TL;DR: TideWe's hunting backpack runs $69.99 and holds roughly 35 liters. The Lone Trail SB1 runs $89.99 and holds 25 liters. That's not an apples-to-apples size match, and we're not going to pretend it is. What you get for the extra $20 is a lighter pack (2.6 lb vs 3.7 lbs), a named quiet fabric instead of a generic "helps reduce noise" claim, a real weapon carry system instead of a quiver hook, and a lifetime warranty instead of one year. If raw volume per dollar is your only metric, TideWe wins outright. If you want a pack built to hunt quiet at a size most hunters actually need, keep reading.
Two Different Packs at Two Close Prices
TideWe's Hunting Backpack with Rain Cover lists at $69.99 and is built to 2,200 cubic inches, which TideWe's own product page states as 35 liters. It weighs 3.7 lbs and measures 21" x 12" x 10". That makes it a genuinely bigger bag than our SB1, which is a 25-liter pack at 2.6 lb for $89.99.
So before any feature gets compared, be clear on what you're actually choosing between: TideWe is selling you more space for less money. The SB1 is selling you a smaller, lighter, purpose-built day pack for $20 more. Both are legitimate ways to spend under $100 on a hunting pack. They're just not the same pack.
TideWe also sells other packs under similar names and different sizes (including a smaller model marketed separately as "25L" on some retail listings), so if you're comparison shopping, confirm you're looking at the same SKU we're citing here: the 2,200 cu in / 35L / $69.99 model sold directly on tidewe.com.
Head-to-Head Specs
| Feature | TideWe Hunting Backpack | Lone Trail SB1 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $69.99 | $89.99 |
| Capacity | 2,200 cu in (~35L per TideWe's site) | 25L |
| Weight | 3.7 lb | 2.6 lb |
| Fabric / noise claim | Unnamed fabric, generic "helps reduce noise" claim | StealthStalk brush tricot with TPU coating, built to muffle scrape and crinkle |
| Rain cover | Built-in | Integrated, deploys in seconds |
| Weapon carry | Quiver hook/loop and a carrying pocket, not a dedicated system | Padded retention system for bow or full-size rifle, hands-free |
| Color | Camo | Coyote brown |
| Warranty | 1 year, manufacturer defects only (excludes wear, misuse, improper maintenance) | Lifetime (repair or replace) plus free returns |
What TideWe Gets Right
TideWe's pack is a genuinely good deal on volume. At 35 liters for $69.99, it undercuts most of the market on a per-liter basis, and the rain cover being built in rather than sold separately is a real, verifiable feature, not marketing filler. If you're outfitting a hunting camp on a tight budget and need one pack that can absorb a full day's gear plus a bit of overflow, the extra 10 liters over the SB1 is a genuine advantage. TideWe backs it with a straightforward one-year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects.
The quiver hook/loop and carrying pocket also do the basic job of keeping a bow or rifle within reach, even if it's not a purpose-built retention system. Across the hunting pack market generally, a hook-and-loop or quiver point is the cheapest approach to weapon carry, a step below a dedicated boot or a set of compression straps. For a hunter who's not doing tight, close-range stalks and just needs somewhere to strap a weapon while covering ground, that may be all that's required.
How Much Pack Do You Actually Need?
Before deciding the extra 10 liters is automatically a win, it's worth asking what a day hunt actually requires. One widely cited rule of thumb in the hunting pack world puts the sweet spot for a day-hunt pack at roughly 1,000 to 2,000 cubic inches, about 16 to 33 liters, enough for water, food, limited extra clothing, and daily essentials without carrying unnecessary bulk. A second source puts the comfortable range a little higher, 1,200 to 2,500 cubic inches, or about 20 to 41 liters.
Both the SB1 at 25 liters and TideWe at roughly 35 liters fall inside those ranges, so neither is oversized for a day hunt. But TideWe sits closer to the top of the comfortable window, while the SB1 sits closer to the middle, the size multiple sources point to as the sweet spot: big enough for a full day's kit, not so big that you start packing things you don't need. As one source in the space puts it, bigger bags make people lazy, they treat capacity like permission. That's not a knock on TideWe's 35 liters, it's just worth knowing which size you're actually shopping for before the extra volume becomes the deciding factor.
Where the SB1 Pulls Ahead
TideWe's own product copy says the fabric "helps reduce noise." It doesn't name a fabric technology behind that claim, which usually means it's describing a standard synthetic shell rather than anything engineered specifically for quiet. The SB1 uses StealthStalk, a brush tricot with a TPU coating built to muffle the scrape and crinkle that happens when a pack brushes cover on a stalk. That's a material difference we can point to by name, not a marketing line.
Weight tells a similar story. Even though the SB1 is the smaller pack, it's also a full pound lighter, 2.6 lb against TideWe's 3.7 lbs. On a full day of glassing and hiking, a pound off your back matters more than it sounds like on paper, and it compounds over miles of elevation.
Weapon carry is the biggest functional gap. A quiver hook and a carrying pocket keep a bow or rifle nearby, but they don't secure it the way a padded retention system does. The SB1's carry system is built to hold a compound bow or a full-size hunting rifle stable through a long hike, hands-free, so you're not managing a sling on top of everything else you're carrying, and your hands stay free for shooting sticks or glass when a shot opportunity opens up fast.
And the warranty math is straightforward: TideWe covers manufacturing defects for one year and explicitly excludes wear, misuse, and improper maintenance. The SB1 is backed by a lifetime warranty, repair or replace, no matter how long you've owned it, plus free returns on top of that.
Adding Capacity to Either Pack
If you land on the SB1 and later decide you want a dedicated spot for a rangefinder or bear spray instead of digging through the main compartment, the SB1's exterior MOLLE webbing accepts standard MOLLE and PALS accessories. Our own Universal Rangefinder Pouch ($15) and Bear Spray Holster ($15) are both built for any standard MOLLE or PALS platform, not locked to our bino harnesses, so they mount up the same way. It's a cheaper way to add organized capacity than jumping to a bigger pack outright.
Buy TideWe If...
TideWe makes sense for a specific kind of hunter, and it's worth being honest about who that is:
- You need more raw volume than a 25L pack offers and don't want to pay more than $70 to get it.
- You're outfitting on the tightest possible budget and a built-in rain cover at $69.99 is the priority.
- Your weapon carry needs are casual, a hook or a pocket is enough for how you hunt.
- You're comfortable with a one-year defect warranty rather than a lifetime one.
Buy the SB1 If...
The SB1 makes more sense if any of the following describe how you actually hunt:
- You want a fabric built specifically to stay quiet in brush, not a generic noise-reduction claim.
- A lighter pack matters more to you than a bigger one, especially on long days covering ground.
- You want your bow or rifle actually secured hands-free, not just hooked to the outside.
- You'd rather size your pack to what a day hunt actually needs than to the biggest number on the spec sheet.
- You want a lifetime warranty behind the pack you're carrying into the backcountry.
The Verdict
These two packs are answering slightly different questions. TideWe is answering "how much space can I get for under $70," and the answer is a lot. The SB1 is answering "what's the best-built 25L pack I can get for under $90," and between the two, it's the one built with a named quiet fabric, a real weapon-carry system, and a warranty that doesn't run out.
If your priority is volume per dollar and you don't mind carrying an extra pound or trusting a hook to hold your rifle, TideWe is a reasonable budget pick. If you want a pack sized for what a real day hunt actually needs, built to stay quiet on a close stalk, and backed for as long as you own it, the SB1 is the better $20.
Either way, the $20 difference between these two packs is smaller than what separates most budget gear from the premium tier. Spend it on whichever spec sheet matters more for how you actually hunt, not on the bigger number.
Shop the SB1 25L Hunting Backpack ($89.99)
Related: see our full breakdown of what fits in a 25L hunting day pack and what to pack, and why fabric noise matters on a stalk in noise discipline while stalking.