Monarch Sika Sack Review

OSS32

Well-Known Member
All,

I recently was given a Sika Sack by Attilla (her indoors) for my Birthday. Having broken it in, I though I would write a quick review given how good the service and product have proved to be.

1. Purchase - obviously I was not involved in this, however Rob was very helpful and she managed to hide the purchase from me so it was a complete surprise. He was also very accurate with delivery times etc.

2. 1st impressions, setup and load bearing - the sack arrived and I was immediately impressed with the quality and finish. There are a number of features which are really useful (coat carrying straps, popper fasteners to "narrow" the sack unloaded) and there is a simple lightweight harness system with a good back board and broad straps.

The straps are not overly padded and instead rely on being broad and firm to take the weight involved. This is an excellent arrangement in my experience and makes the laden sack far more comfortable to carry.

The stitching and taping appear robust and, although only time will tell, it appears built to last.

I took some time in the house to get the straps adjusted to me and then tidied up (which is well worth doing before you have to carry deer across uneven terrain) then load tested as below:
20121215_181615.jpg

3. Field trial - The Sack is very comfortable unladen - does not get in the way moving through dense undergrowth and does not present any noticeable difference in LoP or in a smooth mounting of the rifle. You do sweat noticeably more when carrying it over steep terrain due to the additional insulation on your back - but that is the case with any rucksack barring Jungle packs with the air frame.

Capacity is excellent:
122.jpg123.jpg125.jpg126.jpg

I chose this Sack in order to fully hide culled deer when on sensitive ground.
In this example a good sized Doe is in there (17.5 kilos larder weight) and it was an easy carry across barbed wire fences etc.

Later that morning a doe and kid went in ungralloched to be moved to a more suitable location before gralloching. These were 17kg and 10kg larder weight so would have been close to the weight of a gralloched sika.

I needed a hand on with the sack (so I didn't have to sit down in the bog! but carrying across boggy terrain, over a fence and across a swollen stream did not present a problem). The deer were completely hidden within the sack; however, minor design fault as the lid kept popping off revealing 8 feet stuck into the air!
Rob now has a fix for this and has agreed to pay for the adjustment to my sack :tiphat:... gent.

With the fix for the lid in place this is near perfect for my requirements and I can heartily recommend the sack (and no doubt a lot of these comments apply to the smaller roe sack). Quality appears excellent, well worth a few quid more than some of the cheaper alternatives on ebay... WELL WORTH it.

Thanks

OSS
 

Attachments

  • 20121125_182801.jpg
    20121125_182801.jpg
    148.5 KB · Views: 172
  • 121.jpg
    121.jpg
    251.2 KB · Views: 185
Last edited:
Great review, I have the roe-sack and a slightly smaller munty sack that Phil Ogden made for me. I find Phil's leather strap system works really well on the top flap.
 
Please note: this post was started in 2013, since then modifications have been made; as Keith states above there is now a leather strap and ring securing system for the top flap.

The pockets have also altered and now have zip fastenings - new pictures can be seen on the link/forum post below:


Thanks :tiphat:
 
Well, yesterday I hauled the heaviest load so far in the Monarch/Ogden Roe-sack. A 9 or 10 month old, well fed pricket. I've had three munty in it before but this was heavier and the walk was further - I earnt my beer and curry that's for sure. I am amazed how well made these things are - incredibly strong.
 

Attachments

  • 20240128_095750.jpg
    20240128_095750.jpg
    600.4 KB · Views: 53
  • 20240127_165034.jpg
    20240127_165034.jpg
    209.1 KB · Views: 53
Well, yesterday I hauled the heaviest load so far in the Monarch/Ogden Roe-sack. A 9 or 10 month old, well fed pricket. I've had three munty in it before but this was heavier and the walk was further - I earnt my beer and curry that's for sure. I am amazed how well made these things are - incredibly strong.
When hauling a mature sika hind or sensible stag it would be nice to get some weight on the hips, but I get there. I also get there quicker so must be easier, but thats a relative term :confused:
 
I have one of the new ones. Got it last year. Have brought a few fat sika out of ground I would not like to have dragged a deer through. For me the best thing is you get a clean carcass to the car. I have a harness too that I got from Monarch for red hinds. But if I can get it in the bag I'll carry it out. So far that's be sika only and have no interest in seeing can I manage a fallow!
 
I really do not like this style of Roesack. The weight is not properly distributed. Much better IMHO is a propper frame type pack to which the carcass or meat can be strapped.
 
Had one for years , great design and plenty big enough for 3 roe if like me you are daft enough to try 😀, I particularly like the way the sack sits higher on you shoulders without the weight of the load pulling down on your back.
 
Any photos of one folded down and not in use? I want to see if they're large and bulky when not being used and just on the back.
 
They have 2 straps top and 2 on the bottom which folds the sack considerably when not full.
Is this how it looks then?
RoeSackFrontFold-500x500.JPG

Can you no longer use the pockets when in this configuration?
 
Back
Top