Vorn Equipment of Stavanger, Norway has quietly been releasing some fantantiske rifle packs. When I received their Lynx hunting pack a few months ago, I had positive initial impressions. Now, I’ve had the Lynx for long enough to really test it out and get a feel for how it performs.
Vorn’s Lynx is a 12 to 20 liter (700 to 1300 cubic inches) capacity hunting pack with a built-in, quick-release rifle scabbard. The Lynx is the middle child of Vorn‘s lineup, coming in between the 7 and 42 liter options. The scabbard releases by tugging a small orange ring on the left shoulder strap (think a parachute ripcord), allowing the rifle to swing free. The pack has an internal frame, constructed from 6061 T6 aluminum. The whole kit and kaboodle weighs in under 5 lbs.
I’ve taken the Lynx out on some extended walks through varied terrain. In one day of deer hunting this pack and I trekked from open alpine to dense creekside underbrush to long, winding logging roads. The Lynx hugged tight to my back the entire time, even when climbing over and under logs. The frame is solid without being burdensome. While the 12 liter capacity felt a little too tight for the amount of gear I’m used to bringing along, extending it out to 20 liters capacity more than covered what I was bringing along. This exceeds what I need to pack food, water, miscellaneous hunting gear and an emergency kit for a 24 hour hunt.
The fabric, zippers and buckles used on the Lynx are all top-notch. The fabric used is soft, almost felt like. This isn’t to say that it isn’t durable, it is. The YKK zippers are strong and quiet. The waist-belt is comfortable and I really liked the molle webbing included on it. That allowed me to forgo wearing my usual Tactical Tailor R.A.C.K (vintage 2001) and put a couple pouches on the waistband instead. Having quick access to binos or my rangefinder is nice when I’m glassing from hilltop to hilltop.
As for the scabbard, well that’s the real reason we’re talking about Vorn I think. Many people are making backpacks. Few are making them this well, fewer have a scabbard of any type and even fewer still have any type of quick-release. This backpack comfortably fits my wife’s 25-35 lever-action, my Remington 700 and my short-barreled Ar15 with equal ease. The system is ingenious in its simplicity and excellent in its execution. Slide your rifle in, buttstock first and down. Fold over the flap that encloses the rifle and snap the two metal securing clips into place. When it’s time to draw, reach back with your right arm, grab the barrel, with your left arm pull the “rip cord”, then use your right arm to swing the rifle out and up to your shoulder. Despite the wide variety in rifles I’ve tried in the Lynx, they all felt secure and protected. Scoped bolt gun? With Bipod? PDW stock on an AR? The Vorn Lynx fit them all. I can swing my rifles out of the scabbard and into shouldered position between 2-4 seconds. That’s pretty good considering how secure I feel my rifles are when they’re locked in. I do have to be a little more choosy with how I insert my rifles if they have more accessories. One of my slings is more prone to “grabbing” than anything else I’ve put in there. Not just for use as a hunting pack either: the Lynx has become my go-to range bag for long-range shooting days.
The asking price on the Vorn Lynx is $299. I’d say this hunting pack is well worth the price. If you take into consideration the ingenuity of the design combining backpack with scabbard, excellent construction and the deft way those norsemen put the whole package together and I’m willing to bet you’ll agree.
