Btw, I decided to get the Recon. I’ll still attach the ESEE underneath but use the front panel molle to attach a radio, flashlight and maybe phone/gps.

Cool, I'll be interested to hear what you think of it! Do you have any trips or plans coming up where you'll be putting it to use?

No trips planned but would like to get away if possible.

HPG is out of stock for now - will order when stock is available.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
it's an abnormal enough piece of kit to be kind of conspicuous out in public, but it blends in well with backpacking gear and certain other outdoor attire. [...snip...] while riding a bike or paddling a kayak,

A very good point, with respect to conspicuity. Riding a bike I had thought of, but not paddling. Man, I'm thinking that pack is about ideal for padding/fishing.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
it's an abnormal enough piece of kit to be kind of conspicuous out in public, but it blends in well with backpacking gear and certain other outdoor attire. [...snip...] while riding a bike or paddling a kayak,

A very good point, with respect to conspicuity. Riding a bike I had thought of, but not paddling. Man, I'm thinking that pack is about ideal for padding/fishing.

Yeah, my son and I went on a backcountry kayak camping/fishing trip last fall and there were a lot of things that I couldn't carry with me on the kayak while fishing for fear of them falling out of my pockets or getting wet, and as a result we didn't end up getting any fish pics even though we caught some dandies. It was also awkward re-rigging poles, accessing tackle, etc. We're planning to go back this fall, and I'm really looking forward to having the kit bag along this time....I think it'll make things much easier.

Just got back from a week of camping and fishing with the family in Michigan, and I used the crap out of the medium bag, so I figured I'd update this.

We did quite a bit of hiking, a lot of it in and around water. The bag worked good for keeping stuff up and out of the water, and even when we were wading through pretty deep stuff (sometimes up to my waist), I wasn't worried about stuff getting immersed, short of a full-on trip and faceplant. Thankfully that didn't happen.



We did a lot of fishing off the dock, as well as from Kyaks. I'll admit that if you load it too heavy, you start feeling the weight on your shoulders after a couple of hours standing on the pier. It as awesome for Kyak fishing, though...made it easy to access spare tackle and my phone for photos. My youngest learned to Kyak on this trip, and caught his first "kyak fish" as well, so it was cool to be able to capture that without having to worry about my phone slipping out of my pocket and going into the lake. I got a couple pics of my own as well (gratuitous fish pics below ).

Is that a pike or a muskie?

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
Is that a pike or a muskie?

Pike. Muskie have vertically oriented stripes, almost like tiger stripes. Pike have the longitudinal pattern like the guy in the photo. I've never caught a Muskie, despite living 300 yards from the same lake that the last 2 state records came out of. They call them the fish of 1000 casts for a reason, and I just don't have the patience for it, or the technique. I've seen some pictures of local catches, though, and they really are monsters. I probably ought to do some research and give it a try.

Did some hiking with the HPG bag in Alaska over the past couple of weeks, and had a bit of an issue that I thought I'd better share to hopefuly help others avoid the same problem.

I took the "middlesize" bag, and most of the time had it full of my S&W Model 69, a reload, snacks, and a first aid kit. It was decently heavy, and pretty close to it's volume capacity. It worked ok for most of the trip but last Saturday, I undertook what turned out to be the most brutal 8 mile hike of my life, and the bag left some scars.

I may have had it adjusted wrong, or it may have just been from the beating sun and crazy amount of moisture that my body was releasing, but the top of the back strap dug a nice crease in the back of my neck (photo taken a couple of days later so it had some time to heal):



I'm definitely going to pay closer attention to the "hang" in the future, and may even consider adding some softer material to that portion of the strap.

That said, the hike was epic (4 miles up, 4000 feet of elevation gain, a good portion of it through loose shale), and the view at the end was totally worth all the pain and exhaustion, including the back of my neck!

About 3 miles in...top is in sight! Before this there was a gnarly seemingly vertical mile-long climb through the woods, then some really nice meadows with wild blueberries:



On the way up I had to keep reminding myself to turn around and look behinds us:





The last 2 miles was downright evil. It wasn't just the climb...the shale was slippery and sharp, and very loose. Every step you took you'd slide at least half a step backwards, and if you fell you risked getting cut up. Kind of like climbing a sand dune, but made of knives:



But the view of the top, so totally worth it! Pictures don't even begin to convey what it was like in person:







Matanuska Glacier in the background:



The ridge was incredibly sharp:



We watched a herd of sheep go over the ridge as we were climbing and then saw them hanging out in the valley once we got to the top. They appeared to be having an easier time of it than we were!



We also saw this guy flying around trying to snag one of the numerous little "Pika" rodents that were running around. Based on the coloration of the tail, I think it's a Golden Eagle (as opposed to a juvenile Bald Eagle, which look similar), which would be a first for me. Maybe one of our bird experts here can confirm or deny:

Great photos! Looks like a Golden Eagle to me. Juvi Bald Eagle has light, almost white, feathers underside of the wings close to the body.

Nice, I was really hoping that was what it was as I've always wanted to see one. He was fun to watch...actually started out below us and rode the updrafts till he was way overhead.

Beautiful, looks like you all had a great time