Not sure where to put this, but thought I would put it in the hunting section as that is why I bought it.
With the addition of Primos Alpha Dogg caller for my winter wolf hunting, my camo day pack wasn’t cutting it any longer as it was straining the zippers too much with the caller in the pack. I carry a white folding step stool and an insulated hunter seat to sit on, balaclava, extra gloves, hand calls, pruning clippers, a folding saw, knife, binos and a bottle of water. These all fit nicely in the fleece day pack, it just couldn’t digest the new caller.
I started looking around for a white pack and came across this one – a nylon surplus German snow camo rucksack. One of the CGN associated businesses show them on their website, but didn’t have any in stock, so I ordered this one from the US.
The pack is advertised as a heavy duty water-resistant nylon 65 liters rucksack with dimensions of 28.4"x16.5"x11.8”. I don’t think it is quite that large when compared to a couple of 75 l hiking packs belonging to my son and daughter. In fact, I find the main compartment to be rather small as its only nominally 7 to 8 inches wide according to my measurements. By the time I slide the folding step stool and hunting seat into the main compartment, there really isn’t much room left for the rest of the gear. You can see my bino case in the bottom of the cinched off main compartment along with the white folding step stool. The snow collar is nice and you can tighten it down to protect the main compartment.
The pack has 8 separate compartments including 2 outside pockets with storm protection flaps closed with an adjustable straps, 1 main top loading flap covered compartment closed with 2 quick release buckles, a map pocket on the top of a flap closed with an adjustable strap, a small Velcro pocket in the front of a flap for smaller items storage, and a zip up pocket accessible from above the carrying handle. The main compartment includes an integrated compression bag closed with a drawstring at both top and bottom. The bottom of the rucksack zips open to allow for easy access to items located at the bottom of the main compartment. It can be also used as a 'false-bottom' compartment itself for the carrying of items required for easy access.
There is an aluminum rod through the top of the rucksack for stability over the shoulders and an internal pocket for the insertion of a folding sleeping mat which provides stability for the back of the rucksack. I found a thin foam hunting seat I had bought fit nicely in the pocket and stiffened up the back of the pack. You can see it peeking out of the pocket in the second photo.
Padded shoulder straps are adjustable from hip to lower portion of shoulder strap, but also over the shoulder. Tensioning the upper adjustment straps allows the rucksack to be worn higher on the back. I am 6’ 4” and I find that the padded straps are not long enough for me – especially when worn over a hunting coat. I find the narrow nylon straps dig in under my arm and can be uncomfortable.
There is also an adjustable non padded strap provided around the hips which is opened with a fastex clip. The rucksack has also an extra long webbing belts on the top that allow things to be strapped on the top. I added a two more nylon sliders to these straps in order to wind these straps back and forth so that I don’t had the straps hanging down the back of the pack.
The top of the pack has a small Velcro pouch on the front, a buckled pocket on the top and a zippered pouch on the backside. The zippered pouch on the top of the pack is great – I use it to store the remote handset for the caller and extra ammo.
The nylon appears to be heavy duty and all straps are well stitched. The only issue is that the nylon is noisy, especially while walking through brush, and more so when it is cold out. The nylon has an advantage when placing it in the snow, it doesn’t freeze to the pack like it did on my fleece pack. I set the pack in the snow next to me and use it as a table with my caller remote on it when I am not using it.
Surprisingly, I cant put much more in this pack than what I carried in my fleece day pack – however the Alpha Dogg does go in without too much effort and that is the reason I bought it. All in all, I would rate this pack as a 7 out of 10 for meeting my hunting needs – YMMV!
With the addition of Primos Alpha Dogg caller for my winter wolf hunting, my camo day pack wasn’t cutting it any longer as it was straining the zippers too much with the caller in the pack. I carry a white folding step stool and an insulated hunter seat to sit on, balaclava, extra gloves, hand calls, pruning clippers, a folding saw, knife, binos and a bottle of water. These all fit nicely in the fleece day pack, it just couldn’t digest the new caller.
I started looking around for a white pack and came across this one – a nylon surplus German snow camo rucksack. One of the CGN associated businesses show them on their website, but didn’t have any in stock, so I ordered this one from the US.
The pack is advertised as a heavy duty water-resistant nylon 65 liters rucksack with dimensions of 28.4"x16.5"x11.8”. I don’t think it is quite that large when compared to a couple of 75 l hiking packs belonging to my son and daughter. In fact, I find the main compartment to be rather small as its only nominally 7 to 8 inches wide according to my measurements. By the time I slide the folding step stool and hunting seat into the main compartment, there really isn’t much room left for the rest of the gear. You can see my bino case in the bottom of the cinched off main compartment along with the white folding step stool. The snow collar is nice and you can tighten it down to protect the main compartment.
The pack has 8 separate compartments including 2 outside pockets with storm protection flaps closed with an adjustable straps, 1 main top loading flap covered compartment closed with 2 quick release buckles, a map pocket on the top of a flap closed with an adjustable strap, a small Velcro pocket in the front of a flap for smaller items storage, and a zip up pocket accessible from above the carrying handle. The main compartment includes an integrated compression bag closed with a drawstring at both top and bottom. The bottom of the rucksack zips open to allow for easy access to items located at the bottom of the main compartment. It can be also used as a 'false-bottom' compartment itself for the carrying of items required for easy access.
There is an aluminum rod through the top of the rucksack for stability over the shoulders and an internal pocket for the insertion of a folding sleeping mat which provides stability for the back of the rucksack. I found a thin foam hunting seat I had bought fit nicely in the pocket and stiffened up the back of the pack. You can see it peeking out of the pocket in the second photo.
Padded shoulder straps are adjustable from hip to lower portion of shoulder strap, but also over the shoulder. Tensioning the upper adjustment straps allows the rucksack to be worn higher on the back. I am 6’ 4” and I find that the padded straps are not long enough for me – especially when worn over a hunting coat. I find the narrow nylon straps dig in under my arm and can be uncomfortable.
There is also an adjustable non padded strap provided around the hips which is opened with a fastex clip. The rucksack has also an extra long webbing belts on the top that allow things to be strapped on the top. I added a two more nylon sliders to these straps in order to wind these straps back and forth so that I don’t had the straps hanging down the back of the pack.
The top of the pack has a small Velcro pouch on the front, a buckled pocket on the top and a zippered pouch on the backside. The zippered pouch on the top of the pack is great – I use it to store the remote handset for the caller and extra ammo.
The nylon appears to be heavy duty and all straps are well stitched. The only issue is that the nylon is noisy, especially while walking through brush, and more so when it is cold out. The nylon has an advantage when placing it in the snow, it doesn’t freeze to the pack like it did on my fleece pack. I set the pack in the snow next to me and use it as a table with my caller remote on it when I am not using it.
Surprisingly, I cant put much more in this pack than what I carried in my fleece day pack – however the Alpha Dogg does go in without too much effort and that is the reason I bought it. All in all, I would rate this pack as a 7 out of 10 for meeting my hunting needs – YMMV!
