Like anything else, it depends. External frames and having all kinds of things hanging on the sides works if you are not pushing through branches all the time, if you keep it balanced.

OP hasn't listed out the rest of the gear - I would suggest doing that, too. I bet you there are a lot of other things that could be packed differently. If you are trying to jam tightly packed stuff sacks into a space and leaving voids between them - not using the space efficiently. I dislike compression sacks for that reason. Large blocks of gear don't pack in as well as loose items that mold against each other.