School me on frame haulers?

[Ratatosk]

I am familiar with frame haulers for meat, and long range hunting trips, but I didn’t know there were backpacking-oriented frame haulers that actually worked. (I messed with a Six Moon Designs product a while back, and it was really wacky; the straps were great but there was zero stabilization with a loaded bag, so 30lbs swung left-to-right every step you took. I think that turned me off of pursuing the issue.)

Currently, I use a Granite Gear Leopard for trail and a 60L drypack for canoeing. I’ve had the Leopard forever and I really like it, but i can’t fit winter-time clothing and gear into it. What I’d love to do is get a single pack setup for both backpacking and canoeing, so a frame hauler with a drybag seems like a good point to start looking into that. A 60L setup would be ideal, and let me pack bulkier winter gear on trail, too. If anyone has experience or a recommendation – or even better, suggestions on what to avoid – I’d love to hear it. I know this is a weight-conscious site, but I will always sacrifice a few ounces if it means I get more life out of gear, so I’m not stuck on DCF construction or anything.

Thanks for your input! – Ratatosk

[Brad R]

I just bought a packraft and don’t own a pack designed specifically for that yet, but I’ve been researching them and the ULA Epic gets great reviews.  I know others with ULA packs, including my daughter, and they absolutely love them.  Until I purchase the Epic, I’ll be using my Exo Mountain Gear 4800.

[BPLwiia]

I’d suggest you look at Seek Outside as they make fantastic backpacks in two formats…integrated and breakaway.  The later is designed so the backpack bag can separate from the frame and you can put a another bag between the pack and the frame.  The former is your classic backpack setup where the bag is attached to the frame.

I have both setups and the breakway configuration comes at a 3-4oz weight penalty.  If you chose the classic (integrated) packs you could get either the Unaweep 4,800, which has a 78L main bag and weighs 3lb 6oz w/o the cross stay, or the Divide, which also has a 78L main bag and weighs 2lbs 15oz w/o cross stay.

Both of these can haul as much weight as your legs can carry.

Another nice feature is you can swap out bags of different size and function without changing the frame or suspension. For example, you could get the Unaweep 4,800 and separately buy the 3,500 (57L) bag.  I bought the Unaweep 6,300 which has a 103L main bag (~130L altogether) and also have the 3,500 main bag and swap them out based on the adventure I’m going on. If I were doing it over and wanted to one backpack period, I’d buy the Unaweep 6,300 and call it a day. It rolls down into nothing and, in the lighter X-21 material, would weigh roughly 3lbs 5oz.  It’s a mega hauler, comfortable, and tons of room. The first picture below is the 103L and the one below that is Gila which is a 57L bag.

https://seekoutside.com/unaweep-4800-backpack-olive-green/

https://seekoutside.com/unaweep-4800-backpack-gray/

https://seekoutside.com/divide-ultralight-backpack-olive-green/

 

 

[Ratatosk]

Thank you both, I’ll check those out. I’m interested a little more in learning how loads are actually managed in a frame hauler; i.e., how are companies creating strap systems that pull the load closer to your body, rather than capturing a load between flaps? How could I adjust the height of a bag on my back by moving it higher or lower? That sort of detail is what I’m curious about.

BPLwilia – 107L is way more than I think I would need! I do a lot of trad bow hunting but park-and-walk hunts, nothing deep into country where I’d need to carry that much. -R

[California Packrafting]

I don’t think the ULA epic carries very well, but like the seek outside packs

[Philip Tschersich]

Definitely look at the SeekOutside packs. They are excellent. If you really want to use a drybag as the main compartment for some trips (as opposed to using a waterproof pack liner inside a stock main bag), then you should look at the SO ‘breakaway’ system. That way you can swap the pack bag out for a drybag. It’s a similar idea to the U-L-A Epic, but it carries bigger loads much better (I have an Epic and a lot of SO packs). Like the Epic, it has a minimal back panel and a compression system that holds a separate bag in place, either a drybag or one of the many SO styles. Or you could run a pack liner and do the SO ‘integrated’ style of bag. That’s where the suspension frame attaches directly to the pack bag. Lastly, they have a cool custom pack shop where you specify breakaway vs integrated, pack volume, materials, and pocket layout. Note that the SO frame us a u-shape, and the top of the vertical stays can be made taller by way of 2″ and or 4″ extensions. This means you can get the load lifter performance you want or simply cause the frame/bag to ride higher or lower. Also, because the hip belt floats and has 2 different attachment grommets, here you can likewise cause the pack to ride higher or lower.

I carry my packraft on the outside of my pack, down on the bottom. It lowers the center of gravity making my mostly off-trail hiking easier and the lower overhead height makes getting through serious brush a little less painful. SO has really good customizable carry options via the modular ‘gatekeeper’ straps and tons of gear loops along the seams to attach them to. This video is a little old and meandering, but it shows what gatekeepers are.

Here is my SO Flight setup, a 3700 cu in (61 L) pack. The black bag on the bottom of the pack is my raft. Note this is not an external frame style pack.

In these videos I am using a SO Gila, a 3500 cu in (57 L) integrated pack, and my raft is in the orange bag on the bottom:

I’ve frankly had pretty good luck just doing a careful job seam sealing my packs for packrafting and keeping my stuff inside in light DCF dry bags.

[Ratatosk]

^ Thank you, that is extremely helpful. I’ve got a discontinued Hill People Gear duffel that I’m inordinately attached to, and carrying odd loads is a plus (strapping in a PFD, fishing gear, a paddle, etc) so the separate bag/hauler seems like the better option. -R

[Philip Tschersich]

Sounds like a plan. The breakaway system is quite versatile with only a small weight penalty vs the integrated. You can probably just start with the Revolution pack frame, a Talon (the compression system), and maybe a top lid. Do consider how you want to carry your paddle though.

[Philip Tschersich]

One more thing on the gatekeeper straps: they don’t just make attaching things to the backpack handy, they make attaching the backpack to your packraft handy too. In this post I outlined how I attach my pack to the bow of my Alpaca. This is an extremely quick, easy, and secure way to attach your pack to the bow for a quick jaunt across a bay or lake.

That said, if I anticipate paddling for more than an hour, or in rough conditions, I’ll use the cargo zipper and put all my junk inside the tubes, along with the pack inside the stern. Sooooo nice.

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