I've been having a hard time finding the right pack - I tried several from Mystery Ranch, Osprey, Eberlestock, etc. I decided on the WUULF because it uses materials that you could only normally find on a military pack without looking too much like one. Overall it's an excellent pack with a well thought-out design. However, there are a few oversights imo and features that I really wish were here. This pack checks a lot of boxes for me but at the same time, it leaves a little to be desired. "Almost Perfect"
The good:
- Well made with good materials and not too heavy by itself.
- Grab handles all around
- Floating Lid
- Removeable waistbelt (I wish more packs had this)
- Doesn't overuse molle webbing or look overly tactical (This is subjective)
- Has a really nice color. It's somewhere between a dark grey and ranger green to my eyes. Would be cool to see a 2-tone version.
- Choice of 2 frame sheets and a removeable laptop sleeve.
- Very affordable at it's sub-$200 price point.
Things to improve:
- The use of G-hooks for the side compression straps was probably not the best choice; they tend to pop out pretty easily if the pack isn't fully loaded. I'm going to try and replace these with standard 3/4 buckles or Fidlocks.
- Overuse of Hi-Vis Orange Liner. I don't think the top cinch area needed to be bright orange. When the pack isn't full, the lid tends to sag and the orange gets exposed way too easily. I find myself constantly trying to hide the orange and it just keeps popping out. I think they could keep the orange liner on the interior of the bag, but make everything else black or the same color as the exterior.
- Straps are a bit too wide. When worn, the outer edges of the strap tend to flare out and float above your shoulders. I feel like they could have fixed this easily by sewing in the shoulder straps to the back at an angle so that it conforms better to your natural shoulder shape. Most people aren't gonna have perfectly flat square shoulders.
- I really wish this pack had an adjustable harness/yoke similar to how Mystery Ranch does it. Like I was saying before with the shoulder straps, I just feel like they don't fit very well and I would like to be able to adjust the height.
- Pack shape. I wish that the bottom of the pack was slightly wider so that it would stand upright on its own when put on the ground. Maybe just make the pack taper down slightly (Larger at the bottom, narrower at the top)
- Push the Lid adjustment point down about an inch or two. I would like to be able to pull the lid backwards slightly more so that it sits better when the pack isn't full. (and that would help hide the bright orange)
- Not a negative, but I'm hoping to see a ~32L version of this pack someday with an adjustable frame and all of the design changes listed above. (Or maybe a 2.0 version of this pack). As it is, it's a decent size but I sometimes find it to be just a tad too small depending on use. I understand that this pack is somewhat able to be overloaded due to the top cinch/bag design but again, I'm not trying to have all that orange showing.