Camping With Tatonka: Testing the Lastenkraxe and G82 Backpacks
My lovely girlfriend Jessica is not an outdoorsy person. But she is interested, willing to learn, and has already proven herself as a capable shot with my handguns and rifles.
I on the other-hand consider myself a dedicated outdoors person. Its not uncommon for me to camp alone, earlier and later in the season than most people, and with only the necessities of equipment.
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Drumheller Badlands |
At the end of August we went into the badlands of Drumheller to hike and spend the night. I thought I’d ease her into the experience by staying in a structured camp-ground where we could park the car and would have a fire pit. I have to confess that I have always considered this sort of camping cheating: where 90% of your home comforts come with you and there’s a convenience store 20 minutes down the road to cover that last 10%.
So I was pleased when afterwards she suggested: “Next time lets go somewhere with less dogs and kids. A little further out?”
That meant going the opposite direction the next weekend: West into Kananaskis Country, leaving the car and hiking down a washed out trail to camp beside a remote creek.
It would be a test for Jess, who had never done truly “on-our-own” camping and a test for some the new equipment I’d picked up recently.
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Tatonka Lastenkraxe and Tasmanian Tiger G82 |
With a few years at Wholesale Sports under my belt, and healthy addiction to gear, there is always new kit coming in and out of my closet. But the new additions this time filled a niche I’d been sorely lacking in: dedicated, full sized rucksacks for heavy loads and long hauls. I wound up with two packs, both from Tasmanian Tiger/Tatonka. Tasmanian Tiger is the military tactical branch of German-based Tatonka, but both lines are manufactured in the same plant.
We loaded and carried the Tatonka Lastenkraxe frame pack, and the Tasmanian Tiger G82 rifle-transport pack.
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Asolo Ptarmigan 3 |
Jess and I navigated the “road closed ahead” gateway and started down the trail.
It was just under 5km to where I wanted to camp, but after kilometre and a half in, Jess started to have trouble.
The tent was heavier than she’d been expecting, and although I’d fitted the pack on her she felt like it was more weight than she could comfortably handle.
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The Lastenkraxe Frame Pack on the left and Tasmanian Tiger G82 laying down |

With the much lighter Lasternkraxe on my back, it was a pleasant hike till we came to the creek and settled on a spot to set up. After assembling the tent, and making a quick and easy meal of soup heated on a pocket-lite stove, we went back for the G82. Once again, being able to unzip the two side compartments and assemble them into a smaller third pack meant that Jess could take some weight off my back by carrying the water and the shooting gear, while the core of the G82 kept the rifle and sleeping bags on my shoulders.That night we discovered something simple but incredibly handy about the Lastenkraxe: its metal frame allows it to stand upright, even when almost empty. The ability to use this pack almost like a laundry bin while in camp was really quite valuable. Because the Ptarmigan is a fairly small tent, we tried not to put too much extra gear inside. Instead, anything thats underfoot and needs to be stored can be easily dropped in the upright Lastenkraxe, and retrieved again without having to unzip and disassemble anything.

The next day we hiked a little further down the trail to do some target shooting and reload drills. Although we had not brought a day pack, the combination of G82 parts worked as a perfect short term to get the ammo, optics, water and a snack out there with us.
I love hiking, shooting, and camping in Alberta because there’s enough space that you can truly feel on your own. If you’re willing to go a little bit further out, and push that extra mile off the beaten path, you can find some really lovely and secluded spaces.