Mystery Ranch and Eberlestock are great brands to look at also.
I used a Blackhawk SOF (ALICE pack on roids) which uses a standard ALICE frame (cheap) for roughly 2 years in Afghanistan when I was flying all over the country. It held up VERY well and continues to be in great shape. It is all scuffed to shit and where a normal bag would have torn mine shows character. This thing got treated very rough; chucked from helicopters onto jagged rock landing zones, tossed around in the back of Humvees and trailers, drug all over the place and even blown up; well sort of, it was in a trailer humvee hit an IED and my back got ejected. Typical load out was roughly 75-80 pounds depending on how long I was going to be gone for and the season of the year.
Right now I have an Eberlestock Skycrane II but I should have bought their Terminator bag. I use ONLY the bay compartment of the Skycrane and leave the frame and outside at the house. I carry it every day to and from work and it rides great. A big improvement over an ALICE frame. However it isn't holding 75pounds as is without the framework.
Maxpedition makes some great stuff too. They use a very thick material that is virtually indestructible. I have broken a few clasps though, but no fault to the bag or brand; they don't like to be stepped on by boots on concrete.
I used a Blackhawk SOF (ALICE pack on roids) which uses a standard ALICE frame (cheap) for roughly 2 years in Afghanistan when I was flying all over the country. It held up VERY well and continues to be in great shape. It is all scuffed to shit and where a normal bag would have torn mine shows character. This thing got treated very rough; chucked from helicopters onto jagged rock landing zones, tossed around in the back of Humvees and trailers, drug all over the place and even blown up; well sort of, it was in a trailer humvee hit an IED and my back got ejected. Typical load out was roughly 75-80 pounds depending on how long I was going to be gone for and the season of the year.
Right now I have an Eberlestock Skycrane II but I should have bought their Terminator bag. I use ONLY the bay compartment of the Skycrane and leave the frame and outside at the house. I carry it every day to and from work and it rides great. A big improvement over an ALICE frame. However it isn't holding 75pounds as is without the framework.
Maxpedition makes some great stuff too. They use a very thick material that is virtually indestructible. I have broken a few clasps though, but no fault to the bag or brand; they don't like to be stepped on by boots on concrete.
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