git .pack expansion question

hopefully this is the right list for this:

am i understanding this right?

if i run the command: git-repack this creates an .idx and a .pack file that together hold all the files and other metadata for my git directory. What i can't figure out though, is how to send just these two files to another machine over the network, and then using only these two files, have git create a replica of the original git directory that the .pack file was made from. I've tried

mkdir git-test cd git-test cp pack-92fadfab20e56acbbf28ed45851d61dc0d35c6ab.idx && .pack ./ git-init-db git add . git-unpack-objects < pack-92fadfab20e56acbbf28ed45851d61dc0d35c6ab.pack

now, the objects that were created from my original files are in the objects directory, but I need them expanded so my git directory is a copy of the one i originally git-repack'ed. Is there an easy way to do this? This is for back up and archival purposes.

here are three ways i know to do this already, none of which I like very much.

cloning a repository over a network, drawback: git has to be installed on both machines or scp'ing my whole git directory over the network, drawback: too many little files, scp is too slow or tar'ing up my git directory so i can send one file for everything, drawback: since git already has a compression/expansion tool built in, i shouldn't have to use another to be able to do what i need.

any comments appreciated,

ryan