Any of you fellows hunt with the Eberlestock Just One pack? I bought one last year for my annual Co. solo elk bow hunt (had used a Schuh pack for years)and really liked it. Used it backpacking and packed out an elk with it. Carried the weight very well. Man, I am all over this website tonight...working an "off-duty" job stuck in a undercover police car for 8 hours what do u expect?
I have an older J105. I'll miss Colorado this year due to illness of a family member, but I am gearing to go 2009.
I've used the J105 a bunch. Right now it is loaded up with sand bags and water for training. Tonight I ran a mile with my daughter while weighted down with the pack. I try to get out with it a few times each week.
Daddy Bear
Great...too bad u cont make Co this year...I will leave some bulls for u...HaHa...I just bought the rain cover for my J105, and while on their website noticed they had made a modification to the new ones...they have sewed some loops on the pack so that the main straps go through them, then u can cinch the whole pack down against the main "frame" of the pack. I just sewed some loops on mine. Its hard to explain but if u go to their website it will make sense.
Redneck, thanks for being on duty.
Not to bad mouth "hunting" packs at all, but I've found that "regular" backpacks are much better for hunting. They have tons more research in them for fit, comfort, and load carrying ability, you can usually get them much cheaper, and they are not camouflaged. I look at the camo this way, my pack has all my emergency gear in it, it's the last thing I want to be hiding from me when I need it. Kind of like a camo knife why would you want one of your most important pieces of equipment camouflaged.
The inventor of this pack is an Olympic athlete who hunts elk like an Olympic event. His hunting packs are designed for athletic use and work well. My J105 will not haul the brute weight with the same ease as my Barney's Carnivour when packing out on unobstructed trails. But the J105 really shines when you want an athletic hunting day pack for bushwacking and scrambling yet will open up to an athletic configured freighter which allows you to pack meat while scrambling and negotiating obstacles. I find it to be a great all around backcountry pack making it a better option than trying to hunt while wearing a dedicated expedition pack.
later,
Daddy Bear
Free Range...thanks for the thank you...I have enjoyed every 28 years. By day I'm a plain clothes Detective, 6 nights per month I work the Tactical stakeout detail looking for armed robbers. Thats how I earn my hunting $. See u r in Maryland? I was born in Luthersville,Md. I agree with your camo comment, I learned one time while solo elk hunting in Idaho NOT to take my pack off for the final stalk...took me all day to find that stupid pack...HaHa..
Daddy Bear...I agree. I love the pack, its not perfect but darn close. I used my Dwight Schuh pack for years, and still like it. At times I wish I'd got the J105, mine is the J104 I think, the one with just the aluminum stays, not the adjustable frame sheet, I cant remember if thats the J105 or J107? Now I'm, confused. But I figured I would not be hauling meat all the time (darn it) so I opted for the one i got. Very impressed with the quality.
Glen adjusted my J105 for proper fit to me and it makes all the difference in the world. Mine was a first year model, but some had issues with lack of suspension adjustment for width and eventually Glen changed the pack slightly and discontinued the J105. Mine fits me like it was custom tailored so I never ran into any issues.
Glen described to me the design differences between the J105(and now the newer version) and the J104. The J104 is designed to have more flexibility in the chasis to flex better with your movement. Many prefer to have a pack such as this so that it does not restrict any athletic movement when scrambling. The J105 was designed to have a stiffer chasis and suspension to haul more weight. It is still an athletic design but is stiffer than the J104.
End results, the J105 was designed to better handle the heavier weights while the J104 was designed to better move with the body.
You'd be hard pressed to get such a pack design as the Eberlestock to handle the brute weight of an external freighter pack such as the Barney's, but such frame pack as the Barney's is an absolute monster to handle when scrambling or bushwacking. The two have their place and both shine when used as intended.
Daddy Bear