Backpacks!!!!!!!

[Dr Prepper]

The bottom is slanted, so the bag always tips over.

Lame! How could they ruin a otherwise great design.

TONS of great info on this thread will keep me busy for a while. I already have several tactical tailor bags, Kelty hiking bags, and a "street bag" I'm looking for something like a sleeper tactical bag. Basically a multi role bag I can grow into. Although I have several bags I don't really use them all that often. Definitely could have really used (another)one a couple weekends ago humping guns and ammo up a mountain through several land slides. Me and a buddy went shooting and I brought two bags he brought none. Luckily it seems I always bring enough to get by in a pinch. I wish my buddies did the same though lol.

 

[tourproto]

Lame! How could they ruin a otherwise great design.

TONS of great info on this thread will keep me busy for a while. I already have several tactical tailor bags, Kelty hiking bags, and a "street bag" I'm looking for something like a sleeper tactical bag. Basically a multi role bag I can grow into. Although I have several bags I don't really use them all that often. Definitely could have really used (another)one a couple weekends ago humping guns and ammo up a mountain through several land slides. Me and a buddy went shooting and I brought two bags he brought none. Luckily it seems I always bring enough to get by in a pinch. I wish my buddies did the same though lol.

For as much as I like MR, this was a "form over function" decision on their part and it irritates me all the time. The other "nit" I have with the UA 18/21/24 bags is that the external bottle pouches were not made with "stretchy" fabric, so if you use them, the contents "push into" the backpack take up internal space on the inside of the backpack, essentially taking up storage capacity.

IMO, MR wanted a "sleek" look and sacrificed functionality to do so. However, I have not found a bag for EDC (that also isn't "tacticool") I like better, so I have kept it even with these two shortcomings.

I used to be a big North Face backpack fan for EDC but their quality has gone to hell. My first backpack lasted a decade. My last 2 only made it about 2 years each. North Face replaced the 2nd bag under their "limited lifetime warranty", but on the 3rd bag they gave me a store credit. I bought some t-shirts and then moved to MR (the UA24). That was 5 years ago. The UA bag is still in great shape and will go another 5 easy.

 

[FourTeeFive]

Anyone here own a Hill People Gear backpack? I really like their chest bags. Wondering how they stack up against Mystery Ranch.

 

[Prefontaine]

You could try GORUCK. Their bags are a bit spendy, but they're pretty bulletproof. Plus, their SCARS (repair) service is great.

 

[MountainBear]

I own several Hill People Gear packs and kit bags. The kit bag survived several years as a fly fishing guide bag in Alaska. My small pack from them (Tarahumara is the model) is my go to small hunting pack and has been for several years.

They have several larger packs that intrigue me and I will eventually pick one up.
Evan and Scot are good people to work with and they get out and use/test their packs constantly. I know whatever I buy from them has been likely put through harder use than I will do to it.

 

[WAYNO]

It should be decent for what it is. When you get it, if it has tags on it,.let us know where it was made. Some Eagle stuff I've seen in surplus shops are starting to have not made in USA tags...

I received this Eagle day pack today. It is well made and it is marked plainly, MADE IN USA.

 

[CamoDeafie]

I received this Eagle day pack today. It is well made and it is marked plainly, MADE IN USA.

Awesome!

 

[ATCclears]

30% discount on some Mystery Ranch stuff.

Mystery Ranch - 30% off all hunting and outdoor products

Code: MRHOLIDAY22 https://www.mysteryranch.com/

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[ATCclears]

I ordered myself the Urban Assault 21L bag from Mystery Ranch. The 30% discount swayed my decision.

 

[redmond]

I have jansport thats held up great, not at all tacticool though.

I still use my Jansport book/lunch backpack from college - 50 years ago. Definitely NOT tacticool.

 

[solv3nt]

I still use my Jansport book/lunch backpack from college - 50 years ago. Definitely NOT tacticool.

They are don't make 'em like they did!

 

[Unicykle]

I've had great luck with mystery ranch stuff I've been currently running their crew cab I've been very happy with it

 

[P7M13]

Traveled heavily for 10 years (>70% on the road).
Typical loadout was (1) 17" laptop, (1) 15" laptop, (4) portable hard drives, (1) small toolkit (think Glock case), FAK, a few books, daily sundries, multiple cables and adapters, sometimes a small bluetooth keyboard, a book for reading, and personal effects. Typical weight was 40# of gear. Always too stuffed to fit under the plane seat in front of me, I would put it in the overhead.

I would chew through a backpack every year. Typical death of each backpack was shoulder straps coming away at the seams or destroyed zippers.

2017, bought an Osprey (will have to look up model). It has an internal frame, stands up by itself when you set it down. Except for the abrasion on the body, you would not know it has been to hell and back multiple times. (some mines, steel mills and refineries I would go to were literally hell).
Not a single seam came loose. Not a single zipper failed. The only thing that came off it were the pull loops they put in the zipper tabs, which I easily replaced with leather laces or small key rings.

Five years of heavy use and I still use it regularly. I haven't found a single backpack since that can comfortably hold two laptops weighing 15 pounds combined.

Have to say, have an Osprey day pack for camping, 35L size, and it's one of the best designed packs I've ever had. This is compared to packs I've owned from Kelty, Jansport, Black Diamond, Mountain Hardware, Alps, Eberlestock, and probably a half dozen others over the decades. I have an almost new Jansport that is so poorly designed, I wonder, "WTH was I thinking when I bought it?"

Osprey Tropos is the laptop bag I used.

 

[tourproto]

I've had great luck with mystery ranch stuff I've been currently running their crew cab I've been very happy with it

I use the MR Cabinet (discontinued now), it is the hunting version of the Crew Cab (also an awesome pack)!

 

[Unicykle]

I use the MR Cabinet (discontinued now), it is the hunting version of the Crew Cab (also an awesome pack)!

Like anything else the more you get into it the more nitch it is. I've got a 50 L sea line clear bag with purge that works awesome as a bucket to put everything in and smash down that I highly recommend for your bag. It will save space due to compression but you can put your wet tent and ground cloth in your cabinet area and your C line bag on top and all your stuff still stays dry.

 

[tourproto]

Like anything else the more you get into it the more nitch it is. I've got a 50 L sea line clear bag with purge that works awesome as a bucket to put everything in and smash down that I highly recommend for your bag. It will save space due to compression but you can put your wet tent and ground cloth in your cabinet area and your C line bag on top and all your stuff still stays dry.

So I use something similar (in function). We use a super heavy-duty plastic bag that can hold 200 lbs without even coming close to tearing. We just don't have the purge valve. and we don't have to clean out the bag when we are done, just toss it in the trash (yeah, not environmentally great).

I'll check out the SeaLine bag to see how much it weighs. The industrial bags we use weight ounces...

 

[Rkangel]

Interesting subject. I've been looking for a good backpack/go bag that doesn't scream "tactical/gun inside/please steal me" but is also functional doesn't fall apart.

 

[tourproto]

Interesting subject. I've been looking for a good backpack/go bag that doesn't scream "tactical/gun inside/please steal me" but is also functional doesn't fall apart.

This will all depend on what your needs are. There is no "one" bag for this. I use a Mountain Hardwear "Scrambler" bag. it is a lightweight mountain climbers bag and is very narrow side-to-side for good mobility.

It holds a full change of warm clothes, heavy duty belt, backup EDC knife, 100ft of paracord, water filter, first aid kit, lightweight goretex jacket and pants, and some K-rations. Well-broken in hiking boots are tied to the top grab handle

 

[clanhanson]

Osprey and don't look back.

 

[NoThankYou]

Another big vote for Mystery Ranch. I've been using Dana Gleason's stuff since he ran Dana Designs and still have an awesome Terraplane backpack from the early 90's that is in great condition (it outlasted my knees anyway). Mystery Ranch has seemed to keep that type of quality.

I also like GoRuck. They are about the most solid and well built packs I own. It's my EDC for work and whatnot, but I took a GR1 on a 4 day mountain hike in Colombia two years ago and had a lot of hotspots. It may just be me, but they didn't work as well as more ergonomic backpacks for heavy loads under sweaty conditions. Not knocking the pack, just how I was using it.