Badlands Black Jack Ultra Light Pack Review

Badlands Black Jack

Basic Description:

The next line in their Ultra Light packs series. The Black Jack weighs 12 oz and is 1100 cubic inches. It has 1 main compartment and 6 pockets, so you can keep your day hunt gear organized. The pack has a mesh padding on the back and hip belts to keep you cool and comfortable on long hot day hunts.

Just the Facts:

– 1100 Cubic Inches
– 12 oz
– 1 chamber, 6 pockets
– APG camo
– Ultra light material used
– Loop to hang fanny pack from tree

Story:

Fanny packs are a dime a dozen, you can find them produced by almost ever pack company and they are not very big so it is hard to do anything new with them. They are all around 1000 cubic inches, give or take, and they all serve the same purpose of storing your hunt gear for the day. Whether you are on a stalk back country hunt or just walking to the tree stand. So what has badlands done with their newest fanny pack to improve upon a somewhat boring style hunting pack?

First off the pack weighs 12 oz and is made out of their ultra light material. It is a little noisier than their standard fleece type pack material, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use this pack on a stalk. It isn’t anything to worry about; your boots will make more noise than this pack will. It has a great mesh suspension that keeps you cool and helps to eliminate sweat. I sweat like a dog in the winter time and I found this pack to not make me overly sweaty. The hip belt also works very well to keep the pack sucked in tight to your lumbar region and doesn’t budge when loaded down with hunting gear.

The pockets and layout of this pack were very well thought out. I really liked how the waist belt pockets function to hold a range finder, wind indicator, calls, snacks etc… The pack has two smaller pockets on the side of the main compartment that keep things organized and easy to find. There are two sets of compression straps on the pack to keep everything secure and prevents gear sloshing around. Two underneath make the pack smaller and suck it in to your back, and the lateral compression sack squeeze the pack together and double as storage for a lightweight jacket or similar top.

I could honestly see two types of hunters using this pack. Road hunters/tree stand guys hunting for a day. It has enough room for your day hunt gear and lunch and has a loop to hang it on a tree while you are in the stand. The straps on the outside would also allow you to hold a jacket if the temps go up as well. The second type of hunter would be a backcountry hunter who is hunting out of a spike camp and stays pretty close to camp. They pack in with their large frame pack and keep all their day hunting gear in the Black Jack and day hunt with it. At only 12 oz you are not going to notice it is in your pack and a lot guys who have freighter style packs for extended stay trips may benefit from having a sleek fanny pack than a bulky frame pack while day hunting.

If you are guy who likes fanny packs or hunts like the couple of ways I laid out above you should take a look at the Black Jack pack from Badlands. With a warranty like Badlands has you can’t go wrong.

What they could do better:

I would honestly like to see the pack have two compression straps on the top lid of the main compartment to help secure a rain jacket or something a little better. Besides that I think this pack is a real winner!