Thread: 25-35 litre day packs with scabbard - Recommendations??

I've been into my local sports shop here in Taranaki (Magnum Sports in Stratford) on Friday and tried on quite a few. They had the Tatonka 30 & 35L stealth packs, Stoney Creek 25L, a host of different Ridgeline bags, plus a 35L one from Bergara of all people.

I ended up with a Spika Drover 25L after all was said and done, but was very close to buying the Tatonka. After a quick 2 hour bush hunt with my boy in stinking hot 27 degree heat on Sunday afternoon I think I've made a good choice. It is a very well made and spec'd bag for what I need.

The pros:
-Light
-Frame type pack with good comfort.
-Excellent Ventilation thanks to an 'arch' type frame and mesh back pad (I didn't feel like I had a bag on from a heat perspective).
-Comes standard with a 2L hydration bladder.
-Still has stash pockets for a conventional water bottle or other items on the side of the bag body.
The cons:
-No pockets in the hip pads for often used items (ammo, knife etc) that you want to access in a hurry.
-The curvature of the frame makes packing bulky/long items a little awkward and does push the rifle out a bit further when using the scabbard. This is only a minor annoyance.

I can see myself using this as my standard day bag for all hunting and hiking going forward, it was just much more manageable size-wise than the 75L tatonka while still being as comfortable to wear (and cooler - did I mention how nice it was not to have my back totally saturated with sweat??)