So last week I decided to order another backpack. I had already received the Kuiu Divide 3000, the Kuiu Venture 2300 was hung up at the post office, and i tried the Platow a couple weeks ago.
Spending way too much time watching videos and wading through threads on here, I seen someone mention that Camofire had the Mystery Ranch Popup 30 on sale for a great price. Went and checked if out, but they only had a size small available. Dug around some more, and ended up with a Sawtooth 45. I decided to also pickup Mystery Ranch Forage side pouches for the waist belt, and the hunting daypack lid to match.
So far i like it. This is my first frame pack. After some initial adjustments to the frame height and all that, I found a comfortable setting and loaded it up. I finally see what the deal is with frame packs. Not sure how the science behind it works, but it actually feels lighter with the same stuff packed in it than any of my non-frame packs. Witchcraft i tell ya!
The detachable lid has two big pockets, and it's own set of backpack straps. During season, I plan to keep my kill kit in one pocket, and my lunch in the other. On scouting days, I will likely only carry this smaller pack in, and put my snippers, hand saw, bright eyes, orange tape, etc in one pouch and lunch in the other. Pretty nifty piece of kit.
So it comfortably holds all my gear, my warmest outer layer, a packable down puffy vest, rain gear, my orange vest, and my EDP and sticks. I'm still experimenting with the placement of the sticks and platform. Currently the sticks are in the shelf area sandwiched between the pack and frame. I had them strapped to the sides of the pack, but this blocks the water bottle pockets. If I go this route there's some extra molle on the waist belt I'll have to get a nalgene holster for. Open to suggestions on better ways to strap these things to the pack.
My only reservations so far are how it's going to be lugging it up into the tree, and the color. It's a big pack, and may be cumbersome up the tree. As for the color, not crazy about toting a deer colored backpack through the public woods lol. I'll probably pick up the big orange rain cover just for that reason.
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