More On backpacks
Key Takeaways
Transcript
Hi, friends. We're in our Idaho office, and I'm laughing because my wife has been giving me a hard time about doing videos without cleaning up first. But I just want you to see the way things are. If you look up here, these aren't my wife's backpacks—these are my backpacks. This is my little backpack and clothing and sleeping bag room, where I keep just a few outdoor items.
To start with, I want to show you who makes these packs: Kifaru, Kifaru, Kifaru, Kifaru, Kifaru, REI, an old Kifaru (before they started using camouflage colors, so I painted camo on it), an Osprey pack, another Kifaru, and a Frontier Gear of Alaska pack, which you can get at Barney's Outdoor Chalet in Anchorage. Now that I've shown you this, we're going to shut off, and I'm going to take two of the biggest packs upstairs and fill them with backpacking items so you can see what they actually look like when they're full and being used.
I brought up two of the backpacks from my backpack room to go over what makes different kinds of packs work for different kinds of situations.
The first one is an old Kifaru super lightweight pack made out of parachute material. I think they discontinued this material, but I'm sure they still make a lightweight pack. They're extremely useful. This pack, when empty, weighs half—or less than half—what a typical pack of the same size from REI would weigh. Something I love about Kifaru is that their attachments are modular, so you can put them on any of their packs. You just buy the attachments you need.
This pack is 2,200 cubic inches, but by adding attachments, it’s closer to 3,500 cubic inches. I also add elastic cordage to the pack for extra versatility. For example, I can put a raincoat or another jacket on top or add more clothing or gear as needed. On the bottom, I can attach a sleeping bag or bedroll. These packs are super useful, especially for smaller sizes like this one, because you can just add on what you need. I’ve even carried sheep with the next size up of this pack (3,500 cubic inches). You'll see a picture of it holding a skinned-out sheep, rifle, and other gear all strapped to the outside to make room for the sheep inside.
This lightweight material isn’t the most durable; if you abuse it, you’ll wear a hole through it. I think that’s why Kifaru switched materials. Since I use my packs for specific purposes, mine don’t have holes.
The second pack is a Barney's Outdoor Chalet pack, and it’s quite heavy and sturdy. It has lots of zipper pockets—up here, here, here, and here. Always remember that with big packs, adding pockets, zippers, and seams makes the pack heavier. That’s fine if weight isn’t your main concern. I bought this pack for moose hunting in Alaska. It’s so big that you can carry a moose quarter in it. If you want, you can flip it around, pull the pins that hold the bag in place, and use the frame to lash moose quarters onto it. A typical moose quarter can weigh 160 pounds, and that’s a lot to carry, especially over muskeg where you’re sinking with every step. It’s treacherous and hard on your ankles—you could easily break an ankle if you’re not careful.
This pack is excellent for that kind of heavy-duty work. I don’t know the exact cubic inches, but I’d guess it’s over 8,000. It’s better to have a pack that’s too big than one that’s too small and has no extra space. This is a true expedition pack. Kifaru used to make a 5,200-cubic-inch pack, and with attachments and stretchable cords, you could carry up to 10,000 cubic inches in extreme comfort. Their lightweight packs are always a couple of pounds lighter than competitors’ mass-produced packs and are custom-fitted to your measurements, making them incredibly comfortable.
That’s today’s video on bigger packs and packs for extended outdoor use. Someday, I’ll make a video showing all the gear I’d carry on a sheep hunt. It would be similar to what I’ve shown in my day pack series, but with additional items like meat bags and minimalist tools for packing out sheep.
Find a pack that fits you. Enjoy using it. Be outdoors, have good gear, know how to take care of your gear and yourself, and you’ll have great times in the outdoors.
Oh, and tents—if you want to see Kifaru tipi tents, that’s how I originally met Kifaru. Before Kifaru existed, its founder, Patrick Smith, owned Mountain Smith. He sold that company and started Kifaru. Mountain Smith had tipi tents, and that’s how I met Patrick. He’s a design genius when it comes to outdoor gear. He wanted to see horse-packing gear, so I took him on a wilderness pack trip, and that’s how I got to know him over 20 years ago. I don’t promote his gear because he’s a friend—I promote it because it works. Patrick recently sold Kifaru, but they still make great tents. I’ve owned three tipi tents over the years. They’re lightweight, easy to set up, and they work.
God bless, have a nice day, and bye.
