I purchased the Alps Outdoor Z Commander w/ Freighter frame pack along with a Kelty Cache Hauler. I have to say that this frame is very good quality and strong. I was very pleased and surprised at the quality of the pack. It also has a ton of space.Compared with the Kelty I listed, the Alps is quite a bit larger. The frame is heavy and the pack solid. The frame is different than the Kelty but with minor differences. The Kelty pack is much heavier fabric and has metal arms to support the pack shelf instead of heavy nylon straps. The Kelty however is quite a bit smaller.
Honestly, If I knew that the quality of the Alps pack and frame were this good, I would have purchased two and saved some coin. The Kelty is $97.00 more than the Alps. I am disapointed with the Kelty. It has a short frame and pack, and it sells for around $220.00
If you want a bunch of room,a well built pack, and a solid frame for packing, at a great price , buy the Alps.
... I honestly cannot guarantee that this pack will meet all of YOUR requirements ... But I am confident that, for the price, it is the FIRST pack you should purchase and evaluate because I could have saved over $800 if I had found this pack BEFORE buying others. The ILBE is "worth it" but is very heavy and is not optimal ... The Eberlestock V90 is just way over-priced and ain't "all that" ... a good pack, but not **THAT** good".
This pack is really two packs in one (BOTH, at the same time, BTW) ... You can strap a large duffle or a 90 (plus) liter kayak dry-bag or even a quartered deer or a full gerry-can or a stack of 5-gallon buckets, using the cargo-shelf, in conjunction with the provided cargo straps. The ruck portion can fold up and out of the way or can be quickly and easily removed. So can the separate accesory "wings", which have pockets for critical gear. There is a dedicated, elastisized retainer-pocket for a rifle butt (along with upper cynch straps) ... This is a really versatile and light-weight pack that even comes with 3 cargo strap extensions.
Cons: Design employs split-rings to retain the mounting and adjustment pins ... Cotter-type spring-pins (with retention-notches) would be much better but are cheap and easy to source. ALSO ... My friend said that HIS Commander frame was overly squeaky and made too much noise ... He said it bugged him. I do not intend to use this pack in a scout-sniper role and I am not noticing anything much worse than full ALICE noise.
I seriously doubt that you will regret this purchase. NO OTHER decent cargo-frame can do so much for anywhere near this price. Truly gives much of the capability of a Kifaru or Mystery-Ranch cargo rig, at a tiny fraction of the cost.
Do this ... You can always drop $400 to $700 to upgrade, later (LoL!).
SPECOPS ? ... You can afford to pay seven times this price ... Go for it !
CLEARLY AND WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, THIS PACK SYSTEM IS WAY SUPERIOR TO MY CFP-90 OR MY MALICE CARGO RIG OR MY MOLLE II GEN4 Packs ... All those systems cost more than this one and I would quickly trade any of those, for this one ... I will keep my Eberlestock V90 and my ILBE, though ... they cost more but they are very good packs ... My Camelback BFM and the Maxpedition Condor II and FALCON II are also quite worthy (but much smaller capacity).
Buy ALPS OutdoorZ Commander Freighter Frame Plus Pack Bag, 5250 Cubic Inches Now
I like to camp and backpack in the wilderness, so I tend to carry a lot of equipment. I did a lot of research looking for a larger, more versital backpack, and once I determined that an external-frame design would meet my needs better than an internal-frame unit, I compared all the models I could find. I selected the ALPS Commander backpack and freighter frame combination. The ALPS beat them all in functionality and features.First of all, the unit as advertised, is really two products in one. The backpack itself can be removed from the frame and the 'freighter frame' part used to carry firewood or other cargo. The shelf at the bottom is part of that functionality, as well as the side cargo pouches that are part of that configuration. Since, I'm only interested in using it as a backpack I've removed the shelf (to remove weight) and moved the freighter frame pack portion to the outside of the backpack where those storage compartments can be easily accessed. That configuration provides room for more equipment and still provides access to all of the backpack compartments. I stuff it full of equipment and supplies, so it's weighs around 50 lbs. That said, it carries well, and is balanced and comfortable when setup properly.
I prefer an external frame design over an internal one because the frame can be used to strap on additonal pouches and equipment, and the frame protects the backpack when it's in contact with the ground. This keeps the pack from getting wet on damp ground or cut by sharp rocks.
Overall this is a great pack and I'm somewhat surprised it's priced as low as it is when compared to other models available with less capacity.
Read Best Reviews of ALPS OutdoorZ Commander Freighter Frame Plus Pack Bag, 5250 Cubic Inches Here
I was searching for a pack (frame+pack) to serve as the pack for my BOB/SHTF long term all weather survival kit. I have served 10yrs in the Army, so 1 pack to serve as my A+B bag. I have plenty of experience with the MOLLE as I have carried and rucked with one quite a lot, and have heavily modified it over the years to fit my needs, but it has proven to just be too inefficient for my intended use. I have also used the internal frame Field Pack (L), it was even more restricting, unbalanced, and quite frankly too much to purchase.So upon receiving this, it came decently packed, but in a box that was too big IMO, everything was in order. So I sat down on the couch to get familiar with the pack, adjusting for fit, removing it from the frame and reassembling it. This immediately exposed the first highly needed modification. The cotter pins that hold the pack together have a "spring-loop" much like a key chain that hold the cotter pins. There are 18 of them in total if you want to disassemble the frame. 10 if you want to remove the pack to haul game or wood or what not. If this was attempted in frigid temperatures, I think it would create a big problem once your fingers started loosing dexterity from the cold. I opt to swap out all the of the cotter pins with "lock pins" or "snapper pins" for a quick release method that could be done with gloves on with an added advantage of not having to ever worry about losing one of those "spring-loops". This upgraded cost about $32 to replace all the pins on the bag which is still under the Kelty version of this bag by a large margin!
This is an expedition size pack, there is no getting around that, the frame is large, and it extends vertically with adjustment. When I loaded up this bag which included my Rem 700 30-06, Rug 10/22 Take Down mounted on the opposite side with all my other gear (full gear list to survive for years to include snowshoes) it was 93 lb. This is a lot of weight, but it carried it well, and balanced well. I purposely tested the weight with a 30min walk, and though it was heavy. I didn't have any strange pressure points developing..very good sign! I have not had a chance to field test the bag, but the motto "If you take care of your equipment, it will take care of you" has always stood true with everything I have owned.
I really like the design of the frame, and now going through the process to allow the frame to convert into a sled utilizing the existing cotter holes, so that I can pull my cargo at times (like when there is a significant amount of snow on the ground) rather than carry it. If you've ever pack-carried a field dressed elk out in deep snow, you'd rather pull it than carry it...especially considering the load rating on snowshoes if you have them.
All-in-all, its an excellent pack for the money, and if you're looking for an expedition size pack that is versatile and won't break the bank, consider this one!
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I spent a good amount of time researching backpacks for camping and kept going back and forth between internal/external frame, different makes/models... all depending on the price. I didn't want to spend over $70ish but after looking more into the ALPS Commander (reading reviews, watched a youtube video of a guy unboxing it etc) & mostly being able to load up my rifle plus the frame aspect of having a tray that could be used in bunch of different ways, I said okay.. and bought it. First of all, it arrived very quick (2days cause I signed up for Amazon Prime's 30 free trial) and once I got it out of the box, it took a little bit for me to get it setup correctly cause the bag portion can come completely off the frame and you can adjust the belt etc (also the frame came with two canvas sides w/ pockets so I tried to get it all worked in etc).. I loaded it up with all my gear, rifle and was also able to get my bow & arrows (the bow breaks down) right next to the rifle and in the little rifle stock holder that comes with the Commander bag(so there's plenty of room for all that and you can expand the straps to make more room). After loading it all up, and I mean all my camping gear.. including a 3 person tent (that tray works great for all sorts of things!!), extra blankets, tarp, ax, shovel, stove, knives, ammo, fishing tackle gear, mess gear, & food (basically all the other things I would normally bag up separately), I lifted it and thought okay maybe I went overboard cause by then it got pretty heavy, until I buckled up the hip belt and then all the weight came right off my shoulders. In short, I'm extremely impressed with this bag and its quality. I took it out last weekend and was just amazed that in the back of my truck everything I needed was all in one place, inside this bag. After three days and two nights out, it stood up great and this is a bag that I believe will last me a long time to come. The zippers work real good too.. my only concern is with the plastic buckles but that's with most bags these days. I put mine to the test pretty good and had no issue with the buckles.. though I'd imagine in time they'll probably break at one time or another.. good thing is that it came with three extra straps for using on the frame, so I take those with me for just in case. I was pretty hesitant to spend over $100 for a "backpack" but now, I'm glad I did.. this ALPS Commander is more than just a bag though, I see that now and the quality is well worth the money.Save 16% Off
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