I don't see any reason to upgrade to a newer Metcalf. The original one I have works just fine! This guy rode just fine on the packout this past weekend... :D :hump:
From my experience it helps to have the heaviest weight above the hip belt, up higher on the pack. That goes for loading it in a pack bag or in between the frame and bag. You probably already knew that, but you were asking for tips, so figured I'd throw in my $0.02...
Indeed they do... Below pic is from a recent back packing (bear 'hunt') trip with my son in central AZ.
While there are probably less expensive pants out there that perform well, I like my optifade ascent pants, so I knew exactly what I was getting with these clay colored ascent pants. I...
I don't have any personal experience with any of the tents you listed except the GoLite SL-5. I actually took my son backpacking this weekend for my SL-5's maiden voyage (although I've used friend's SL's several times in the past). We did bring the nest with us on this trip, but could have...
My take is that people are wanting to try different packs. For those staying true to MR, the Metcalf does almost everything the crew cab does, but is lighter.
A couple of things prompted me to sell my crew cab. The first is that I have a Longbow and Metcalf bag for my nice frame. My crew...
My 2 cents is this. Don't rush. Enjoy your puppy. Socialize it as much as possible. Teach it good manners and work on obedience and retrieiving. Always keep the dog wanting more.
A good video I watched on raising a retriever puppy is Bill Hillman's puppy video. They aren't cheap, but...
2013 has been a great year, and it was hard to pick just one picture.
I'll have to go with this one though.
My wife's opening morning cow that we were able to include the whole family on.
Ron
Thanks all! After using the frame extenders, I couldn't imagine going back to carrying my MR pack(s) without a frame extender if carrying over 20 lbs. Given that the pack is almost 10 lbs, it isn't hard to get up to 20 lbs. ;)
I was kind of wondering that, but if they did it is because they mislabeled it as a L. You can see in one of the pictures I posted that it has a 'L' tag on it. Not sure I'd want to go shorter, but I would like the option of shrinking it down if necessary.
It is a size large (4"), but it measures about 5 3/4" above the top of the NICE frame. It does stick up further than I expected it to. I would think the XL (6") extender would extend WAY above the top of the frame. I'm 5'9" for reference.
In going back and looking at Brandenbowhunter's...
My wife Karly was drawn for a cow elk hunt this year. Thanks to my friend Terry's and my dad's scouting, we had a good idea of where to start. We scouted Thursday morning before the hunt, and saw some elk and figured out a plan for the morning. We went and glassed that evening, but didn't see...
I've had the chance to play around with the MR frame extender for a couple of weeks now. I'm really liking it so far, and it improves the fit/comfort of my MR pack, imo. (Unfortunately, it also adds to the weight.) I've tried it on my Longbow in the field, and on the crew cab and Metcalf at...
Just got back from a CO trip where me and a buddy used a large canister of fuel with my MSR Superfly stove. Got 13 plus boils out of it at 12k feet with a Ti pot holding 1 liter of water. (We also had several nights worth of boils where we boiled an additional half a liter for drinks after MH...
I have the same system... For my CO archery deer hunt this year, I've parsed it down to just my backpacking list, and then created a new spreadsheet just for that hunt.
One thing I've noticed the last few years and in looking at my list is I have too much crap... I'm trying to simplify, but...