Full Thread: Gear You Need To Have:
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Old October 8th, 2013 #42
keifer
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Originally Posted by keifer View Post
A short discussion on packs. JMHO.

I have reached a point that zippers are no longer acceptable. For the most part zippers are a two handed operation. Ad to that when a zipper makes a 90 degree bend in its path and things then get that much more frustrating. Zippers are loud. Most zippers are made of plastic and plastic shrinks. My last hunt, both my bow case and hunt pack zippers tore out at the seam

Velcro, forget it. Loud, it shrinks and becomes gummed up with debris. Velcro ranks highest in user friendly and one handed manipulation but aside from that I find it a failure.

Leather buckles are both secure a dependable and to some degree, more so than zippers, are one handed and quiet.

More on this pack later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTwuXoHrc-4
I received this pack the other day. After looking this thing over I can tell you that for sure this is absolute quality. I paid twenty bucks for this pack online, and even at a hundred you will not find a better quality pack. Leather straps, metal buckles, canvas with rubber coating, lots of space and external tie downs. The straps and tie downs are reinforced to the pack with metal brackets. There is one zipper, on the inside flap for the map compartment, but it is large and heavy duty and can be operated with one hand. The lumbar strap is low profile on this pack and seems affective because they kept it simple, unlike the ALICE pack that wears raw spots into my back.. This was a surplus pack and arrived smelling like a someone's basement, so I cleaned it up and put mink oil on the leather.

Last edited by keifer; October 8th, 2013 at 09:00 AM.