This year, seven of our field editors looked through the thousands of new products offered by the outdoor industry, tested hundreds of them, and finally came up with a list of the 22 best. These are Field & Stream's Best of the Best.
Philip Bourjaily, Peter B. Mathiesen, Keith McCafferty, John Merwin, David E. Petzal, Bob Robb, and Dave Scroppo
[BRACKET "Hunting Pack"]
CABELA'S ULTRALIGHT EXTREME HUNTER 4000
Cabela's Ultralight Hunter is made for those of us who hunt sheep at the top of the world and moose at the bottom of it, and who need enough pack to haul camp in and meat out. Tipping the scales at just under 5 pounds, it represents one of the first forays by a hunting-pack manufacturer into the ultralight craze that has revolutionized backpacking. But how would this 4,000-cubic-inch-capacity pack stand up to our test-a 26-mile expedition in Montana's Beartooth Wilderness, where its papery fabric would have to tote a week's worth of gear at 10,000 feet? Very well, indeed, and the waterproof zippers lived up to their billing, surviving more thunderstorms than I'd like to recall. With its cargo and spotting scope pockets removed, it also served double duty as a roomy daypack. The 210-denier nylon fabric is a tad noisy, but except when I'm hunting whitetails, the tradeoff in weight is one I'll take. $200; 800-237-4444; cabelas.com -K.M.
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