Lawnboy
Well-known member
Well just before leaving for my sheep hunt I got the opportunity to take this pack on the trip. I'll be honest I was a bit skeptical trying something new on a trip this big, especially with it being the thing that could make or break your body if it didn't fit or feel right loaded. My first impression was man this is light and can this thing really carry weight at all? I have MR packs but have only used their internal frame model sheep hunting and not the Nice frame with a 6500 which I was intending on using this trip. I was told that the 6500 with the Nice frame would be a huge improvement over the pack I had used in the past but I didn't end up using it.
Back to the Stone Glacier bag. The Terminus is a single compartment bag with the exception of the lid pocket. This took some getting used to as far as packing gear. Because camp was on your back you learned quick to keep things you needed to get out when stopping towards the top ( ie food, water filter, extra clothes). We went in with about 45-50 pounds loaded with a rifle. The padding on the shoulders and straps did feel different on my body than my Crew cab but it didn't take long to make it not noticeable. One thing I did like was the ease to adjust the shoulder straps via the Velcro hook and loop that they are attached with. I had no issues with this separating or anything else like some might imagine even with 70-80 pounds. I have to say that not until the last hour of the pack out did I ever have any shoulder pain or pinching. It honestly felt great. (No pack with that much weight will feel great after 4+ hours.) The hip belt feels different than a MR one and at times I felt like it wasn't holding the weight like it should but the crazy thing is that my shoulders weren't feeling the load so it must of just been the feel that I wasn't used to and that it really was doing it's job. Even to the end it felt different but it wasn't uncomfortable and worked so I give it credit.
I will say that when you first try the pack on empty it might feel a bit "rigid or flat" on your back but when loaded with weight and properly adjusted it felt great and that feeling was gone. It is a crazy light pack and you will notice that. I was dying to give the whole load shelf thing a try as this is the huge selling point for me with this pack. It was the last night of my hunt that I was lucky enough to have a ram present it's self and I got one. I will continue on another page.
Back to the Stone Glacier bag. The Terminus is a single compartment bag with the exception of the lid pocket. This took some getting used to as far as packing gear. Because camp was on your back you learned quick to keep things you needed to get out when stopping towards the top ( ie food, water filter, extra clothes). We went in with about 45-50 pounds loaded with a rifle. The padding on the shoulders and straps did feel different on my body than my Crew cab but it didn't take long to make it not noticeable. One thing I did like was the ease to adjust the shoulder straps via the Velcro hook and loop that they are attached with. I had no issues with this separating or anything else like some might imagine even with 70-80 pounds. I have to say that not until the last hour of the pack out did I ever have any shoulder pain or pinching. It honestly felt great. (No pack with that much weight will feel great after 4+ hours.) The hip belt feels different than a MR one and at times I felt like it wasn't holding the weight like it should but the crazy thing is that my shoulders weren't feeling the load so it must of just been the feel that I wasn't used to and that it really was doing it's job. Even to the end it felt different but it wasn't uncomfortable and worked so I give it credit.
I will say that when you first try the pack on empty it might feel a bit "rigid or flat" on your back but when loaded with weight and properly adjusted it felt great and that feeling was gone. It is a crazy light pack and you will notice that. I was dying to give the whole load shelf thing a try as this is the huge selling point for me with this pack. It was the last night of my hunt that I was lucky enough to have a ram present it's self and I got one. I will continue on another page.
