Alright, just spent the past 72 hours rucking it around and living out of it, and I have a few comments.
1. Very comfortable on long(50km+) walks. Your back will get sweaty but that is the price you pay for a pack that sits very snug against your hips and center of gravity(these are good things).
2. Not waterproof. Don't treat it like it is, keep it out of water and mud.
3. Wear good socks and comfortable/sturdy boots!!! A 50lb loaded didn't cause me problems, my ****e boots did however.
4. Buy some pockets for it. It's a great bag but the base model is severly lacking in convenient accessibility. I would be driven insane if I had to rummage throughthis bag more than once or twice a day. Thankfully I dropped a little more cash on some external pouches: 1 water bottle holder, 1 FR-1 med kit pouch, two 4x6 vertical GP pouches, and a Triad Admin pouch. WELL WORTH IT.
At the start of each day I loaded all the pockets up from the main bag, and rarely had to go diggig for something I needed. Water bottle pouch = for water. FR1 pouch = med kit. Left GP pouch = rations, right GP pouch = more rations(or ammo, I used food bc I was not carrying). Triad Admin pouch = cell phone, multitool, lighter/tinder, map, compass.
I also strapped my tent externally on the bottom which was fantastic, although could have been strapped tighter. Saved plenty of room in the pack, which I elected to use for more food/water/ministove/550.
Good gear, but it's at half mast without a few pouches for easy access. Ps I had all pouches attached at once. GP pouches were on bottom two Molle points on side, water pouch was on top 3 attach points on left side, FR1 pouch was top 3 points on right side, and Admin pouch was on belt. I did not use molle points on rear of bag as this makes it feel heavier to carry.
cheers
1. Very comfortable on long(50km+) walks. Your back will get sweaty but that is the price you pay for a pack that sits very snug against your hips and center of gravity(these are good things).
2. Not waterproof. Don't treat it like it is, keep it out of water and mud.
3. Wear good socks and comfortable/sturdy boots!!! A 50lb loaded didn't cause me problems, my ****e boots did however.
4. Buy some pockets for it. It's a great bag but the base model is severly lacking in convenient accessibility. I would be driven insane if I had to rummage throughthis bag more than once or twice a day. Thankfully I dropped a little more cash on some external pouches: 1 water bottle holder, 1 FR-1 med kit pouch, two 4x6 vertical GP pouches, and a Triad Admin pouch. WELL WORTH IT.
At the start of each day I loaded all the pockets up from the main bag, and rarely had to go diggig for something I needed. Water bottle pouch = for water. FR1 pouch = med kit. Left GP pouch = rations, right GP pouch = more rations(or ammo, I used food bc I was not carrying). Triad Admin pouch = cell phone, multitool, lighter/tinder, map, compass.
I also strapped my tent externally on the bottom which was fantastic, although could have been strapped tighter. Saved plenty of room in the pack, which I elected to use for more food/water/ministove/550.
Good gear, but it's at half mast without a few pouches for easy access. Ps I had all pouches attached at once. GP pouches were on bottom two Molle points on side, water pouch was on top 3 attach points on left side, FR1 pouch was top 3 points on right side, and Admin pouch was on belt. I did not use molle points on rear of bag as this makes it feel heavier to carry.
cheers