same time.

The shelf feature will allow for few things - (1) carry better, especially if I need to walk a good distance (2) allow room for cold weather layers (3) pack out a deer (probably would only do if hunting hill country with no access - once or twice a year)

Other than that, I like my current setup - change my mind (cause we all know we can think of 100 excuses why we need something different) :)
 

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ckschubach said:
I like the idea of the MR Pop up 38, I just think it would be way more than what I would need 90% of my hunts here in hot SC. I'm probably only gonna make it out of state once or twice a year. As you can see in the attached picture, I really have a compact setup, but yes no way to pack meat out and pack in/out layers for colder weather. I'm currently running the Tenzing TX15, which has the side access to main compartment which I love; the MR 38 has this same feature. I just don't like to pack my cold weather layers inside my pack due to having to fight them in and out making noise at my hunting location. So the way I'm thinking about things with a different pack that has a shelf (MR Mule, Kifaru Stryker) is I can pack my cold weather layers in the shelf along with my sticks, platform on outside of pack like shown in attached picture, and whatever else I need inside the pack.

With the setup I have, I show up to the tree, take my pack off, remove sticks, put pack back on, hook doyles gear hoist to bow, place first stick on tree, other (3) sticks hang from saddle, get to last stick, hang pack on hook, remove platform and hang on tree. Put my tether on and climb on platform, pull bow up.

If I go to a pack like MR Mule or Kifaru Stryker, I will probably pack in like said above, but when arriving to tree - remove pack, remove platform from pack, but my bow where the platform was, use my tether as a sling for platform to go on my back and climb tree as mentioned above, hang platform, and pull my pack/bow up at same time.

The shelf feature will allow for few things - (1) carry better, especially if I need to walk a good distance (2) allow room for cold weather layers (3) pack out a deer (probably would only do if hunting hill country with no access - once or twice a year)

Other than that, I like my current setup - change my mind (cause we all know we can think of 100 excuses why we need something different) :)
Click to expand...

I am sorry if you already know this, but the new MR 38 pop-up frame is compatible with the new Mule bag, so there is more versatility there. You can take the 38 bag off the frame and replace it with a mule bag on the same Pop-up frame.

I just got the MR 38 the other day. Really neat pack, not as loud as some say. It seems like an awesome pack, an internal pocket or two would be ideal for whitetail hunting but it has a few external pockets that hold needed items.

We just welcomed our second child, so I don't have a lot of time to test and review it right now, sorry.

I am sure that Kifaru,SG, etc are really nice packs but its just not something I want to pay for right now.
 
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