Thread: night and day - tatonka vz osprey

Ah ok, you can upgrade the belt and straps of the aether to the zenith which should make it more comfortable. The Tatonka do have a good name for carrying heavy weights, but they are pretty heavy to start with. Not really an issue for the bigger guys but us lightweights try to cut what weight we can.

cool to know but its about 14yr old now i think and abit skimpy on space for 4day+ trips so something bigger was needed aswell as something more comfortable

so far in this thread Ive seen some guys load weight to bottom and some to top....now I was taught to put weight as close to your back as you can,so a bit of both. I tried early internal frame pack (which I still own,must be one of the first macpac made) and found it pulled me off balance backwards,its a big sucker 90litres and then some. went back to external frame packs...tried another internal frame for a few years then bought the K2Hunter in 85 liter and are as happy as a pup with two peckers. had some seriously heavy loads in the K2 ,yip there are lighter packs on the market,yip some are more comfy...but it is reliable and just works.
find something that fits YOU..and if possible get someone who knows how,to set up harness correctly,criticle with internal frame jobbies.

I was given an older model Macpac Cascade 75 which I put a new set of shoulder straps on and on the last trip I did I carried out 26kg and found it very comfortable compared to my Macpac ascent 65. Loading weight against my back is what I've always tried to do.

i normally do the American way and load 2/3rd of the weight onto the hips and 1/3rd onto the shoulder straps to much weight ive found for me onto the shoulder straps is the biggest killer

I have a Tatonka 75 and it's sort of love/hate. It's not too bad for comfort but I'm not convinced I couldn't do better. On the other hand I've had it quite a few years now and I'm still using it. One thing which is driving me a bit nuts is it starts squeaking and creaking just between my shoulder blades. Anyone else have this? Have any ideas how to fix it?

Interesting aye, Im the opposite and find my Osprey the ducks nuts. As is often the case, whatever suits the individual is what works

I had an Osprey Aether and sold it for a Tatonka. Would have liked to keep the Osprey but just couldn't get the hip belt tight enough so when loaded up would swing quite a bit and keep me off balance. Tatonka I can get nice and snug top to bottom and feels very secure and stable.

So IMO do some testing if you can. If it fits you well then you're on a winner. Most of us can lose a half kg or more with a bit of healthy living...

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I was weighing up between a tatonka and an eberlestock J1, in the end I went for the J1 because I prefer the internal rifle scabbard. biggest issue I found with the osprey stuff is that it felt like it was made with someone a bit smaller than me in mind