Really close to pulling the trigger on a hybrid pack. Am leaning towards the pioneer but want to make sure. Does anybody have any pictures of either of these two packs, wearing them preferably. Mainly curious about size. For those that have experience with a Chinook Chemun, that is my pack currently and the size is perfect for me and can hold all the gear I need for me and my dog. So looking for that size. Thanks.

Here's a CCS Pioneer Pack, for reference my son in that picture was about 5'7" at the time.
We love them. Spacious, we go the extra zipper compartment at the top, lots of places to grab on, etc..I'd recommend them.

Little Sherpa's gotta pull their own weight....


And girls like them too...

Here's a Pioneer pack next to a 60L barrel and a Northstar 17 canoe.

This is a Pioneer that my son was portaging in 2019. He was 11 at the time. I'd avoid the Guide because with it's size you will be tempted to over pack; we tend to fill the extra space with stuff we don't really need. I think this was before they each got their own personal packs in 2020 (CCS Explorer) which are more than enough for personal gear. So I think at the time this was filled with all our sleeping gear, so it wasn't that all that heavy.

No pics wearing them, but on our first trip with them last fall, we fell in love with them. Perfect size for our gear when compared to the Duluth Pack #3 and #4 we had been using. We wind up taking 3 packs with the canoe since it makes a perfect double-portage for us. Any bigger and they would be too heavy for us.

Here are our two CCS Pioneers and a Duluth #4. Sept 2020
1) Nestled into a Northstar Northwind canoe.
2) Unloaded at a portage. (The Duluth pack isn't really any bigger... just the way it's sitting here.)






I am currently looking for a third Pioneer, this time in short torso.
A better fit, I think, for my wife.

Pioneer here. Plenty of space for me to make it heavier than I need to. If I had a guide....yikes.

I was at the same crossroads. If you are near Minneapolis you can go to midwest mountaineering they have both the guide and the pioneer. I tried on the pioneer and instantly made up my mind. I want a specific color so I will be ordering directly from CSS.

R00kie: "I was at the same crossroads. If you are near Minneapolis you can go to midwest mountaineering they have both the guide and the pioneer. I tried on the pioneer and instantly made up my mind. I want a specific color so I will be ordering directly from CSS."

If you are near Minneapolis you can also probably arrange to go right to CCS up in Lino Lakes. Warning: if you do you'll likely leave with a vehicle full of gear that you didn't even know that you needed. Don't worry you will find a way to use it.

Guide Pack in action

I have two Pioneer packs. I would say I use about 90% of the Pioneer pack space. I could put more in, but it would increase the height and interfere with carrying my canoe. My 11 year old grand son also uses a Pioneer. There are side straps to reduce the thickness and reduce the pack volume if needed. My 8 year old grand daughter uses the CCS Ruck.

I bought my Pioneer packs used and the guy also had a Guide pack. The Guide pack is huge.

Thanks for the replies guys. Going off these pictures and a few I found online from this site I believe pulling the trigger on a pioneer. Should work great for me as I treat my canoeing trips like a backpacking trip.

dschult2: "Thanks for the replies guys. Going off these pictures and a few I found online from this site I believe pulling the trigger on a pioneer. Should work great for me as I treat my canoeing trips like a backpacking trip."

You have chosen wisely. The Pioneer is an excellent portage pack.

Picked up one in brown at virtual Canoecopia. Looking forward to paddling season!