Hey Troy and all-have you every done the weight conparison? I get that the barrel gig maybe a more durable way of going over the long haul, esp. if one is not handy with a needle and such. Outright....what are the pro and cons? I am a smaller framed person and do Ok with a stuffed Quetico Pack by GG. Why would one want to make a transittion to this style of pack....very curious about them with all the dialog.....Are there other sources for the barrels locally?