Exo Mtn Gear
Exo Mtn Gear K4 5000
Exo's weeklong workhorse: a 5,010 ci bag (5,658 ci / 93 L with the included lid) on the carbon-stay K4 frame rated past 150 lbs, sold as a complete $700 system. It pairs a roll-top plus horseshoe zip with the deepest stock organization in the flagship class, with four frame heights and five hipbelt sizes built in Boise, Idaho.
Specifications
Features
Pros
- ✓Rokslide's multi-tester review called the K4 'the most comfortable pack tested' against the industry's best, crediting the custom carbon-stay frame and redesigned harness.
- ✓Fit options lead the category — four frame heights (22–26.5 in) and five hipbelt sizes (XS–XL), backed by a 30-day trial, versus pick-a-curve guesswork with Stone Glacier's Krux/Xcurve.
- ✓Organization is the K4's calling card: horseshoe zip into the main bag, stretch front panel, full-length zippered side pockets, and laser-cut MOLLE — owners say it's the easiest flagship pack to live out of.
- ✓The flap-style load shelf deploys without pulling the bag off the frame, making day-pack-to-meat-hauler transitions faster than Stone Glacier's unbuckle-everything approach.
- ✓The included lid adds ~650 ci and the price includes the complete system — no a-la-carte lid or frame math like Kifaru builds.
- ✓A dedicated hydration compartment with a drain grommet keeps a leaky bladder from soaking your sleep insulation, a detail forum users repeatedly call out.
- ✓Owners rate it 4.9 stars across 529 reviews on Exo's site (98% five-star), and the Boise-based customer service earns Rokslide praise rivaling Mystery Ranch's.
- ✓Integrated bow and rifle carry work stock, and treadmill-style testing threads report no harness slippage running uphill with 30+ lb loads.
Cons
- ✗The bag tapers narrow at the bottom — Rokslide users report bulky sleeping bags like a Western Mountaineering Kodiak in its stuff sack fight to fit.
- ✗Several owners in the long-running K4 thread report harness or hipbelt slippage once loads pass roughly 60 lbs, requiring re-tensioning on pack-outs.
- ✗Side pockets use a single zipper that interferes with the lid when it's fitted — a two-zip design is a common owner wish.
- ✗Bow Spider users note the mount's metal clips don't line up with the K4 hipbelt MOLLE spacing, forcing workarounds for a popular accessory.
- ✗Hipbelt pockets aren't included — the MOLLE belt is bare until you buy Exo's add-on pouches, unlike some competitors' stock belt storage.
- ✗At 5 lb 13 oz complete with lid, it's the heaviest of the big-three frame systems — about 0.3 lb over a Sky 5900 and half a pound over a Metcalf 75.
- ✗The lighter K4X update (about 1 lb savings in prototypes) has limited release in summer 2026 with full launch in 2027, so buyers today are getting last-generation materials.
- ✗Exo sells essentially direct-only, so outside the 30-day trial there's no trying one on in a store the way Scheels stocks Stone Glacier and Mystery Ranch.
Compare the Exo Mtn Gear K4 5000
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