Kifaru. Worth the money???

[Ogden]

The Omni belt, even with the padding is quite soft and thin. It works, though, because of where the weight is supported and it seems to mould to the hips rather than sit rigidly on top.

Thx for the answer. Sounds very nice. I decided to go for the MysteryRanch NICE frame two years ago. Kifaru was the alternative option (I liked the design of the NICE Load Sling better than the Kifaru version). Very satisfied with the Mysteryranch waistbelt. Quite thick (more padded than the stiff Gregory ones). And - the best - kind of modular parts. Two pieces of the waistbelt (located on top of your kidneys) can move inwards, and are connected with the rest of the waistbelt via a 'wing'. So if you tighten your waistbelt, the kidney-pieces are pressed inwards, and: no more holes or sliding down on your back. It really works well, even with heavy loads.
Till I am ready for a McHale pack in 20 years, The NICE should make it. Good quality. But Kifaru remains interesting. The models around 60l would make a good grab'n'go-pack.

 

[Harry The Camper]

Thanks for the info guys. I have a British bergen right now. The main problem I have is that its designed to be worn over webbing and I don't have any. Having to save up either for a Zulu or ZXR.

 

[Exploriment]

i looked at the emr from the link you just gave me and thought, huh, that looks like a pretty decent bag i wonder how much it costs?

then i had a heart attack. i have never seen one of these bags but my personal opinion is no, they are not worth a re mortgage of your house!!!

i go on expeds for 8 months at a time and use a beghaus vulcan and have never had it break.

If this was say, AutomobilesUK and the discussion was say, whether the latest Aston Martin was worth the money and someone popped up with “Cor blimey, guv’nor, look at the quid they’re wantin’ for that! Me 75 Ford Cortina’s got wheels and it goes. Good enuf for me!” would the response be “Well thanks so much for offering that utterly worthless contribution to the discussion.”?

If this was say, DinnerTimeUK and the discussion say, was about a recipe with some pricy ingredients, and someone felt they just had to say “Oooh, expensive! Me can of bangers and mash from Marks and Sparks only costs me five pence and it sure is tasty” might the response be “And your point is?”



I can never understand why people feel compelled to share with everyone that they can’t for the life of them understand how some items are of a higher quality than others will cost more than items of a lesser quality. Or that said quality item is beyond their price range.

Whether it be boots, knives, packs, clothes, whatever, someone always has to offer up their jejune commentary that they think it’s too expensive for their liking, and their bargain brand version is just as good.

It contributes nothing of any worth to the discussion.

:aargh4:

And invariably it always seems like the people decrying the fact that any and all manufacturing has moved offshore to the third world, are also the people whining about the prices of the things that actually are still built in the first world.

:twak:

To answer your question. Yes they are worth it.

And for those who can’t fathom why a Kifaru pack costs more than a clapped out East German surplus haversack, it’s built like a tank, has a top notch suspension system, can carry massive loads in comfort, can convert from a pack to a pack frame in seconds, is completely modular, is part of a system, is made by people with decades of pack building experience in a first world country that are paid a living wage, have superb customer service, have a terrific support system in the form of a massive number of happy customers contributing to a discussion forum, is being praised to no end by people who have been using them for years on missions in the mountains of Afghanistan, hunting far out into the wilds of North America, etc., etc., etc.

I own five of their packs and numerous accessories. That ought to tell you some thing. And I am by no means rich. I use packs. I don’t judge things solely by petty metrics of whether I can save a little bit of money. Some things in life need to be quality items, and I will happily pay a little bit (and it really is just a little bit when you do the real math) for those quality items. And I feel pity for people who can’t grasp that.

 

[UKdave]

Whats "better", an ultralight made from Dyneema with carbon stays that doesnt fit, or a heavy pack (M/R, kif, and others) that fit? If you do any amount of packing, then you already know the answer...

 

[johnboy]

Whats "better", an ultralight made from Dyneema with carbon stays that doesnt fit, or a heavy pack (M/R, kif, and others) that fit? If you do any amount of packing, then you already know the answer...

What about an 'ultralight' that fits??

 

[Buckshot]

It contributes nothing of any worth to the discussion.

Neither does your rant xp!

 

[tetra_neon]

Wow, that's a lot of writing...

Anyway, I love the look of Kifaru's Hunting Packs, despite their weight. The 'Long Hunter' one looks like you could live out of it for months!

If you bought Kifaru, did you get hit with UK import customs tax? Was it painful? I have a number of purchases i'd love to make, but don't reaaaaaally fancy paying her majesty +30% of the total.

 

[Tiley]

If you bought Kifaru, did you get hit with UK import customs tax? Was it painful? I have a number of purchases i'd love to make, but don't reaaaaaally fancy paying her majesty +30% of the total.

Yes, you do get clobbered. The duty on goods-over-whatever-value-it-is (ludicrously low) is one thing; the thing that narks me is the 20% VAT that is also added. You used to be able to 'trick' HMRC by having goods sent as a 'present' but I don't think that works anymore. Still, in the misguided belief that these tax hits help in some way to relieve the deficit, I'm almost happy to pay.

I do like the look of Kifaru's new(-ish) lightweight range of packs... they've even got one with the volume I want... and Mystic Ranch stuff looks rather good, too... oh dear!

 

[gordonmac]

What about an 'ultralight' that fits??

That's my kinda pack.

 

[suburban bushwacker]

Kifaru = quality will be remembered after price has been forgotten