Six Moon Designs Flex PR Backpack Review

The big appeal of The Six Moon Design Flex PR Pack is the ease to gather all of your packrafting (or other gear) and easily secure it into a less cumbersome load.  When you account for all the odd shaped items that you need while packrafting, it can be challenging to fit in your normal style backpack.

Packrafting is such a unique way to access remote areas by being able to carry things in by hiking in! You still have a list of very odd shaped items that you need to take with you. At the minimum you need to carry a paddle, a PFD, warm layers, snacks, water and a first aid kit. If you are thinking of camping or doing more whitewater the list gets longer and heavier.

Six Moons Designs Packrafting Backpack

Enter in the The Six Moon Designs Flex PR Pack! This pack was designed specifically with versatility in mind even though it was designed as a packrafting pack. It is waterproof, lightweight pack and can expand to fit or tie down almost anything you can think of wanting to carry. I have used it to haul my Alpacka Raft into backcountry lakes and rivers, skiing, bike fishing, and to haul my Chainsaw and PPE on trail crews.

Six Moon Designs Flex PR Pack Body

It is made with robust 420 Nylon fabric that can handle more rough abuse while staying lightweight. It comes with a 50L dry bag that has a roll top closure with a release valve to compress after it is loaded. The dry bag doubles as a bag for your pack when you are on the water keeping all those straps (see below) from becoming an entanglement issue if it is riding on top of your boat. Another interesting design feature is the bottom stabilizer  Z-strap. It allows the pack to accommodate different sizes of dry bags (like two 10 inch diameter dry bags), a bear vault or other odd shaped bulky items at the bottom.

It fit trail maintenance tools and it was nice to be able to carry all the PPE in one load. Make sure you secure your load by tightening all the load compressing straps to have less sway in the pack. If you don’t your load will become a back breaking outing as I found out on a few trips. Once it is dialed in you are good to go!

Pockets and Straps

It comes with heaps of straps providing countless options to strap and compress your gear. In fact it almost has too many straps. The webbing along the sides of the front pocket each has 9 loops to carabiner on anything that does not fit inside the pack. It has a loop at the bottom for an ice ax or trekking/ski pole attachment. The two water bottle side pockets are removable and deep enough to load in a fly rod or other items.

The hip belt has snack and stash pockets. The sternum strap on the chest harness is too small for a phone, but could fit a Garmin In Reach. The back of the pack has another large stretch pocket with a zipper designed to hold your paddle. I played around with my paddles and if I was doing a day outing without the dry bag, I liked to stash them on the sides of my rolled up boat to protect the tubes from bushwhacking on the Six Moon Designs Flex PR Pack.

Six Moon Designs Flex PR Shoulder Harness and Waist Belt

The Six Moon Designs Flex Pack PR was pretty comfortable after getting your load adjusted and secured. It says it can comfortably hold up to 45lbs. The heaviest and most awkward load I  carried with the pack was a 10+ pound chainsaw, 1 gallon gas container, ax, extra water and gear around 35 pounds. It was a welcome break for my back and much more comfortable than my normal work pack with the heavy loads. It has two options for a shoulder harness- Flight traditional harness or a s- curve for women.

The Six Moon Designs Flex PR Pack came with a size large Flight shoulder harness that still was able to tighten to fit a women’s 5’4” frame. It had nice padding where needed and the back could adjust to accommodate different size torsos. The hip belt has nice pockets and padded adjustable straps.

Six Moon Designs Flex PR Backpack Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Easy to secure odd-shaped packrafting gear
• Versatile design for various outdoor activities
• Comfortable fit, adjustable straps and pockets

Cons:

• May have too many straps
• Can become backbreaking if not secured properly

Overall Impression

I was really happy with the Six Moon Designs Flex PR pack ($280.00). It held up to the abuse on the river with it’s abrasion resistant material while carrying a load of packrafting gear and earned a spot next to the well loved HyperLite Southwest 40 in our gear closet. If I was going out on a packrafting, trail building or any wet adventure I would pick the Flex PR multi use pack!

Related Packrafting Gear

1. Alpacka Packrafts
2. Alpacka Packrafts vs AIRE Packrafts
3. Sea to Summit 60L Dry Bag