Pack showed up today and I picked up a Neo Air in the large size.
The Neo Air rolls up nice and tight, weighs nothing for the comfort of it. Might have to be a little carefull when clearing your area to sleep (sharp stuff) because it sure doesnt feel that tough, but I imagine they wouldn't have released it if it won't hold up (I hope)
I look forward to much better sleeps after using a crappy old thermorest that was always deflated after 2-3 hours of sleep. I'm 6'3" and 235lbs and I dont even come CLOSE to bottoming out at any point and the mattress' air volume is easily adjustable while laying on it.
Not going to miss waking up with charlie horses and bruised hip bones from sleeping on rocks !
They were out of pack light repair kits but I'll get one just in case.
Less than 1/3 the size of the original thermarest.
The new Kifaru G2 has a lot of changes over the previous model, most importantly, the ease of taking the pack bag off and using the frame sheet as a hauler as well as contoured shoulder straps, a new raised lumbar support pads with a ventilationb channel between to reduce over heating/sweating and a thicker back pad piece at the bottom.
I'm amazed at how perfectly this pack fits the contour of my back, its like it was molded to ME.
It took about 1 minute to take the bag off and 5 mins to get back together and to fit me properly again. Definitely sufficient for leap frogging camp and game.
The rendezvous can pack more than any guy would want to haul for any real distance, but the room is nice for stuffing a jacket in quick etc without having to make everything "fit" in a smaller pack.
My only complaint is they wouldnt make it in the camo that they make their military packs in (like the mystery ranch camo I see they now make)
But really,, whatever.
One thing I DONT like about the Kifaru is the reversible fleece camo/orange panels. When hiking through wet brush or in rain they absorb a lot of water and add considerable weight. Fortunately they are easily removeable.
Almost fully loaded (couldnt walk into the bathroom without hitting the top of the door frame with the pack fully stuffed)
Regular load with 9" 'snow' collar tucked in.
Now I'm going to go see if I can arrow a nice blacktail