25-35 litre day packs with scabbard - Recommendations??

Hi all,

I've grown tired of taking my 75L Tatonka Bison on day hunts and I'm looking for something a little lighter and less bulky that can still handle a decent load of meat in the event I get lucky. I have an ancient 25L kathmandu day pack I've been using occasionally but it doesn't have a waist belt and is exceptionally uncomfortable with a load in, and it has literally no attachment points on the outside for carrying any extraneous gear.

What is people's experience with the various offerings around in that size range? I'd prefer something with either an integrated rifle scabbard or the ability to readily fit an accessory one.

Budget is up to $300

Cheers :)

I've got the both a Tatonka 90+10 and a Eberlestock X1 Euro with integrated scabbard. To be honest while I like the idea of the Eberlestock integrated scabbard it does come at a cost in terms of weight and there is not a hell of a lot of weight difference between the two. I use a detachable stoney creek scabbard attached to my tatonka which works well. Although my Tatonka is bigger than what I need (probably favour a 75l to be honest) for a day hunt, I still prefer that one as any load I pack in it is much more comfortable to carry on the way home.

What type of hunting are you doing? bush or open country?

Spika drover I have the 80L one and the 40L fits on the same frame and it has a scabbard

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Originally Posted by Kimber 7mm-08

I've got the both a Tatonka 90+10 and a Eberlestock X1 Euro with integrated scabbard. To be honest while I like the idea of the Eberlestock integrated scabbard it does come at a cost in terms of weight and there is not a hell of a lot of weight difference between the two. I use a detachable stoney creek scabbard attached to my tatonka which works well. Although my Tatonka is bigger than what I need (probably favour a 75l to be honest) for a day hunt, I still prefer that one as any load I pack in it is much more comfortable to carry on the way home.

What type of hunting are you doing? bush or open country?

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I'm doing a mixture of bush/open country. Taranaki bush is awfully dense too, especially reverted land with a young canopy. I think the weight isn't the end of the world, but the size of the pack is at times, especially when moving through tight stuff.

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Originally Posted by Happy Jack

Spika drover I have the 80L one and the 40L fits on the same frame and it has a scabbard

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Interesting I hadn't considered the Spikas, but they also have a 25L one which might fit the bill. The 40L one is out of my price range sadly.

I'd be looking for one with integrated scabbard, strapped on the side feels lopsided no matter how you pack your bags. On the back puts the weight to far from your center when you turn round.... Have a cactus scabbard on my macpac Cascade

Eberlestock

TwinNeedle MollyMe Day Pack? Second hand ones often come up for around/under $200?

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Originally Posted by Bryan

TwinNeedle MollyMe Day Pack? Second hand ones often come up for around/under $200?

Sent from my SM-J600G using Tapatalk

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Do you have one? If yes how do you rate it?

If they're, comfy, bomb proof and can fit a scabbard that might fit the bill.

I have the Spika 25l pack. The scabbard is a bit of a pain as you have to thread the rifle thru a section of the pack, and because it goes up the front it doesn’t sit well if the pack if full.
I bought a Stoney Creek 30+10 (Motu model I think) it has the scabbard up the side which works better and I have used more, but when carrying the rifle in my hands the Stoney Creek gets hooked up more in the supplejack, so I’ve gone back to using the Spika and carrying the HE Bluff pack for if I get some venison to carry out.

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Originally Posted by chainsaw

Eberlestock

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They're out of my price range sadly, unless I can find an old 2nd hand one.

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Originally Posted by chunkyboi

Do you have one? If yes how do you rate it?

If they're, comfy, bomb proof and can fit a scabbard that might fit the bill.

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I have used one for the last 5 years. They are bomb proof and relatively comfortable as long as you pack them right (applies to any frameless pack). Advantage of having kit in molle pouches means you can secure them to outside once you shoot an animal to create heaps of room for meat. Scabbard is okay, is located at the back as a flap that drops down.. I find myself using the scabbard flap more to secure back legs or aninal heads more than holding a rifle.
Can be a little uncomfortable to wear when full of meat, but that is the downside of a soft frame pack too.
I now use a Kuiu Pro pack system for my primary day bag & hunting pack, but still often grab the MollyMe for quick day or evening hunts.

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On Trade me now.... top of the range Makhor in your price range
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...9?bof=zi5mwdg9

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

On Trade me now.... top of the range Makhor in your price range
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...9?bof=zi5mwdg9

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I have had one of these packs too. Wickedly good pack, bullet proof, great harness and can carry heavy loads really well. Only reason i jumped to the MollyMe was that the Markhor didn't collapse down well to put into my main 90L pack.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

On Trade me now.... top of the range Makhor in your price range
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...9?bof=zi5mwdg9

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I have one of these and really rate it. Very comfortable carry. Nice soft material so doesn’t make noise in the bush. My only gripe is that I find my lower back very quickly gets drenched with sweat. I do sweat a lot though, so that’s probably just me haha.

Have a look here re mollyme https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....mollyme-45928/

I've been into my local sports shop here in Taranaki (Magnum Sports in Stratford) on Friday and tried on quite a few. They had the Tatonka 30 & 35L stealth packs, Stoney Creek 25L, a host of different Ridgeline bags, plus a 35L one from Bergara of all people.

I ended up with a Spika Drover 25L after all was said and done, but was very close to buying the Tatonka. After a quick 2 hour bush hunt with my boy in stinking hot 27 degree heat on Sunday afternoon I think I've made a good choice. It is a very well made and spec'd bag for what I need.

The pros:
-Light
-Frame type pack with good comfort.
-Excellent Ventilation thanks to an 'arch' type frame and mesh back pad (I didn't feel like I had a bag on from a heat perspective).
-Comes standard with a 2L hydration bladder.
-Still has stash pockets for a conventional water bottle or other items on the side of the bag body.
The cons:
-No pockets in the hip pads for often used items (ammo, knife etc) that you want to access in a hurry.
-The curvature of the frame makes packing bulky/long items a little awkward and does push the rifle out a bit further when using the scabbard. This is only a minor annoyance.

I can see myself using this as my standard day bag for all hunting and hiking going forward, it was just much more manageable size-wise than the 75L tatonka while still being as comfortable to wear (and cooler - did I mention how nice it was not to have my back totally saturated with sweat??)

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

On Trade me now.... top of the range Makhor in your price range
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...9?bof=zi5mwdg9

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Thanks for that.

I actually looked at that one on trademe but decided that it was probably too big for tight bush hunting and had too much overlap with the 75L Tatonka. Good value, agreed. If I didn't have the Tatonka (which I won from a FB competition the distributor was running) I would probably have ended up something like that Markhor, since most of my Ruahine hunts tend to be overnighters, not extended trips and I often have a fair bit of free space in the Tatonka.

I use the hunters element 35L pack, works good in the bush and plenty of room to do a light 2 night trip away