BV on top of an HMG Southwest Question

I’ve only ever carried mine inside my pack. I’d only suggest the smaller pack if your BV usage is very occasional. If you plan to use it for the majority of your trips, just get the bigger pack.

Well, you could say my gear is whittled down to minimum usable, but I have a Southwest 2400 and find it bloody huge. It easily swallows a bear ball inside with the rest of my gear fitting for a week, too.

Before you buy you might want to check out Nunatak’s Bears Ears pack. Just got one and it carries like a dream. The can and its associated food weight are carried on the hip belt, low and close, right in the small of your back. The water bottles are carried on the hip belt too, and the pack bag just sits on the bear can, so only a couple of lbs rest on your shoulders.  And it’s UL at 25 oz.

I carry a bear canister on all my trips now, even where not required for bears. I never have to worry about “mini-bears,” I often camp above tree line, it’s easier and more convenient than hanging, and it has double use as a campstool.

Bears Ears 25 oz + Bearikade Weekender 31 oz = 56 oz/3.5 lbs

And $297 (usually $325) + $309

David, I can’t tell if there’s a support under the canister on that Nunatak pack. My Luxurylite pack has the same design, with a little lip that supports the canister. I ditched the cloth canisters that come with the LL pack however and just strapped on a light, large Mariposa bag to the LL frame. That way I can carry the bear can inside the pack, but on the bottom resting on the ‘lip’. Very secure and comfy.

Some people are fine with carrying a canister up top. Not me! way, way too tippy and awkward and non-ergonomic for my body type; hard to get into your pack too.

How would you describe the stability of the bear canisters in this location? Do they move from side to side when scrambling?

I wish there were some video reviews of the Nunatak pack, I can’t find anything.

Lowell

The Nunatak Bears Ears 50 is frameless. It uses 3 straps to hold the canister: two go around the circumference and one goes around top to bottom (of the canister, side to side as carried with the pack) to hold it in place.

Totally agree about carrying the canister up high. All the general pack advice I have ever seen says try to pack the weight low and close to your back. And it does make it inconvenient to access packed gear.

Aside from optimizing where most of the weight is carried, one of the things I really like about the Bears Ears design is easy access to both food and packed gear. When I carry the canister inside a pack I have to pack things vertically in the “corners” of the bag since the the canister goes down the middle and takes up most of the space, and there are also items packed on top of the canister, all of which makes access to both food and items a bit of an inconvenient chore.

@drk: The stability is rock solid. The straps hold the canister tight and close to the small of your back. Zero side to side movement.

Hmmm…no video reviews? I might have to do my first one. I love this pack!

I saw the early info & prototype of the Nanatuk Bears Ears months ago as I was considering a new pack, & yes I found it interesting.  I require a bear can the majority of time, so my kit basically includes a bear can.  After much research I decided I wasn’t convinced the design, ergo & weight carry for that pack was less then ideal.  I went with the HMG 3400 & LOVE it.  Mostly use a BV450 but also have a BV500.  Have only carried inside my pack – it’s just plain squirrelly on top to me – even if I go empty.  If your kit is trim you can fit either can inside your pack & be locked & tight scrambling or hiking.

So for me, I figure out how to get it inside, & roll that way.

I spent some time looking at the Bears Ears. Nice looking pack and an interesting idea incorporating the bear can in the design. But, they also eliminated the side pouches. I have used side pouches for more than 50 years and am habituated to them worse than a bear with people food. Using internal pouches means taking away from the 35L volume. At 25oz it is not a bad pack but the HMG is just as good. Just drop in whatever size can you need, no futzing around with oversized canisters for a three night outing. Personally, I wouldn’t like that I couldn’t stand the pack up on it’s own, but, I usually cannot with the bear can, so this is nothing new.

Don’t know about earlier versions. No side pockets per se, one large pocket that goes all the way around. And seems to stand on its own OK. 

HMGsw3400: I pack my Bearikade Scout inside, near the top vertically and next to my back, which sets it right in-between my shoulder blades. It’s a tight fit, at the top, not sides with everything else inside, but it gets top heavy if strapped outside for me. I should note, I only take a bear can when necessary and most typically just use a bag. Also stored inside next to my back.

I just got an HMG Southwest 2400, but quickly returned it for the 3400, because I didn’t want to store the bear canister on top of the pack. I’d love to have a smaller pack, but with bear canisters, its tough. The bear ears pack looks neat, but I’m not sure how well the pack will feel with the canister that low.

Lowell – we exchanged PM’s regarding the MLD pack. The bear can was poking in the MLD packs – some have made it work. Doesn’t work for me.

I have a HMG 3400. Like SIMULACRA – I have to carry my Bearikade blazer canister higher up. Typically I like to carry it above the sleeping bag. But if you do that in the 3400, it does barrel a bit. So, had to put other stuff on top of sleeping bag and then the bear can. That works well. But, if you are going to be carrying a bear can all the time, then I would suggest a HMG 4400 which I got as I was not happy with the bear can carry in HMG 3400. The HMG 4400 is awesome – you will not feel the bear can at all. It has a nice foam pad in the back. I actually use the HMG 4400 hip belt less:-) as it is very comfortable with the bear can – feels like a baby hugging me from behind:-)

Or try the Nunatak or any backpack with a trampoline back – like Osprey Exos or Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor (I carried the Bearikade Blazer inside this pack on the JMT).

I think carrying it on the top will definitely make the bear can slip out. Even inside the house while trying it, it has fallen down. You will have to carry the empty bear can on top which lots of folks do. And then keep the food inside with some odor proof bags. And then the hassle of loading the food and unloading the food from the bear can every day.

Thanks everyone for the helpful posts.

I have landed on the HMG Porter 4400.

Lowell

David I’m sending you a pm with some questions about the Bears Ears pack

I’ll keep an eye out for it

Thanks everyone for the helpful posts.

I have landed on the HMG Porter 4400.

Interesting after all this you went for a completely different (and much bigger) pack. I’m curious about the rationale of your decision on that. Either way, glad you decided on something that would suit you.

@Michael B – Storing in BV on top of the pack sounds too problematic. so I ruled that out. The 2400 is too small for the BV inside, and the 3400 seems like it will barrel. The 4400 allows for the BV to be stored in the pack , and for shorter trips I can cinch the pack down.

The Porter 4400 compression straps look like they provide good cinching for smaller loads, and I like that I can avoid a stuff pocket if I want to because I like keeping all of my items inside my pack.

Lowell

It is interesting that others said the can causes the pack to barrel, since circumference of the BV500 is right about 27in, while the top of the 3400 packs are 40” circumference. I wouldn’t have suspected that type of result with those numbers. I carry a BV450 which carries notably different than the 500 so I’ll have to keep this in mind if I ever want to upsize my bear can. The porter definitely makes sense if you don’t want any exterior pockets. Let us all know how you end up liking it!

What I at least had said was that the bear can barrels if the bear can (my bearikade is 9 inches while BV is 8.7 inches) is placed above the sleeping bag (which is at the bottom) of 3400. So, I have to move the bear can higher up to take advantage of the increasing circumference of the 3400 as you go up. But, I still didn’t like it that much. But with 4400 – you will not feel it at all if the bear can is kept on top of sleeping bag. I really do not need the 4400 for any other reason than the bear can. But it compresses great and the weight penalty between a 3400 and 4400 is noise as I have a black 3400.