Badlands Superday Pack Review
One of the most important pieces of hunting gear you can own is a backpack. Where else are you supposed to store all the other miscellaneous pieces of gear we convince ourselves we need while in the woods? Whatever you carry in your backpack, the Badlands Superday Pack can handle it. I have used mine for two full deer seasons now and here is everything that I like, and don’t like about it.
Badlands Superday Pack – Build Quality
To start, I am rough on gear. I don’t go out of my way to break anything, but I have a tendency to throw gear around without much thought. This backpack pack has taken a lot of abuse, and to be honest I am more concerned with the equipment inside rather than the backpack itself.
I have dragged this pack through the mud, ripped it through briars, dropped it out of a deer stand, and put it through regular everyday use. The result? If I washed it up a little bit, it could still pass for new. I will be using it for years, and I doubt it will show its age. The majority of the pack is made of Badlands’ new KXO-50 fabric. KXO-50 is a highly durable, soft, and waterproof material. I should also mention that this material is entirely silent.
Badlands also uses incredibly strong stitching on stress points called Aramid Bartacking. Badlands says that they used this material because a single strand can hold 100 pounds. That’s insane! Oh, and it is so tough that it can not be dyed, so it is yellow whether you like it or not.
Badlands Superday Pack – Size & Weight
The “Superday” name, should make it evident that this is a day pack. It is a bit larger than your run-of-the-mill whitetail backpack. Many guys use this pack for the entire weekend and live out of it, which is totally possible. I do not typically hunt like that, but I have camped a few weekends out of this pack.
I purchased this backpack to store my camera equipment and as hunting gear. Filming whitetail hunts takes a lot of gear! My camera equipment and hunting gear bring the pack to about half full. Empty, the Superday pack weighs about 4 pounds.
The Superday has a 1,950 cubic inch capacity. The large main pocket is 1,440 inches. Inside the main pocket, there is also space for a water bladder, but the Superday does not include one. I personally do not use a water bladder, but it is nice to have the option.
The big main pocket is nice, but I prefer the second pocket for organization. It is slightly smaller, and it has a dividing net on the pack bottom and a hanging mesh pocket at the top. I use the main pocket for my camera gear, but this second pocket does a great job at keeping my hunting gear organized.
This pack is definitely big enough to use on an extended hunt. I have found that it is a little big if you are just going on a quick hunt, but if you are spending a long time in the woods and need a lot of gear, the Superday is perfect.
On the sides of the pack, there are plenty of other pockets, seven in total. There are two straps that go around your waist, they have a couple of pockets on each of them. There is a good-sized pocket at the start of the strap. I use one to store my knives, and the other to hold my harness strap, and bow hoist.
There is another pocket near the front of the pack that is narrow, but very tall. It is the perfect pocket for a bow hanger and in my case a camera arm and bow hanger.
The smaller pockets near the end of the waist strap are pretty neat, but unless you are wearing your backpack while hunting, you will not use them as much. In mine, I put on my headlamp, some rubber gloves, and reflective trail tacks. The one thing you need to watch out for is the strap detaching.
The buckle and strap are optional, and you can take them off very easily. Although I learned this the hard way when I happened to notice one of my straps on the ground right before I left my tree stand(out of state) in the dark, talk about luck!
Water Proofing
The material this backpack is made of is totally waterproof. However, in my experience, the zippers are only water-resistant.
I had this backpack on a whitetail hunt in Illinois this year. As our time was running out, nothing could get me out of the stand, not even a constant rain. I sat from daylight until dark in a light-medium but constant rain. At the end of the hunt there was a small amount of water in the backpack, but nothing major.
The amount of moisture that made it in was mostly soaked up into the walls of the backpack, and none of my gear was wet that I did not use in the rain. I was wetter than that gear. Overall, I would call it water-resistant, but not waterproof. It’s a good idea to carry of waterproof pack cover if you’re going to be hunting in the rain.
Additional Features
Other than size and build quality, this backpack is just comfortable. It is super easy to wear and there is not a pinch point or an uncomfortable feeling of any kind when I load this pack down with gear. The waist and chest straps make it even more comfortable and secure as well. Plus you can attach the badlands binocular kit to make carrying your binos more comfortable.
It may sound small, but they also reinforce the hanging strap on the top. I have broken these straps on multiple smaller backpacks before so I was worried about loading a lot of gear in this pack and hanging it from a tree stand for hours, but it is awesome and has never given me a reason to worry.
Back to those cool waist straps I like, that they have holsters! There is one of these holsters on each side, so you don’t have to worry about being left-handed. I will go ahead and say that the holsters are not the best thing in the world, and you definitely need to use the strap to keep your gun stable. It also only works with smaller guns, I think you would struggle to fit a standard size Glock in here. Nonetheless, they are cool and useful for many people.
Finally, there is a detachable bow or rifle boot on the bottom. If you like having all your gear on the backpack and not carrying your bow or rifle in, you can easily and effectively attach it to your pack. This works in tandem with the two straps on the front, which I have also used to strap down extra clothes.
Price & Warranty
Down to brass tacks, this backpack costs around $250. That is a lot for a day pack, but totally worth it in my opinion. I love this backpack, and that single purchase means you will never have to buy another. Badlands also has one of the best warranties in the industry.
Badlands will fix or replace any piece of gear you have for free, forever. They say that they do not care what happened, or who did it, if it says Badlands, it’s covered. They also do not care if you bought your gear from a garage sale or directly from their website, it is all treated equally.
Now that is a brand and a warranty that I can get behind. This backpack is awesome, and to have a warranty like that, they know it. So I am going to do my worst to this pack over the years and not worry too much about that $250, because it is covered forever.
Would I Buy The Badlands Superday Pack Again?
100 times yes. It is a great quality hunting pack, backed by an even better company. It has enough space to carry everything you would need and then some. Although this pack will really shine on a longer hunt where you need a lot of gear. It is also waterproof and has a ton of little additional features that you just have to love. This is going to be my go-to backpack for a very long time.
Superday Pack from Badlands $249.
By Patrick Long – Omega Outdoors
Related Content: The Ultimate Whitetail Deer Gear List
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