This review is about a year late, but better late than never.
Last year I purchased a Hoodlum pack and a frame from a combination between Kifaru and Kifaru equipment via BlackOvis.
I went out to Colorado for a season of deer / elk hunting and found myself in a precarious situation. My brother and I were helping some friends pack an elk out and I slipped down a frozen over water chute in the Junction Creek area (Durango).
I honestly thought this was going to bring serious bodily injury or death as I was sliding quite fast toward what appeared to be a tall vertical drop. All of the cliche movie bits about seeing my life flash before my eyes was indeed a thing, but I digress. After sliding for what felt like a very long distance, my Hoodlum shifted off center of my back and stopped me dead in my tracks by catching on a fell tree in the frozen water. At the time I was probably 210 pounds with an 80+ pound pack out.
There is absolutely no damage to the pack, mounting equipment, frame, etc. The purpose of this email is to praise the craftsmanship in the manufacturing of your equipment. Without the quality and reliability of my pack, I may have never made it off the mountain.
I don't know who within the organization will receive this email, but I hope it can make it up to the shot callers as a testament that the relentless pursuit of quality manufacturing does not go unnoticed.
Thank you for providing exceptional gear for us numskulls. I am sure I am not the only…