Mystery Ranch Pintler or ?

[jd126]

About to pull the trigger on a new Mystery Ranch Pintler. Curious if there is another pack to look in to that I missed. My goal is a day pack that will double as a meat hauler. I like the Metcalf but am having trouble finding one in stock, plus it cost more.

Last year I used the Badlands Superday. When the elk was down I had to hike back to the vehicle to get my surplus rucksack I had brought along to pack out the meat. It was a nice hike but a waste of valuable time. I would like to try and avoid it.
Thanks

 

[BoomFlop]

I have a Pintler and find it the perfect size for a day pack. I carry a lot of stuff for day hunts: Swarovski 15x56 HD's, Carbon Slik 624 tripod, butt seat, Caribou kill kit, extra releases, knives, 5 bottles of water, extra Sitka layers amount the small phone chargers, etc. plenty of room. If you are a minimalist, you may want to check out the Mule (same frame as Pintler) or the Pop Up 28. If you plan on doing a lot of load hauling, I would not suggest the Pop Up as the belt is about have the padding of the other 2.

However, my suggestion is to go bigger than you think you will ever need as the Mystery Ranch packs cinch down great to provide less bulk and no hanging straps.

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[adk hunter]

Sticking with MR or various others? EXO fan here. Simple, safe, secure. Interior snap in waterproof dry bag works great. Go bigger but not huge... I think the EXO's pack larger than advertised measurements.

 

[Sykes]

Have you checked opticsplanet.com
I got the selway there for under $300

 

[jd126]

Sticking with MR or various others? EXO fan here. Simple, safe, secure. Interior snap in waterproof dry bag works great. Go bigger but not huge... I think the EXO's pack larger than advertised measurements.

I'm not stuck on Mystery Ranch. I'm open to other ideas.

Have you checked opticsplanet.com
I got the selway there for under $300

I'll check that Selway out.

I found the Pintler for, I think it was $350. I'm always drawn to stuff on sale. Not always the best idea but if it's better than what I have and at a bargain the I'll try it. ...I'm open to good used equipment also.

 

[BigGriz]

I went through a similar process last year. I ordered the MR cabinet and metcalf. I liked the cabinet a little better because of the compact size. However, I ended up keeping the metcalf because I couldn't get past the thought of needing a bigger pack and not having it.

I used it as a day pack on an elk hunt last year and packed out an elk. The load shelf worked great and the frame made packing out comfortable.

I would recommend MR and the Pintler seems like a good middle of the road option.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

About to pull the trigger on a new Mystery Ranch Pintler. Curious if there is another pack to look in to that I missed. My goal is a day pack that will double as a meat hauler. I like the Metcalf but am having trouble finding one in stock, plus it cost more.

Last year I used the Badlands Superday. When the elk was down I had to hike back to the vehicle to get my surplus rucksack I had brought along to pack out the meat. It was a nice hike but a waste of valuable time. I would like to try and avoid it.
Thanks

Man, I looked at MR, Stone Glacier, Kifaru etc.

I was initially sold on exo - i am a little taller so I was told by the owner to wait until their Gen 3 frame came out...the gen 3 has an aluminum frame instead of titanium, totally turned me off... titanium seemed sexy and different, if I wanted aluminum there are a million other options. Yeah, I know its supposed to be some fancy aluminum, but at the end of the day it is still aluminum, soo...

Funny enough after all my research I ended up with a KUIU. They recently redesigned all of their packs, new bags and new suspension this year. I went with the 3600. I love the divided rear pocket and all of the organization. All of their older stuff is on sale right now, and if you are ok with the older bags and suspension you can get a great deal. When I started this project I never thought I would end up with a KUIU. I really like it.

 

[jd126]

Man, I looked at MR, Stone Glacier, Kifaru etc.

I was initially sold on exo - i am a little taller so I was told by the owner to wait until their Gen 3 frame came out...the gen 3 has an aluminum frame instead of titanium, totally turned me off... titanium seemed sexy and different, if I wanted aluminum there are a million other options. Yeah, I know its supposed to be some fancy aluminum, but at the end of the day it is still aluminum, soo...

Funny enough after all my research I ended up with a KUIU. They recently redesigned all of their packs, new bags and new suspension this year. I went with the 3600. I love the divided rear pocket and all of the organization. All of their older stuff is on sale right now, and if you are ok with the older bags and suspension you can get a great deal. When I started this project I never thought I would end up with a KUIU. I really like it.

I looked at the KUIU 3600. I have always liked their stuff. Maybe I'm missing something with this pack but it looks like to pack out meat, I would have to put it inside the pack? With the Mystery Ranch it has the load sling. I'm still learning all the details of these packs so maybe I'm overlooking stuff.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I looked at the KUIU 3600. I have always liked their stuff. Maybe I'm missing something with this pack but it looks like to pack out meat, I would have to put it inside the pack? With the Mystery Ranch it has the load sling. I'm still learning all the details of these packs so maybe I'm overlooking stuff.

KUIU works the same as the others - meat goes inbetween the bag and the frame.

 

[jd126]

KUIU works the same as the others - meat goes inbetween the bag and the frame.

Thanks for setting that straight. It's getting late and things are getting blurry. I'll have to look into it some more tomorrow.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Thanks for setting that straight. It's getting late and things are getting blurry. I'll have to look into it some more tomorrow.

I just included a youtube video in my last post.

 

[IanCo]

Pinter is a solid pack. Great day pack and usable as an overnight pack if you extend the pack out and throw some bigger items into the meat hauler shelf.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

About to pull the trigger on a new Mystery Ranch Pintler. Curious if there is another pack to look in to that I missed. My goal is a day pack that will double as a meat hauler. I like the Metcalf but am having trouble finding one in stock, plus it cost more.

Last year I used the Badlands Superday. When the elk was down I had to hike back to the vehicle to get my surplus rucksack I had brought along to pack out the meat. It was a nice hike but a waste of valuable time. I would like to try and avoid it.
Thanks

I've gone through lots of packs, and the best I've ever used is the Stone Glacier X curve carbon fiber frame.
It's modular and I just run the minimalist dry bag set up.
It weighs like 2.5 lbs so it's light going in and you can carry a pile of meat going out.
Add the sling and you can strap your rifle on there too.
I packed a big Muley and two bulls out last year with it.
One bull was over 3 miles off trail in super tough terrain, it's straight up awesome.

 

[Boman]

I would take a hard look at a Kifaru. Ive tried them all except Kuiu. Kifaru is by far the most comfortable when packing heavy loads. You can get about any configuration you want. I personally like a big bag because you can cinch them down really small for day mode and when you get an animal down i can open it up or use the load sling. To me the Kifaru is worth its weight in gold when you pack over 100lbs. All the packs you mentioned will do fine with 50 to 60lbs. When you get to heavy pack weights the others werent as good to me.