All,
I am deciding on a new pack to replace an EDC, short day hike/3 day hike, all around carry pack. The old pack is falling apart and I have no need to keep repairing it, it has served its purpose.
Choices narrowed down to the Mystery Ranch 3day Assault, the Kifaru urban Zippy, and the Arcteryx Khard 30. All are pretty much the same price and I like each of them. Each has a different set up for internal load carry (I like the Khard 30s Velcro throughout) the Kifaru and MR offering can utilize pouches as well. If anyone has any experience with any of the offerings, help sway my decisions and let me know what you think.
Thanks.
I will be carrying…gym clothing, books, kids stuff, whatever I need on a hike etc…
Consider the Ibex 30 also.
The Khard is sort of floppy when it’s open. Lay the pack down and open it and you have access to everything. Great if that’s what you want to do, if you don’t, it’s a pain to access things.
MR is great and I have several of their packs. Of the choices you’re looking at, this would be my choice.
I used to have some Kifaru stuff. It’s all been replaced by MR stuff so I can’t really comment on any of their newer stuff.
I have a MR Three-Day Assault pack.
Great pack, well made. Love the three-zip design: Fast to rip the whole pack open if you need to get to something at the bottom or to just pull open the top flap to dig something out or cram something in.
And the guys at the Mystery Ranch store are great to deal with. They’re local to me, so I’ve been there a few times, never been dissatisfied with their service, never had a problem with their products. Right after they introduced the Outsider, I ran down to look at one. They were just launching it in coyote brown and didn’t even have it listed on their website and I bought one right there, on the spot. Only complaint I had and still have about it (the Outsider) is that it’s way too easy to overload for a bag carried on one strap. But that being said, I have lived out of my Outsider for a week at a time while traveling.
Unfortunately, I’ve gone more and more toward the lightweight, minimalist side of things, which I find the Outsider and Three-Day Assault to be a little large for. Which reminds me that I need to run down there and pick up an ASAP or a Spartan, a Spandura duffel, and maybe a Booty Bag…
I also have an MR pack, the Big Horn. I have zero complaints about the pack itself. It’s rock solid. My problem with MR is I needed some keepers which were $5 and they wanted to charge me I think it was $15 for shipping. I asked them to put it in a stamped envelope. They stated they could but they would still charge me the fee to help support their shipping and handling staff. I usually don’t let stuff like that bother me but the hippy collectivist tone just set me f off. I vowed never to purchase anything from them again.
Do you know anything about Dana Gleason?
No and it wouldn’t matter nor do I care to be honest. $15 to ship a $5 item after I just bought a pack from them is wrong no matter the motive.
Dana Gleason is the founder of Mystery Ranch. I believe it is his fourth backpack company.
He is an aging hippy, a stoner. Brilliant at designing packs, but… well, let’s just say that he isn’t as responsible for the company’s success as people are wont to believe of such brilliant designers and engineers.
Now, they do employ a ton of vets and on the rare occasion that I’m not the only one perusing their selection at their physical location, it’s usually somebody of a military, LE, or non-hunting firearms background looking at their packs. It is inevitable, however, that a certain level of 60s hippy collectivism pervade the company.
Frankly, I choose not to be bothered by it. It’s rare that a company gives two shits about its employees in this day and age, so I’m happy to spend my money at a company that makes some of the best products in their category in the world, that also happens to be owned by Americans (and Montanans to boot), that makes packs in America (and in Montana to boot), gives jobs to veterans (who “enjoy” a higher unemployment rate than Americans who have never served), and happens to have employees who are as knowledgable and passionate about the products they sell, who they are sold to, and what they are used for as MR’s employees are.
Not that this should dissuade you from purchasing products from, say, a Canadian company that are made in the People’s Republic of China. (I have some Arc’Teryx. It’s good stuff. As it was part of LEAF, I assumed that it was made in Canada. But if I had known where it was made, I would have just bought Sitka instead.) But if you’re going to complain about American manufacturing jobs going overseas…
Not all mystery ranch packs are american made anymore. Their website shows which ones are and aren’t. I have two mystery ranch packs and both were made state side.
I have both the MR 3 day and the Kifaru Urban Zippy. I use the Kifaru as an EDC pack. I feel that it is a better designed pack for that purpose. I use the MR 3 day for longer hikes and such.
Great comments everyone, thank you and keep them coming!
Yes, they got some contracts with the Australian military (and a couple other American allies in/around the Pacific Ocean, IIRC) and had to set up a factory in the Philippines to produce the packs for those contracts… in addition, they started an international brand geared more toward the casual user called Dana Designs. Dana Designs packs are primarily, if not entirely, made in the Philippines. While some of their American-made packs are available abroad from their Filipino factory, in the US the only packs made abroad are those that are not made in the US.
I don’t believe any of the Dana Designs packs are available in the US, assuming they are not produced in the Philippines and branded as Mystery Ranch for the US market.
There was also a while where Camelbak was manufacturing packs designed by Mystery Ranch, some of them very similar or identical to American-produced Mystery Ranch packs.
In any case, as you point out, the packs manufactured in the US and abroad are clearly marked as such, making it easy to ensure that you’re supporting American manufacturing - if you desire - or that you are under no illusions about the pack in question being made in the US - and they do have some neat packs that are made abroad.
I wished they offered more of the packs they seem to exclusively market to the Asian market. I believe the 1 day assault pack was originally only available over sees.
Camelback Tri-zip is a “clone” to the 3 day assault pack.
Op,I also like goruck packs. I have a GR1 and am getting another.
I have looked at the go ruck, seems well made. More research is needed. I keep seeing things about the Kelty MAP 3500, looks like a contender as well.
How is the ventilation with the MR product loaded up and on your back for a couple of hours? Do you have the “live wing” waist belt as an option on your pack? If you do have it, is it worth the extra $$$? Thanks.
With the Urban Zippy, did you go with the grommets? How about the waist strap? What would you say is your average loadout for EDC and do you have room to spare for more if needed? I saw some of the you tube videos on the urban zippy and it seems like there are add ons galore. Did you utilize any of the add on features, like some of the Kifaru pockets? Do you find the absence of PALs is ok or would you like to see some PALs webbing on the pack as well? Thanks for the reply.
Not to hijack this thread but I see the Big Horn has been discontinued. Did they replace with it something else or did it not sell well? I find it to be a great pack. Vanquest looks like they are doing some good packs now too.
I don’t know what they replaced it with. The other packs on their page are all around the size of the Big Horn. I think the Big Horn came out around 2009 or so. A couple of years ago they redid the Big Horn by removing the water bottle pockets and a few other things. I bought mine in 2010.At 3,000 cubic inches it’s a good size for me.
I think MR might be trying to consolidate their line of packs. Besides the Big Horn I also have the 6,000 cubic inch Grizzly which you no longer see. It looks like on their hunting page they are doing away with the internal packs and going with the NICE frame all the way around.
On another note some of their packs are made overseas. They said that their hunting packs, wildland fire fighting packs and military packs will still be made in the US.
Right you are. I think mine is from 2013. Just as was thinking about buying it it went on sale so I jumped on it. Probably soon after that they discontinued it. I just checked and indeed no water bottle pockets. I bought it for one purpose and it served that well. It’s been at least a year since I have used it. I was using a TadGear pack that was too small and MR was the perfect size to carry bulky stuff in a large compartment.
I did not go with grommets, too much dirt gets in. No waist strap, it is just a small one anyway and I am not a fan of them unless I am carrying some massive wright. It usually has about 20lbs of gear in it with room to spare. I like the Kifaru Lock N Dock system. I have several extra pouches that I can add as needed. As an EDC I see no need for PALS since I can add the extra pouches as needed. If you want PALS they make the regular Zippy with them. Without the PALS it is a bit less tacti- cool.