hey guys scott reekers here with eastmans hunting journals and i'm here today to tell you about the
ia2k backpack and do a review to tell you all about all the features that are here
from this pack from initial ascent before we get started make sure you subscribe to eastman's
hunting journal's youtube page so the first thing that i really want to focus in with this pack
is this frame this is a beefy frame a lot of brands have worked really hard
to figure out carbon fiber what do we do with carbon fiber is it strong enough for a backpack
is it strong enough for a tent pole we've been using it for years inside things like tripods
but the biggest thing that makes this frame from initial ascent stand out is this is heavy carbon
fiber we're not talking about lightweight carbon fiber you can twist and bend or that has anything
poking out that you can break i've seen that for years on different backpacks where there can
sometimes be breakage on carbon fiber carbon fiber stays i've seen that happen as well this is not a
carbon fiber stay this is an actual carbon fiber frame that is built beefy enough to take the load
now the beauty of this is that the frame has been used for a while and it's interchangeable with the
ia4k pack bag and now the ia6k pack bag there's also a day pack option that hooks to this as well
for most applications most people this 2k is probably going to function as a day pack with load
carrying capabilities and we'll get to that in a second you can see my sandbags that are sitting
here there's also some other cool features number one you'll notice this slot right here you can
hang your rifle on that how many of you with the sling have had a rifle just fall off repeatedly
this will hold on to your rifle sling and hold it in place still get quick access to it lift up and
over and that makes it very easy to get to i've seen guys take and put rear elk quarters one on
each side and hang it off the sides of those hooks right there that are meant for a sling
but it's strong enough for that to happen now let's get into a couple of the other features
number one you're going to notice on this hip belt it's a little bit different because one of the
things that happens with a full wrap belt is there can be pinch points on the back well guys initial
ascent said what can we do about that well how can we make that a little bit different and eliminate
that pinch point well they took the padding out that goes between the lumbar pad and your hip
pads and in all honesty i think i've tested just about every brand of backpack out there
and so i've had it on some of them you know just everybody's frame is built a little different
so when you try this on if you're a person who gets a lot of pinch right here on different packs
this might be a pack to actually consider any of you who have watched any of the hunts that i've
done that are on beyond the grid or anything like that some of these other reviews you will know
and you'll probably see i probably made fun of for sweating on some internet forms before
there is a lot of space between where the shoulder pads end and the lumbar pad starts for wind
and air to flow through when air flows through like that that gives you the ability to dry off
that's a big deal to me we're going to actually take this pack bag i'm going to stuff some
sandbags inside of it we're going to weigh it and i'm going to take it for a hike but first i want
to tell you about the features of the bag just so you can really get familiar with it number one
this is a giant panel loader style you're going to open it up you can lay it out i like a backpack
where i can lay all my stuff inside and get it the way i want if i want to take these heavy
sandbags and put them inside this bag i have no qualms about doing that looking at this stitching
i'm also looking at the waterproof zippers that are here plus i also know that these outside
pockets of which there are two they expand so if you need to put your meat inside of
here say this is a day hunt if you want to put your meat inside the pack that's a possibility
you can also strap it to the frame allowing you to carry the meat between the bag and the frame full
disclosure we're testing gear that's what this is this is not a um you know i'm not out hunting
i'm not doing anything like that this is 100 about testing this out so these are the two pockets that
i talked about these are what i'm gonna stuff full and you can see this is stretchy material
a heavy stitch right here this is meant to make sure that any that any of that weight that's
right there this is heavy duty this also drains water you gotta have your snacks for day hunt
stuff those in there my top pack next up i've got my first aid kit
so put those in there close up right there i'm going to pull this open right here
open her up and you can see this is the space i'm gonna play around with this
i'm gonna take a base layer put that down here we're getting this this puffy
and when you're getting to know a pack you really want to spend some time and see how
it kind of lays out so loosen up down here that's one of the things you want to do with
this particular pack get that just right so it'll expand properly this piece simulates a
back strap you know or your tenderloins for a lot of your spare cuts and so i'm gonna put that right
here want it in the middle of my back let's zip this up and show you how this thing shapes out
so get that done before you start throwing that meat on there because you want all
this spread out we're actually going to start breaking this away from the frame
and you can see that there are a lot of points where this attaches to this carbon fiber frame
you want to have a lot of opportunity for this pack to stay together
breakages happen i don't care what brand you are working with breakages do happen and so when
that does you want to make sure that you've got plenty of opportunities to keep that strapped in
and we're going to get this guy ready to put our simulated meat bag in so now i've got this laid
open meat bag simulation that i got going right here first one's going to go down in this space
second one is going to go up here sandbags keep a consistency that allow you to see how a pack
will function with meat on board you know i know it's heavy but i want to give you guys an actual
weight of how much we're putting in here i'm not going to go hike this 10 miles gonna get the
up and down sorted out with this so you can see that i've loosened this up
and now i'm pulling this and you can see this is getting tighter
always make sure you're getting the right pieces too because when you
when you hook up to the wrong strap it doesn't carry right this is going to be heavy
and this keeps everything loaded in don't put anything underneath these straps that you don't
want to get squished make sure you keep your bladders in the bladder pocket that's up here
i'm going to get this right here we're gonna pull it up oh okay we are at 80 plus here so just kind
of verify that we will do some walking with this guy i adjusted this a little bit pull this away
move it up and down so i moved up just a little bit here's that airway that i was talking about
earlier so you can see that now if only there were tailgates in the back country
when you're doing elk quarters or a deer front and rear
i have become very dependent on across the body waste poles i'm going to cinch that down
so we're gonna go for a little hike on this blustery day um brandon is in trouble he gave
me these sandbags told me they were only about 70 pounds he was wrong it's a lot more than that
that's okay because you don't actually get to weigh your backpack in the backcountry
that's just not there and so one of the goals you want to have with any backpacking under any
load is you don't want to be bent over like this hiking you want to be able to stay as straight as
possible i know you're going to get a little bit especially when you start powering up some hills
shoulder lift is good i could probably stand to tighten this side a little bit yep there you
go felt it tighten on the shoulder don't want too tight because i can inhibit your breathing
but first first thought is this is this is good i'm under this weight i've done several hikes
with it not this much weight but you have to at least once take it for a quarter mile spin before
you do the real heavyweight i'm happy with how it's sitting happy with how it's riding i'm happy
with how it's retaining weight in place you can hook this pack up to the ia4k you can also hook
it up to the ia6k for your expedition level so make sure that you give initial ascent a look if
you're in the market for a pack want more reviews like this make sure you subscribe to the eastman's
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