Girls’s match backcountry searching packs are a comparatively current addition to searching merchandise designed to suit the feminine body. With most of what’s out there weighing properly over 5 kilos, KUIU’s providing stands out because the lightest mannequin out there — not only for ladies, but additionally for any backcountry hunter. Its extremely adjustable suspension, carbon fiber body, and environment friendly storage structure set it aside from different packs.
A strong backcountry searching pack must carry out a mess of duties. It ought to effectively carry gear and provides, alter to suit the consumer comfortably, and pack out a harvested animal — all whereas holding the pack’s weight as gentle as virtually attainable.
At properly over a pound lighter in acknowledged weight than my earlier pack (with 50% extra capability), I used to be instantly smitten with KUIU’s PRO LT 4000 pack after I noticed it. It’s received a few shortcomings that I’ll focus on additional down, but it surely makes up for them in match and end.
In brief: For girls (or anybody else) on the lookout for a light-weight backcountry pack with meat-hauling capabilities, the KUIU PRO LT4000 presents extraordinary consolation. Regardless of weighing in somewhat heavy and developing quick within the load sling division, the customizable match and well-thought-out particulars have me reaching for this bag, even after I don’t want the additional capability.
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Most important physique
CORDURA HT 330D -
Waterproof again and backside panel
CORDURA HT 330D - Hypalon Strengthened Compression Strap Anchors
- Chomarat Unfold Tow Carbon Fiber
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One measurement matches all body/suspension- Waist Belt
25-44″, Top 5’10” and shorter -
Quantity
4,000 cu. in. -
Weight (claimed)
3 lbs., 13.9 oz. -
Colours
Valo, Verde, Vias, Phantom, Evergreen -
Worth
$616
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Extremely adjustable suspension -
Nice pocket structure/measurement -
Wears cooler than different packs -
Compact body measurement
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Heavier than acknowledged weight -
Load sling might be improved
KUIU PRO LT4000 Overview
First issues first: The suspension of this pack system is the one ladies’s-specific element. So, when you’re a person on the lookout for KUIU PRO LT4000 pack opinions and also you’ve landed right here, then stick round as a result of this one’s for you, too.
Subsequent: Do all ladies want a ladies’s-specific searching pack? As with the rest that you just put on, it comes down to non-public choice. The shoulder harness and hip belt are formed in another way than what’s on a “males’s” pack to account for wider hips, narrower shoulders, and to maintain the shoulder straps off of the breasts. If these issues matter to you, it’s most likely price making an attempt out.
My first searching pack was a Thriller Ranch Sawtooth 45. With over three seasons of use, together with a large multiday elk packout, it proved to be a superb pack backed by an ideal firm. Nonetheless, I had wandering eyes. I lusted after one thing somewhat bigger and lighter. After I noticed KUIU’s Girls’s PRO LT 4000 pack in Evergreen, I had a direct crush. A sub-4-pound pack? Signal me up.
Testing
Since I acquired this pack for assessment nowhere close to a big animal searching season, I examined the load-hauling capabilities with a 50-pound sandbag, doing every thing from 1-mile hikes to and from my mailbox to a 4-mile loop to run sport cameras.
I additionally used it for turkey scouting, hauling a pop-up floor blind to my favourite turkey searching spot, and for spring turkey searching. When searching, I carry a number of layers, meals, 2 L of water, a sitting pad, a tough plastic hen decoy, and the occasional mule deer shed antler inside the primary compartment. The terrain I’m searching is rugged mountain backcountry with principally off-trail journey.
I wish to begin with the issues that made me increase an eyebrow earlier than I get into why I in any other case love this pack.
Weight
KUIU lists the acknowledged weight of the PRO LT4000 pack at 3 kilos, 13 ounces. My pack weighs in at 4 kilos, 5 ounces. At first, I believed possibly my low-cost scale was guilty, so I took it to the tiny rural publish workplace close to my home and traded our good mailroom employee a dozen yard eggs to weigh every element individually on a licensed, legal-for-trade scale.
Listed here are the ends in claimed/precise format:
- Whole pack: 3 lbs., 13.9 oz. / 4 lbs., 5 oz.
- Pockets: 3.5 oz. / 3.4 oz.
- Bag: 1 lb., 3.5 oz. / 1 lb., 7.2 oz.
- Suspension: 1 lb., 11.9 oz. / 1 lb., 11.5 oz.
- Body: 11 oz. / 15.6 oz.
Even at 7 ounces over the acknowledged weight, the PRO LT 4000 pack system is greater than a pound lighter than my earlier pack, with an additional 1,200 cubic inches of house. This sudden weight may need some consumers returning their buy earlier than they even strive it on. Nonetheless, as I identified beforehand, it’s nonetheless one of many lightest fashions available on the market.
Load Hauling
The body and suspension make a 50-pound load extremely comfy and straightforward to deal with. I labored my method as much as a 4-mile off-trail hike to verify a number of sport cameras. The body form, together with the suspension padding/adjustability, made it really feel extra comfy and agile in comparison with different load-hauling packs I’ve used.
Heavy Pack Failure
Nonetheless, I feel the design has one large shortcoming on this division: No matter you’ve gotten within the load-carrying house between the body and pack is simply held in place by the straps that connect and compress the bag to the body. Which means that holding 50 (or extra) kilos steady on the body depends solely on compression from 4 facet straps and two backside straps which have comparatively small attachment factors on the pack.
In taking my sandbag out for 10-ish hikes, I managed to interrupt the stitching on three of the 4 tabs holding the facet compression straps to the pack. KUIU, in my expertise, has the best and most beneficiant guarantee within the searching house, changing the bag instantly.
Heavy Pack Resolution
The model does provide a Pack Load Hauler that attaches to the body instead of the bag. The sling and compression design seems way more suited to securing a considerable amount of weight to the body. It consists of attachment factors that will let you safe one of many model’s Stalker packs, accent packs, or zip-dry baggage to the skin for brief hauling journeys.
Sure, this solutions my gripe — form of. The Stalker is the most important of these suitable add-ons, which holds a 100-ounce hydration reservoir with 500 cubic inches of further house. I do know from my expertise with utilizing a big hip pack for quick/gentle for mountain lion hunts that its 800-cubic-inch capability is already pushing the decrease limits of measurement for secure/accountable backcountry searching within the mountains (i.e., meals, kill equipment, and “self-rescue” requirements like first help and additional layers). It’s additionally not a sensible answer for a state of affairs wherein you harvest an animal and wish to hold some or all of it out along with your full bag of substances.
In a market the place different manufacturers’ packs combine cabinets, slings, and/or frame-mounted compression straps to assist hundreds with out an additional accent, I really feel just like the Pack Load Hauler is a band-aid-type answer to an issue that’s solvable with some adjustments to the pack itself.
OK, now to the great things.
Body
One factor that’s made this pack my “go-to,” even for day journeys, is the quick body. The carbon fiber spine of the system doesn’t stick up above my head — an enormous one for me as a result of it permits me to maneuver by low-hanging limbs and brush with out snagging.
It additionally lets me sling my shotgun diagonally over my head and onto my left shoulder, which is infinitely extra comfy than solely hanging it on my proper shoulder. The body can also be formed in a method that simply disappears on my again whereas concurrently being stiff and robust.
Suspension
The suspension system is what actually units this pack aside from others. Each load-hauling pack consists of peak adjustment to account for various torso lengths. The PRO LT4000 additionally permits for fine-tuning each the angle of the shoulder straps and the peak of the lumbar pad. I performed with each of those whereas performing my preliminary pack setup and located a candy spot I’ve by no means discovered with different packs.
The belt is barely extra versatile than I’m used to. I initially thought that this could permit the pack to slide downward and usually really feel much less steady as I moved by tough terrain. Nonetheless, my expertise was fairly the other — the flex allowed it to contour to my hip bones, giving it extra resistance to motion and rotation than stiffer belts. It additionally eliminates stress factors on the bony elements of my hips (the iliac crest, for any of you anatomically savvy people studying this).
One in all my greatest points about utilizing a bigger pack for turkey searching or summer time scouting is that they have an inclination to get very sweaty. The PRO LT4000 not solely has a breathable outer layer, but it surely additionally solely touches the place it must. In consequence, it wears cooler than any day pack I personal.
Pack
First, the pockets. I hate it when a pack has so many pockets, zippers, and pass-throughs that I get misplaced looking for my automobile keys or headlamp. The PRO LT4000 pack has three zippered pack pockets (one exterior and two inner), elastic-top facet pockets, and two hip pockets.
Pockets
The zippered pockets provide simply the correct amount of group for small gadgets, and the deep facet pockets are positioned good to permit me to succeed in what’s in them with out taking the pack off (your expertise may differ in case you have restricted shoulder mobility). All the zippers have giant plastic-ringed pulls, permitting for simple use when sporting heat gloves (most likely sufficiently big to seize with a mitten if you must).
The hip pockets are my best love — they’re large. I can carry a day’s price of bars, selfmade path snacks, jerky, nuts, and path combine. The zippers have grip tabs on the ends, making opening and shutting simple.
The pack’s material has proved very sturdy and exhibits no put on after properly over 30 arduous days within the area. The underside panel is waterproof. (Professional tip: If you happen to don’t use a pack cowl in heavy rain, that panel will flip the within backside of the pack right into a small pond.)
The compression straps on the facet and backside of the pack allow you to cosy it down as a lot as wanted for journeys that don’t require the pack’s full capability (until you discover cool stuff within the woods to take again residence).
Inside, the pack has a hydration sleeve (with a zippered hose port) and 4 additional compression straps to safe pack contents to the again panel. I haven’t taken the pack on a multiday journey, however I see myself utilizing them to safe my waterproof bag of meals into this location.
Ultimate Ideas on the KUIU Professional LT
Once more, downsides first — I actually don’t care that this pack is heavier than acknowledged. Its precise weight continues to be lighter than the rest with a ladies’s match. As for the load-hauling problem, it’s price mentioning once more that KUIU’s guarantee division is completely on level if I ever have one other drawback.
As somebody who hunts repeated dawn-to-dusk days, consolation is my number-one precedence. The customizable match of the suspension and lack of again sweat preserve me comfy day after day. A detailed second precedence is effectivity. The hip and facet pockets present all of the house I would like for gadgets I wish to attain rapidly with out eradicating my pack.
I’m additionally capable of transfer by limbs and brush with out getting snagged up any greater than I’d with an ordinary day pack, due to the compact body. All of it provides as much as make this pack one thing I overlook about after I’m sporting it, which is the most important praise I can bestow on any piece of substances.
