Exo Mtn Gear Backpacks

Two hunting partners, Steve Speck and Lenny Nelson, started Exo Mtn Gear because neither pack type suited them: internal-frame backpacking packs were light but not built to haul meat, and external frames were heavy and noisy. Their first-generation pack came out in 2014. Exo still designs, sews and ships from the Boise area with a team of seven full-time staff, sells direct rather than through dealers, and makes nothing but hunting pack systems and the accessories that bolt onto them.

The current range is built on one carbon-stay frame, the K4, carrying bags named for their volume in cubic inches: the K4 2200, 3600, 5000 and 7200, plus a K4 EXS sized for women and youth. The K4 5000 is the middle-to-large size for multi-day hunts. The Teratorn 7400 sits outside that naming because it is a collaboration: Shoot2Hunt designed the bag and Exo builds it, and it rides on the same K4 frame with quick detachment between bag and frame. Its 7,400 cubic inches are split into a 5,100 ci main compartment and two 825 ci wings that cinch around the pack.

The K4 5000's fitting system offers four frame heights and five hipbelt sizes, and its hydration compartment has a drain grommet. The hipbelt carries MOLLE panels but no pockets, so Exo's add-on pouches are an extra purchase.

Because there is no shop to try one in, Exo's 30-day guarantee matters more than usual: a pack returned in resellable condition within that window gets a full refund. After that, a limited lifetime warranty covers materials and workmanship for the original owner, with damage outside it repaired at the owner's cost.