Thread: Discussion about daypacks

Originally Posted by MB

Some great replies on this thread. I have another "backpack hunt coming up", so have been going through the suggestions. In the end, I decided to buy a pack. It's hard to find a small bag (e.g. 20L) where the weight can be carried on the hips, so moved up the sizes until I got something I could work on. Had a whole bunch of bags laid out in front of me in Hunting & Fishing, loaded them up with sleeping bags and dive weights and tried them all on. Sales staff must have thought I was mad, but they left me to it and didn't call the cops which was good! I do think this process was really useful.

Walked in to the shop thinking I wanted a Tatonka based on reputation, but believe it or not, the Hunters Element Boundary Pack 35L was the one the fitted me like a glove. Had all the weight on my hips where I wanted it. It also, had some neat extras like a waterproof cover, bladder hard wear and rifle holder. The rifle holder interested me, but it very obviously wasn't going to be useful in a hunting situation, so I'm in the process of making modifications. Also, so much crap on these new hunting bags. Straps and D rings everywhere. Scissors and pliers have corrected most of those!

Hunters Elements seem to be making some half decent gear at the moment, it's confusing!

I've used the rifle holder a few times, it's O.K. for when you need your two hands but it does unbalance the pack, I've found that by putting the side compression strap across the rifle as well stops the rifle from flopping about, I probably won't use it all the time but it's there when I need it. I removed a fair few surplus straps etc as well.