Best UL Expedition Size Backpack 90-110L?

They are good, and light. The price depend on configuration. Mine came in at about 800 USD a few years back. I die not choose the tubebag solution, but after hitting a few large rocks while rafting a bit (due to the backpack blocking sight) I think I would choose to go for the tubebag solution. I did not think it would survive the collisions I had this summer, but It did and only had cosmetic scratches. Also comfy – even after using it 9 hours strait only stopping for lunch. Impressive piece of gear.

https://www.packrafting-store.de/anfibio-rebel-2k_1

Bad Larry updates.

I recall being worried when my Arc Haul was in the back of someone’s pickup truck during heavy rain and I found everything inside stayed completely dry. I looked up Zpacks and indeed they do seam seal their packs. So that undoubtedly helps.

So I will be purchasing the $75 seam seal add on shortly.

Generally, the thing I most want to stay dry – a goose down sleeping bag – is already protected by a waterproof cordura compression sack. But even if everything in your bag is protected with waterproof stuff sacks – or you use a liner bag – if water makes it through your bag it will take on more weight.

The Ultra 200 fabric on my Arc Haul and the ultra 400 used on the Wolverine are highly waterproof. So seam sealing should be enough to not need to worry about using a pack cover or a liner bag – unless you do white water rafting and expect total submersion at some point. But then you can stuff your bag into the raft itself on some models.

Hopefully I’ll get the Wolverine in time for some snowy expeditions this winter.

If I were choosing an expedition pack, especially where I’d been carrying a hot tent, I’d choose Seek without any doubt but would look hard at their breakaway configuration.

As you may already know, their backpacks come in either the integrated or breakaway platform. On the latter, the main bag separates from the frame allowing you to put another bag between the main bag and the frame. That is particularly useful if you have bloody meat or dirty vent pipes that you do not want to stain or soil the mail bag.

Moreover, for those who do have a hot tent, the breakway feature is also helpful because you can load a lot of wood into a bag and also keep if from damaging the backpack’s main bag.

I have the Seek 6300 in both configurations (Unaweep and Goshawk). If I could only keep one and I didn’t hot tent not hunt, it would be the Unaweep. If did either of the other two activities, it would be the breakaway configuration for sure.

Thanks for pointing out the benefits of the breakaway feature of the Seek Outside packs BPLwiia. I’m definitely several notches of experience away from hunting for game and needing to carry back large quantities of meat. 5 or 10 years from now maybe I’ll be into that. Bow hunting appeals to me. The stealth of it. And the old school part of it that doesn’t rely on modern technology. I’d probably start with fishing as a means to obtain protein. You’re not a true outdoorsman until you start obtaining significant quantities of food from your natural environment.

For now, hot tenting is a specialty focus that I do enjoy in a certain time of year. Only done 2 trips so far with my Naturehike Massif 2P. But I loved it. I use a thin titanium pipe that rolls up in a single compact small piece. Then I can put it away along with the fold down stove in it’s own carry bag. I got my AMG 105 so I’d have room to carry it plus other gear.

I like the idea of a drone backpack. That way you can stash most of your pack weight for a little while so you can do a water run or reach a summit more easily. I just got one of the 4Monster UL nylon ones on amazon. 32L size is just 4.4oz. Obviously can’t put anything remotely sharp in it. But it is an impressive volume to weight ratio that takes up very little space in my pack when empty.

For carrying wood though, it can be handy to have a bag so you don’t have to manage a bunch of small pieces. It also saves your clothing from being poked. I’ve gotten by ok just bringing a disposable shopping bag that weighs almost nothing. But if I have a thick log to process, I’ll just carry that by hand as it brings a lot of firepower in one single piece to carry. I usually prioritize camping in proximity to lots of nearby wood.

One benefit of bringing a saw is that you don’t have to scrounge for wood far and wide as much. A few dead standing trees and or dry deadfall that isn’t too punky and you’ve got hours of fuel for a fire that doesn’t need to be babysat as much. Also burns hotter with coals that last longer for grilling.

I’m an expert on Expedition type packs as I’ve hauled real world weight in many.  North Face BackMagic external frame, Dana Terraplane LTW, Mystery Ranch G6000 and G7000, Kelty Ultra Tioga, a Seek Outside Brooks 7400, and currently my favorite beast of burden is a large McHale at around 120 liters.

The Mystery Ranch models have been discontinued of course and their one big flaw is their use of hard hipbelt stiffeners as wings on the outside of each hip.  These eventually bypass the padding and dig into hip flesh with anything above 80 lbs.

The Brooks 7400 while huge has an external frame which ends up very close to my hip meat and under load when I twist on the trail I feel the frame rubbing against my hips.  See pics.  Plus, their use of new fangled clip/buckles to hold gear on the pack are subpar as they tend to open under stress.

This pic above shows how close the curved frame comes to the padding of the hipbelt—with about 80 lbs the frame can hit the body esp when performing any twisting motion.  Not Good.

Their use of these clips to attach tents or whatever tend to unlock when sliding the pack under blowdowns etc.  These pics are from 2017 so maybe they changed to better Fastex buckles.  But of all my big packs the Brooks is truly designed as an UL pack and yes it is light.

I finally got tired of the miles of discomfort with all these packs and finally bit the bullet and got an outstanding Dan McHale load hauler as pictured.  The hipbelt on this thing can haul over a 100 lbs with snug comfort believe or not.  It is in no way considered an UL pack when empty—but if you want to stay out for 27 days without resupply in winter, this is the pack.

Btw, here’s the Brooks in action with about 90 lbs for a 21 day trip.  Gotta include a real UL pack—

I just placed an order to add the seam taping to the Wolverine I ordered last month. Annoyingly, SWD charges a $20 delivery fee in addition to the $75 for the seam taping service itself. If it was on a pack I was sending to them to send it back to me – that would make sense. But this will be applied to the pack they are going to build this winter which already includes cost of delivery.

I wonder if I had ordered the seam taping at the same time as my original order for the pack – would they have not included this charge.

Anyway, I’m still excited about getting this pack by mid winter. I’d prefer not having to bother worrying about needing to use a pack cover or internal pack liner. I pack things like a sleeping bag in a waterproof compression sack anyway. So no need to add an extra layer of complexity like a pack liner. But I also don’t want the pack to take on extra water weight. My Arc Haul came seam taped and it has kept everything dry. So I should be good to go now.

Hey Tipi,

Thanks for sharing your extensive experience with using super heavy expedition size pack loadouts. Glad to know there are others on here who aren’t shy about straying from the UL realm.

I’m impressed. You seem to be lean and sinewy with good posture even with one of these beasts on your back. 27 days without a resupply in winter is amazing.

For these long excursions away from civilization I’m guessing it helps that in winter you don’t sweat as much so the need to bathe is not such a big deal. I wonder what you do to bathe in winter. Perhaps create a sauna with lots of fire heated water steaming on fire heated rocks under a low pitched tarp? Or perhaps you just make judicious use of some wet wipes?

Going in excess of 3 weeks without a resupply, and assuming you aren’t hunting or foraging for food, your pack weight must be over half food. Do you utilize a lot of dehydrated meals to save space and weight?

I’d be more inclined to do the sort of thing you’re doing – than do a thru hike with UL gear and constantly resupplying. Being away from civilization in nature for a weeks is appealing to me.

Personally, I don’t have SWD seam tape for me. I can’t find the reason for it…

I skipped it as well.  I just used my Wolverine in the rain and no rain got in at all.

Volker64—On long winter trips I do get funky but a quick wipe down with a wet paper towel in the tent helps.  I take 10 sheets of bounty paper towels and roll them up in a rubber band.  Four rolls last about 15 days(I use a single paper towel instead of toilet paper—more efficient—moistened first of course). See pic.  If really foulish I’ll take my MRS cook pot and go to a creek and use it as a shower head to wash my hair, scalp and face.  Works wonders altho it’s dang cold.

I used to spend alot of time home dehydrating but it’s ultimately irksome.  Now I mainly eat cream of wheat and oatmeal with PB and cashew butter and olive oil etc. Complete protein.  Still take a stove and fuel of course.  On that 27 day trip just my food/fuel load was about 65 lbs.  If you’re interested in my “kitchen” and food loads, check out my food pics on smugmug—they may give you some ideas.

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/keyword/kitchen/i-VVpStZk

One more point about winter bathing.  Old timers recommend not bathing in winter as you stay warmer, which I have found to be true.  The body produces a certain amount of grease which helps to retain heat.  My wife often wonders why I have a habit of going a couple weeks without taking a shower—it comes from that old habit 46 years in the making—I’ll stay warmer by Odin!  So once I hit the woods I’m all geared up for two or three weeks without bathing.  I have an old backpacking buddy that has to shower every 4 days and this actually keeps him out of the woods, at least for long trips.

I’ve been really impressed with the ExoGear K4 for hauling heavy loads. Kinda feels like it gets overlooked by the ultralight crowd just because it comes from the hunting side of things. But I think hunting gear has been drifting toward ultralight thinking for a while now, and the overlap is interesting — the durability required for off trail use and load‑hauling focus from hunting packs mixed with the weight‑savings mindset and simplicity from ultralight backpacking.

The K4 sits right in that middle ground. It’s built to move real weight but doesn’t feel like you’re dragging a tank around.

They’re also working on a lighter version, the K4x, that has me very interested.  It’s supposed to trim weight by switching to ultralight fabrics and simplify the design while keeping the same load‑carrying ability. If it actually delivers on that, it could end up being one of those packs that appeals to both hunters and backpackers who want something tough without going full brick mode.