I have been on the search for a large yet comfortable pack (external frame) to carry safely 40 kg, and have heard about the Norrona Reconpack. I am kind of lost to where I should go now, since it is very difficult to find this pack. Although, the reviews for this pack hinted it has performed superbly in many aspects other packs lack.

I am still looking for a pack, and am always open-minded for different packs, either it being external or internal framed, thanks again

Fishmode,

Welcome to the fire! As for a Norrona Reconpack, I don't have an idea. 40 kg is a pretty massive load. Have you looked at some of the packs designed for elk/moose hunting? They are designed to carry a heavy load through rough country. Cabela's has a large selection of such packs. Some of the bigger hunters on this forum can probably direct you to higher quality packs than the Cabela's ones.

-Blast

I guess my first question is, 40 kilos of what? I ask because the only thing "little" about me in my budget, and I'm decent shape- a 88 pound pack would slow me to a crawl and leave me dead and dieing after a few days. I can not advise too strongly to train up to this load, and even then keep in mind that a pack this big can turn a simple stumble into a serious joint injury due the shift in your center of gravity. Generally, when you see this much volume in a pack, most people are going with medium-to-low density items like sleeping bags, cold weather clothing and so forth as a large part of the volume.

For this much gear, I'd break it into three components- what is on your person, what is in your pack, and what is in your cart. And then I would look to see what just wasn't needed, and what could be substitued for with a lighter or more adaptable multipurpose item. The only time I can think of needing this much gear-weight would be if you were a paratrooper, were packing out part of an large game animal (and then I would NOT recommend something like the Norrona based on the pictures of it on their website) or were about to solo across the desert without a camel.

I know it doesn't answer your question, but the proposal raises questions in my mind and looking at what is going to go IN might help answer the question of what packs might suit your needs if we can lighten your load some.

Exactly. If you're travelling so heavy you made a mistake somewhere unless you really know what you are doing, have the physical and mental attributes to pull it off and the circumstances are highly specific.

I just got back from a 3-day trip in the mountains with the temperature nearly freezing at night and all my gear together didn't weigh more than 15 kilos. That's with 3.5l of water, a big sleeping bag, poncho, LBE, hatchet, mess kit and plenty of food (I packed too much, again ). In warmer weather I would easily reduce that to not much over 10 kilos, mostly depending on how much water I'd need to carry. But a 40kg pack is a serious overkill.

BTW if you have to move a very heavy load (big game etc.) some distance a drag sled is a lot more effective if the terrain is not too rough.

Then the Norrona Reconpack would do you admirably. But as the others have said in the thread, why would you want to carry so much. Even multiday winter hikes shouldn't weigh more than 15-20Kg with modern equipment. Summer multiday hikes shouldn't be over 12-15Kg in weight. Lightweight Hikers can get down to 10Kg and still have a very comfortable camp.

As the Reconpack has a huge 125 Litre capacity, the temptation to pack in everything creates its own problems. In general for winter use you should be able to get everything you need in a 65-75 litre pack and in the summer a 45-50 litre pack should suffice. The Norrona pack itself weighs 4.7Kg and with the 40Kg capacity this makes 44.7Kg (98.4 lbs). With this load I would be surprised if you were able to cover more than a few miles in a day in difficult terrain.

You may be interested in the following packs
http://www.pri.uk.com/ksf/sabre75.html
http://www.pri.uk.com/ksf/sabre60-100.html
it may be a better compromise as it may be a bit more flexible in use.

look at kifaru for that sort of capacity

I can also recommend Kifaru. I recently met the owner (JAck Smith, I think his name was, he also founded Mountainsmith gear), in WA, and they had their complete line of gear. Although, it is expensive, it is definitely bombproof. And their latest models (forgot the name) is totally modular, so you can adjust as needed. Great gear, will last you a lifetime. I picked up a Woobie from them (blanket that is designed to replace the poncho liner), and my brother picked up a non descript patrol bag from them as well. Great folks, great gear.

Thanks to all that replied! I didn't want to start posting with a question and be a troll and all - I'll try to post more... but, this question has circulated in my mind for quite some time.

Yes, something this big is certainly huge compared to what many use. But, IN the case where a situation were to turn ugly around home-front, I wanted something that would provide the stability to cram everything I had in without the thought of resourcing and 'need'. As well as being in conjuction to handle the load range and suffice in distributing the weight comfortably.

And what I meant by "ugly around home-front," was my thought (actually more of an intuition) something home would occur. Such an occurance, in my mind, would be like a terrorist attack on multiple metro-cities simultaneously. I think this will someday occur, its not a matter to me if it's going to occur, only when!

So, I was looking around for a pack that would be large and CAPABLE enough to carry a load around that range. I mean, a duffle pack would surely be able to fit all of my stuff, but to carry it even a mile? Not possible. If I could carry that much weight for at least a couple miles, the pack has suffice in its duties.

But...that was just a thought in the back of my mind that has slowly continued to grow...thanks again guys for your input

Mods, I'll try to post more...

David Nguyen

It's your call and your strategy, just a thought: if you are in a situation when you need to move quickly some distance on foot, do you really want to carry that much stuff? Most people prefer to keep their BOB fairly compact and only take the real essentials (eg. things you can't efficiently improvise on the spot). It's no good to arrive at your destination all exhausted and out of breath. It might be better to conserve your strength for all the other challenges you'd have to face. Unless you are in terrific shape and do these things on a regular basis I guarantee you hauling a 40kg pack will wear you out in no time.

Have you considered a bicycle with touring bags or even a bike trailer? You wouldn't lose much off-road ability, would increase your speed and more effeciently carry everything.

-Blast

So if something happens, you're just going to throw whatever is at hand into a pack, and set off for the "great wild" to rough it out, high-tech caveman style? That is an amazing BAD unplan, no offense. While I don't always agree with everything Duncan Long says, or how he says it, he sums up the problems with that theory pretty well.

You look at the Norrona and you see a really big backpack; I look at it and see a lot of high quality thread making thousands of stitches. If you load this thing with things that don't float, you will overload those stitches. I also see a lot of fabric that can be cut, poked and abraded through with very little difficulty, if you are tossing things in there willy-nilly, you'll kill it. And possibly tear a hole in your back before you are done.

Assuming you can actually move with this much weight on yoru back. What percent of your body weight is 40kg/88lbs? Anything over half your weight is just BAD if you have to carry it for any length of time, and I would recommend no more than a quarter-to-a third your weight if you are in shape.

I think for what you have in mind, your best bet is to completely avoid an internal frame pack. An external frame pack with a cargo shelf is very forgiving of bulky and badly packed items, and they are more comfortable IMHO for heavy loads. I've even seen them with Pelican cases bolted to them and it didn't feel as uncomfortable as it looked, even if it was unwieldy.

But not matter what you go with, your best bet is to have your core in a pack, and most of it in your vehicle or a cart.

But the question of what are you putting in this pack still stands as a key one, and just as key, do you have a destination where you are expected if you have to bug out?

Re Fishmode

There is a way to carry up to 40Kg and more of gear quite easily and would allow you to cover up to 25-150 miles in a day depending on the terrain and your fitness. Get a good mountain bicycle and outfit with pannier racks and bags. You won't be able to go mountaineering with the bicycle but you may be surprised just how much distance you can cover over difficult terrain in an emergency. In most cases anyway it may be easier to go around the mountain on a bicycle than attempt to go over it on foot. Think along the lines of the Japanese invasion of Malaya or the Philippines in WW2, the Vietcong on the Ho chi min Trail or how British Paratroopers used their bicycles in Arnhem.

I totally agree, Bentirran!

I have 3 bicycles in my stable with one of the applications being the transporting of heavy goods cross country while pushing the bike.

The Vietnamese have demonstrated it's practicality in the roughest of terrain and under the hardest circumstances that we American Military could provide!!!

Thanks for the insight guys! Ironraven, you are killing me here! Lol! Well, I have to admit, you are correct about going into a situation without a plan is very dangerous. No doubt about it. Although if there were a situation where you would have to go unprepared and unnotified into a scenario where you didn't know what was coming around the corner. What would you bring?

For me, I would bring as much as I can carry! Now thinking back into it. The thought of having a mountain bike to help push things forward is very likely to stick to me. But, then say there's the instance the bike were to break down or I were to have to go on foot, for some reason. If the pack had the ability to provide me with those features...I'm happy.

Again, thanks for the insights and hopefully this 'fore-plan' and anticipation will result in a null reality.

Cheers

Assuming I've have less than 300 seconds

I'd toss the totes that carry my camping gear in my car, my rifle and hiking stick on top of them, covered with the sleeping bag, put on my ditchkit and the pack I use for camping and as BOB, and go. If the car dies, open the tote behind the driver's door, lash the bag to the bottom of my pack, grab some food modules out of the tote behind the drivers seat and put them in the pack, put on the pack, sling the rifle and set out as a tripod.

If I don't have the time to grab the extra stuff, I grab BOB with what's in him, as I'm already wearing my ditch kit and go with that. If I have to drop BOB, I'm good with the ditch kit. And if I have to shrug out of that, I've got my PSK with me. Survival gear is just like clothing- layer it.

But I've also got a place to go, and I'm rarely NOT prepared. I walk the fine line between paranoia and preparedness. Even if I'm on the road, I've got the basics in my trunk and EDC. I've thought about this a lot because my car isn't always the most reliable, and weather has a habit of complicating things. I will go as far as I can with as much as I can, by car. And it craps out, on foot. I've got waypoints where I might be able to beg some floor space every 20 miles or so.

Keep in mind, that the pack in question in winter is an old, Medium ALICE pack on a civilian frame (need more gear), while in summer, I use A SpecOps THE Pack with one of thier SAW pouches and one of thier X-6s on each side. The reason why I keep asking about what gear you want to put in this pack is becuase when I see someone who wants to carry a lot of gear, when thier pack get's shaken down, there is a lot of redunant stuff, a lot of stuff that can be consolidated into one or two mutlipurpose items, stuff that can be made lighter/smaller, and just a lot of, well, junk.

For a 40 kg load, I think you should leave one of the gold bricks at home, and probably switch to a smaller kitchen sink.

Regarding a pack that can carry it, I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about the backpack. I think most good quality backpacks will handle at least as much as the person is willing to carry. I've carried 50 lb loads in my 30 year old external frame with no problems, well no problems with the pack at least. But if you're looking for huge carrying capacity, Dana Designs Terraplane has been the standard in the backpacking community for lugging heavy loads.

Also, a bicycle will allow you to carry a lot more, and if you're worried about the bicycle breaking down, barring any major accidents, it will still work as a set of wheels. There really aren't that many things that can go wrong with a bicycle that will render it completely useless, and they're pretty easy to fix.

But like everyone has been saying, rather than spending time trying to figure out how to carry as much as you can, you'll probably be better off in the end if you can learn how to carry as little as possible. Even carrying 40 kg worth of stuff (what is that, like 80-90 lbs?), you're still not gonna be able to carry everything you could possibly need, there's always something that's gonna be missing. Learning how to improvise and make do with what you have is worth more than a backpack full of stuff.

Like Ironraven mentioned, a good rule of thumb is to keep your pack weight between 25%-30% of your body weight, even less if you're not used to it. I think some people in the military might say up to 50%, but I wouldn't count on being able to do that. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's not something an average person can do without a lot of training, and you'll definitely pay for it at the end of the day

Hello,
You may want to check out Mystery Ranch ( www.mysteryranch.com ) if they have not been mentioned. The company is high end and I believe started by the Dana Design founder after selling the label.

Thanks everyone for their comments! I guess I have to think about this a little more...

Thanks again,

Fish Mode

That`s quite a pack. Personally, I carry a 65L pack when hiking that`s about 12-15kg depending on the amount of food I bring. There`s a lot of stuff in it, for any situation that might arise. I don`t have a car, but when I get one, I`ll probably just leave my backpack in there all the time and that will be most of my survival kit, except the typical car- and extra-for other-passengers-stuff.

12 kg is what we did the 3 mile(european) run with in the army. If the back pack is comfortable, you can run with that for hours.

So much of what people buy for emergencies is soeasily improvised in field wih a little knowledge anyway. I`m sure the most important thing in such a scenario would be to get away in a hurry, so I`d pack accordingly.

In this way, I`m also very familiar with my kit, since it`s my spare time, heavily used, recreation pack. A lot of stuff I used to think I needed has been removed. But well, I`m not a fan of owning a lot of stuff anyway.