Mountainsmith EVO series lumbar pack review forthcoming

[philos]

I just received a Mountainsmith EVO series Tour lumbar pack to use/abuse and review. I also received the EVO Strapette shoulder harness system.
I intend to use the lumbar pack alone and in combination with the Strapette in field conditions on a few hikes while fishing and doing some trail cam recon.

Let me know what details and info you would like to see and fire off any questions about the pack you might have.

Thank you Rokslide and Mountainsmith for the chance to do this review.

 

[Ferrulewax]

I think lots of guys may be interested to see how it does with heavier weights in conjunction with the strappettes. If used as a daypack, how would it do with the first load of meat back to the truck to get a frame pack?

 

[douglasfir]

Do the shoulder straps work with a bino harness?

 

[S.Clancy]

I've got one of their Tour waist packs, it's pretty nice. Haven't seen these yet

 

[philos]

Do the shoulder straps work with a bino harness?

It is conceivable if you can find a method to attached the needed hardware to the straps up top.

Do the shoulder straps work with a bino harness?

Do the shoulder straps work with a bino harness?

It is conceivable. You have enough webbing area up top to put a D-link or similar attachment point to the webbing to make it work. See the photo where I am pointing with a sharpie to the webbing area to make the attachment. In the 2nd photo I attached a swing gate D-loop[ (that is what i call it anyway) to the top webbing . The horizontal attachments for a bino harness might be more challenging though. ATTACH=full]878787[/ATTACH]

 

[philos]

I've got one of their Tour waist packs, it's pretty nice. Haven't seen these yet

I have one of the Tour packs also I bought a few years back. The EVO pack appears to be more beefy. I will do a side by side comparison though to see if that is true.

 

[philos]

I think lots of guys may be interested to see how it does with heavier weights in conjunction with the strappettes. If used as a daypack, how would it do with the first load of meat back to the truck to get a frame pack?

The paperwork that comes with the Strapette says to expect to carry an extra 10 to 15 pounds comfortably. I will put that to the test and report back.

 

[tony]

I like that new line.
No go for me is the no tuck waist belt. I have a Day and Tour and being able to tuck the belt and use the shoulder strap is great. I have a Kifaru Scout, and the above MS lumbars.
The MS non EVO line make great travel packs.
Interested in your thoughts after using it. May grab a set of strapettes though.

 

[strongarm]

Interesting. Looks like they are trying to fill a hole in the market since Kifaru abandon their [phenomenal!] lumbar pack line.
@philos Does it have any structure (frame sheet, stay(s), etc.)?

 

[mtwarden]

I've got an old (very old) Dana Designs lumbar pack. I broke it out of storage a few years ago when I converted a kid's snow sled into a pulk. It worked just OK, then I found MS strapettes and was able to install them on the Dana, went from OK to outstanding

 

[philos]

I like that new line.
No go for me is the no tuck waist belt. I have a Day and Tour and being able to tuck the belt and use the shoulder strap is great. I have a Kifaru Scout, and the above MS lumbars.
The MS non EVO line make great travel packs.
Interested in your thoughts after using it. May grab a set of strapettes though.

Yeah, the EVO series does not have a way to tuck the waist belt. My thoughts are it’s designed that way because it’s gonna be a much more heavy use item than the non-EVO packs. Of course heavy use is relative here because it it is a lumber pack and you are not going to carry a ton of weight in it.

I don’t know that I’ve ever tucked the waist belt in on my other one anyway. But it’s not an issue to me on this new Tour EVO.

 

[philos]

Interesting. Looks like they are trying to fill a hole in the market since Kifaru abandon their [phenomenal!] lumbar pack line.
@philos Does it have any structure (frame sheet, stay(s), etc.)?

It does have a frame sheet back panel of EVA foam that provides good rigidity.

 

[philos]

Now that we have had a reprieve from the rain, I intend to get some usage out of the Tour pack.

There is an obvious ancestral connection here between Mountainsmith and Kifaru. For obvious reasons neither company openly discusses it, but to me it’s undeniable.
A good example of this is the Mountainsmith slingback chair and the Kifaru field chair.

I’ll be posting some photographs of up close detail of the pack in the next few days.
I appreciate the questions so far – let me know of anything else you guys would like to know about the pack.