I have owned a Karrimor SF sabre 75 for a year now and I opted for this pack after I became fed up with the PLCE bergen that I had been using for many years. The PLCE bergen is a capable rucksack with good load carrying capacity, high quality construction and some handily placed pockets. The huge drawback with it is the waist strap. First of all the strap does not tighten enough to fit my average sized waist and secondly it is too high to be able to distribute the load to the hips and legs. This is due to the fact that it was designed around a soldier wearing webbing, a series of pouches worn on a belt around the waist. The pack will sit on top of those pouches fairly well but if your not wearing webbing then you have no reliable means of distributing the weight. The effect that this has is that all of the weight is on your shoulders and back which means that your loads feel much heavier.
The Karrimor SF Sabre 75 has a capacious 75 litre capacity. It is fully compatible with the PLCE system and will accept PLCE side pockets to further increase the capacity.
Without the side pockets this pack is a good sized weekend pack, you can easily fit clothing, sleeping equipment and your standard bushcraft equipment into the large main pocket. On the lid you have a large double zipped pocket that will take an A4 map or several A4 maps. I store a ridiculous amount of kit in the lid pocket including my First Aid Kit, Knife, Saw, NATO Field Dressing, Notebook, Map, Compass and Head Torch. On the underside of the lid is a handy zipped mesh pocket. This is large enough to store even more kit and will also take a map sized item. I'm not certain why they went for the mesh netting for this pocket, i managed to tear mine quite early on but it was easy to repair with some paracord.
Inside the main compartment is a slip pocket to store larger, flat items and with that is the traditional Velcro fastened foam mat padding. A stiff and sturdy sheet of closed cell foam, similar to gardening kneeling mats that serve to protect your back from the contents of your pack digging in. The foam mat is handy for sitting on as well when everything is wet and cold. It also helps to keep the pack from getting too close to your back and therefore too hot. This works in combination with the Coolmesh back system which greatly reduces "sweaty back" syndrome common on other packs. The Coolmesh back system really is noticeable and works really well.
The pack is festooned with webbing straps that allow an enormous amount of adjustments to be made to make it fit better, position the load better, make it quieter as you move and reduce the overall size profile. Literally everywhere you look on this pack is an adjustment strap. I have never seen a more adjustable rucksack. The detail goes further than that though, for example, on many of the larger tightening straps is a little black plastic clip which allows you to clip the slack onto main strap, that is the 'live' end of the webbing straps. This stops them from flapping about and getting caught on things as you move. With another pack that i owned, the loose straps that flapped around used to make a clapping sound as i walked which when stalking deer puts you at a disadvantage.
These clips are such a simple thing but make a huge difference.
You have two Ice axe loops and corresponding handle straps that allow you to mount two axes onto the outside of the pack to save room on the inside but also to make accessing them easier. I only have one ice axe and that fits snugly, the Gransfors Bruks small forest axe that I usually carry fits quite well but I do find that it works it's way loose sometimes. I have taken to clipping the axe sheath strap over the top of the rucksacks axe loop to make sure that it cant fall off. Also included are two crampon loops, I don't have any crampons so I have no idea how well they fit.
As a standalone pack, everything works, fit's well and looks good. As with the PLCE bergen, you can attach side pockets to this pack. The Sabre 75 accepts PLCE compatible pockets, in fact mine are PLCE pockets. They attach via heavy duty YKK zips and fastex buckles and are very secure. Adding the side pockets increases the load carrying capacity by 40 litres, leaving you with a massive 115 litres of storage.
The side pockets have the same benefits as they do in the PLCE world in that they can be removed and connected together by the zips and attached to a PLCE yoke harness system. You then have a very good day sack which means that your main rucksack can be left at camp for day trips away while you use the side pockets as a smaller daysack. Two bags in one. The Yoke can be folded up quite small and stowed in the slip in the internal side pocket when not in use.
The Karrimor SF Sabre 75 does not ship with side pockets included, they are sold separately. I cant comment on the Karrimor side pockets as i have never used them, I took the side pockets from my PLCE bergen and used them.
Another big difference between the Sabre 75 and the PLCE bergen is that the Sabre has 6 side adjustment straps, 3 on each side. Without pockets these allow you to tighten up the side and make it smaller if needs be, with pockets they allow you to bring them all the way around the pockets to add structure to the whole thing. They will even reduce the profile of a half full side pocket. These straps are very useful for attaching other bulky items to the rucksack. I often strap my folding buck saw and have even carried a rifle in a gun slip on these straps. The possibilities are endless.
Another plus for this pack is that the main compartment has it's own tightening strap that runs over the top of the compartment. This enables you to squash down any bulky items such as clothing or a sleeping bag to further reduce the profile of your bag and not have to rely on the top lid to compress it all down. This is handy because when you use the top lid to compress it all down, you risk squashing items stored in the top lid compartment. Compressing the main compartment down in this ways helps the lid to fully encompass and seal off the main compartment which helps to keep water out.
The waist strap is heavily padded for comfort and is very adjustable to fit all sizes of people. The waist strap also has a gear loop, similar to those found on climbing harnesses from which you can attach other items, a pouch or water bottle perhaps. There is a sternum (chest) strap included which is meant to stop the shoulder harness straps from moving apart. I have not needed to use this at all.
This leads us onto the shoulder harness system called the "S shape shoulder harness". This is an ergonomically designed harness as opposed to a couple of straps. The shoulder harness works incredibly well to distribute the load and has a serious amount of padding to reduce rubbing and the cutting effect that some rucksack straps cause. It is excellent and you can really feel the difference.
A camel back drinking straw clip is included on the left hand shoulder strap.
The very first time that I loaded this pack up with the same contents that I was used to carrying in the PLCE bergen, I immediately noticed that it felt lighter. It was the same weight of course but the load distribution throughout my body was so good that i could literally feel it in the my thighs and lower legs. I was able to walk a lot further than before and if I needed to then I could carry a lot more weight.
This bag changed things for me. I think that the Karrimor SF Sabre 75 is an excellent rucksack and a game changer for those looking to carry medium to heavy sized loads for long distances.
For balance, some things that I did not like about the Karrimor SF Sabre 75 are the mesh pocket on the underside of the lid. I would prefer a more solid pocket.
The sheer amount of padding on this bag makes it very comfortable but also prone to soaking up water. I would also like to have seen a small pocket or pouch on the front of the pack to fit a small first aid kit into.
The cost, At around £180 it is an expensive bit of kit, worth it, but still a lot of money.
The verdict then is good, for my needs as both a student of and a teacher of Bushcraft, this bag ticks all of the boxes. I recommend this rucksack for Mountaineering, Bushcraft, Hill walking, DofE, Expeditions and if I were a soldier, I'd rather have this that the PLCE bergen.
Some technical information
Features
● Coolmesh back system
● F-Format internal frame (removable)
● Padded waist belt
● S-shaped shoulder harness
● Sternum strap
● One main compartment
● Compression straps
● Compatible with side pockets (PLCE)
● Lid carriage straps
● Zipped lid compartment
● Stuff pockets
● Crampon loops
● Twin ice axe holders
● Map pocket (fits A4)
● Helmet friendly lid compression
● Rotproof thread
● Reinforced with bartacks
● Durable water repellent (DWR)
● YKK zips
Reviewed by Matt @ http://bushcraftandsurvival.com
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