When I'm out hunting I need a good size bag for carrying necessary gear that will last me up to 6 hours in the woods. At first I thought that I would just bring my Vulture II pack always as it carries a lot of stuff. But it is stupid in many ways, here are two examples: 1) why bring a lot of gear when you are hunting? It will only slow you down and waste you energy and strength. I will of course leave all gear which I don't need during the hunt at my “camp” and just bring necessary gear with me on the hunt. 2) to bring a rucksack and a rifle is very uncomfortable, you can't really carry a rifle on you back together with a rucksack if you don't have e.g. a Gunslinger which is too much for me. The old school hunter carries his rifle on his one shoulder and keeps it up by his hand, this way you can have a rucksack. But this is – by me – a very uncomfortable and clumsy way of carrying a rifle; when I'm struggling through thick bushes or smaller trees I like to use my both hands and I do not want my rifle to fall down every other minute because branches keep pulling it off my shoulder. This way of strolling through the woods is a nightmare.
So, I need a good size bag which is not a rucksack. My friend bought a Maxpedition Malaga Gearslinger and I thought “What a great idea!”, it just has one shoulder strap and I can carry both my gearslinger and rifle across my back. It sounded like a good idea until I realized that I would have to carry all my load on just one shoulder while walking around in the woods for hours. That sucks. It is actually a bad idea as a rifle weighs pretty much.
Then I thought to try out some kind of a buttpack version, and Adam from Equip II Endure introduced me to a very cool system which he had made from a Maxpedition Sabercat versipack, a Maxpedition M-4 waistpack, and a pair of HSGI High Speed Low Drag Suspenders. I would have exchanged these suspenders to a pair of US Army H-Type ALICE Suspenders as they are more comfortable. With this versatile pack I have my back free and still carrying the load from the pack on both shoulders. But after have contemplating this for a while I felt that this wasn't it, I'm not really a fan of the buttpack as it feels a bit clumsy with the suspenders and I have to take it off every time I need to reach for stuff in the pack, that is a huge downfall for me. I like to be able to reach for whatever whenever.
So finally I came up with the perfect solution, a bag I've had this whole time without thinking of it as a perfect option; the Maxpeditions Jumbo standard versipack! I couldn't believe I didn't think of it before :) With this pack I have covered the main four things I was looking for: 1) a good size bag for carrying necessary gear that will last me up to 6 hours in the woods without being too big and clumsy, 2) my back free for my rifle to cross, 3) distribution of weight on both shoulders, and 4) a versatile pack which I can reach into easily while standing still or walking without taking it off. You might wonder about "3) distributing the weight on both shoulders", my solution here is to carry my Jumbo on my left shoulder so that it crosses my back and sits on the right side of my hip, and my rifle on my right shoulder so that it crosses my back. I'll add a photo of this soon!
The awesome thing with Maxpedition's stuff is that you can add all kinds of sheaths and pouches/pockets to their packs.
So this is my Shooter & Scout system right now:
So this is my Shooter & Scout system right now:
+ Maxpedition Jumbo versipack
+ Maxpedition M-1 waistpack (multitool, flashlight, GPS, rounds, etc.)
+ Maxpedition Rollypoly (mutli-purpose: bottle-holder, trash-holder, to collect tinders and edibles in that you might find in the woods, etc.)
Accessories:
+ Maxpedition Double Sheath (extra exterior tool pouch if needed)
+ Maxpedition Volta battery case (it's also an excellent pouch for a fire kit, etc.)
+ Blackhawk Speed Clips 3" (much better than Maxpedition's inept TacTies)
+ ITW Grimloc Carabiners (multi-purpose)
+ Maxpedition Keyper (to attach camo-net, etc.)
(What attachable pockets/sheaths I use depends on the situation at hand.)
Under the pack are 3 wide and nice high tensile strength nylon webbings which give you the option – by using 2-3 quick release straps – to load a fold-up gun pod, a tripod chair, rain gear, a tarp or other relatively small gear. This little detail brings tons of useful functions that makes your hunting more comfortable; I like that.
