Fantastic Pack
A lot of the reviews for survival/camping gear are from people who use the gear very seldom if ever. To a more specific point I myself am very specific about what I like in a pack. I have thousands of miles under my belt from cub scouts through eagle and up through today. I have been through many packs (20+) and much prefer Kelty external frames. I am very hesitant and critical of internal frame packs and up until this pack have hated every single one. Which brings us the pleasant surprise that is this pack.
I just brought this pack through a 3 night trip in the woods on unmanaged trails in dense southern Illinois forest where I bushwacked my camp setup in the woods. I was not easy on it during this time.
I did not cater to the pack when moving through bush, brushing up against trees and brambles. Its material durability is comparable to the MOLLE II so absolutely bombproof. I had no issues with tears, rips or stitches pulling.
It maintains low weight and great maneuverability through dense vegetation. If your shoulders can pass through so can this pack (not so for many external frames).
It packs extremely well. The main reason I wanted this pack was for its simple bucket style. Very easy to pack a TON of gear if you know what you're doing. 30-35 liters is considered pretty small for overnighters. For me that is a huge amount of space. If you can't survive comfortably with what you can fit in this pack, you're just plain not gonna hack it with any pack whatsoever. I added three Helikon E&E pouches to carry comfort items, but they were not necessary. I could have fit four and plan to do so in the future. So those with size concerns here is what I fit for a luxurious 3 day after adding those three pouches.
At 40lb packed weight with some room to spare:
A 5lb 100% wool blanket, sleeping pad, USGI issue poncho liner and poncho, 9x9 tarp, pathfinder hammock and pathfinder tarp (great product aswell) 2 extra pants, shirts, socks and underwear, hoodie, leather gloves, 4 bandanas, toothbrush and paste, toilet paper, deodorant, safety razor, habilis bush tool, crkt woods chogan tomahawk, sharpening puck, leatherman sidekick, compass with signaling mirror, magnifiying glass, 3/8 ferro rod, bic lighter, collapsable straw, 100 feet of bankline, 30 feet of paracord, emergency blanket, flashlight and headlamp, Nalgene, Pathfinder canteen set, 4 days of food for 2 people, first aid kit.
I am not a large guy (5'9 160) and this pack carried that 40lbs all day without issue. No pain, no blistering, no issues. I'd say the 40lb range is close to the max for my size and this pack. Again, if you can't comfortably survive with 40lbs of gear you are doing something wrong.
So, all in all, for durability, maneuverability, packability, comfort and overall performance 10/10.
In full admittance I have yet to put this pack through years of abuse and neglect so I will have to update durability once I have but I have zero concerns it will cease to be great.
