Mystery Ranch 2020

[Hot_Rod51]

Belt padding is the most significant change IMO. More of it and better designed. The belt also stays tightened better.

Could not honestly say I notice a difference in the shoulder straps. The attachment point at the upper end of the frame is better designed to facilitate the use of the meat shelf. I don’t use mine enough to really notice it.

Overall, I think the new belt set up is a bonus. Is it worth it over a guide light frame? Meh. Depends on the cost and the person. You can get a 2020 Metcalf on the MT frame for $500. Black ovis (awesome folks) is selling the older version on the guide light for $360 shipped. That Is 30% difference. Can say it is 30% better? No. TBH it is a marginal improvement but probably not worth 30%/$150 to most.

I would expect a bunch of folks are going to snap up the older guide light versions on clearance so if you are going to get one now is the time before the size/color you want runs out.

Keep in mind the Blackovis offer is limited to XS and S sizes only as they liquidate the older model.

I was going to pull the trigger on a Metcalf but they don't have my size. Bummer because I was really liking that price.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[TxAg]

MOLLE attachment points on the belt for the new frame is also a very welcome change. As mentioned, also much easier now to access the meat shelf than before.

 

[Desk Jockey]

The MR guys do a Good run thru on some of the 2020 packs from gohunt.

***warning *** this video cost me $300 bucks on a pop up 38. Watch at your own risk.

 

[4090Sharps]

The MR guys do a Good run thru on some of the 2020 packs from gohunt.

***warning *** this video cost me $300 bucks on a pop up 38. Watch at your own risk.

I wonder how the telescoping frame system will hold up over time. If you watch that video at 8:34, the frame slides down when pressure is applied to the top. Maybe a non issue, but I was already leery of the new design.

 

[rhunter424]

I wonder how the telescoping frame system will hold up over time. If you watch that video at 8:34, the frame slides down when pressure is applied to the top. Maybe a non issue, but I was already leery of the new design.

Hard to say whether the frame slid or not from what I could see. However, he did say each pole is dialed in at 60lbs of pressure before it starts to slip. If he put his weight into it when pushing down, I'd say the guy weighs more than 120lbs. So maybe it did. Seems appropriate for that size frame and what it's supposed to be used for.

Between the ease of adjusting the yoke and now the frame height, this is great.

 

[4090Sharps]

Hard to say whether the frame slid or not from what I could see. However, he did say each pole is dialed in at 60lbs of pressure before it starts to slip. If he put his weight into it when pushing down, I'd say the guy weighs more than 120lbs. So maybe it did. Seems appropriate for that size frame and what it's supposed to be used for.

Between the ease of adjusting the yoke and now the frame height, this is great.

I guess I should have listened to the whole thing.... Thanks!

 

[Werner]

mule and pintler is all I see. Bummer.

This is so frustrating that they don’t offer more bag only options. I have the sawtooth 45 and need a much larger bag for longer trips. I called and was told if I want the Marshall I have to purchase it with the frame. What is the purpose of having a modular system without offering the option to buy these bags only??? I don’t get it and am beyond frustrated.

 

[aaronoto]

Given my past emails with Mystery Ranch, I’m not surprised to hear they aren’t doing any new bag only options. I was told I‘d have to buy the bag with a frame if I wanted a larger pack option. To which I responded with, if I’m going to spend $500 plus on a new complete pack with a frame that I don’t need, I’ll just use that cash to try out an Exo instead. they just said they’d pass along the feedback...

 

[Desk Jockey]

Video says the frame is built like a trekking pole. I put some serious force on my poles so assume they will hold.

On the bag only thing, MR has been promising more bag options for years....

<<beware: begin rant>>> For better or worse, it is their business strategy. Frustrating for me as a fan of their packs and I admit I bought a sawtooth and a beartooth and sold one of the frames to get the pack bags I wanted. Depending on where you peg the value of the pack bag, I probably paid at least $100 more than I should have and had to jump through some hoops. It’s expensive and stupid as a consumer and seems to defeat the purpose of having a modular pack. For a company that is top notch on just about every other dimension of product and service, it continues to be a fail IMO. If they sold pack only options, I know I would own 2-3 at any given time and would probably buy and sell them like the idiot fanboy I am. Not sure if it is their primary focus on the military market or some other thing that makes them ignore this ask so consistently, but it is obviously a considered, conscious business decision and one they are likely to stick with as long as it works for them. <<<end rant>>>

Thinking a bit more constructively about the above, I wonder if they feel like they are selling all the packs they can make so why bother. I wonder aloud if someone put together a “group buy” ad contacted MR to order 25 bag only beartooths if they would take notice.

 

[THBZN]

Anyone at the MR booth at SHOT show ?

Yep, I was there the whole week. Any questions, ask away.

 

[THBZN]

Video says the frame is built like a trekking pole. I put some serious force on my poles so assume they will hold.

On the bag only thing, MR has been promising more bag options for years....

<<beware: begin rant>>> For better or worse, it is their business strategy. Frustrating for me as a fan of their packs and I admit I bought a sawtooth and a beartooth and sold one of the frames to get the pack bags I wanted. Depending on where you peg the value of the pack bag, I probably paid at least $100 more than I should have and had to jump through some hoops. It’s expensive and stupid as a consumer and seems to defeat the purpose of having a modular pack. For a company that is top notch on just about every other dimension of product and service, it continues to be a fail IMO. If they sold pack only options, I know I would own 2-3 at any given time and would probably buy and sell them like the idiot fanboy I am. Not sure if it is their primary focus on the military market or some other thing that makes them ignore this ask so consistently, but it is obviously a considered, conscious business decision and one they are likely to stick with as long as it works for them. <<<end rant>>>

Thinking a bit more constructively about the above, I wonder if they feel like they are selling all the packs they can make so why bother. I wonder aloud if someone put together a “group buy” ad contacted MR to order 25 bag only beartooths if they would take notice.

_____________________

Just to end all the speculation or guessing, MR is offering the Beartooth as a BAG ONLY mid-year, likely July/August. So that gives you the Mule, Pintler and Beartooth as Bag Only options in Coyote, Foliage and Sub Alpine, providing a good offering of small to large bags.

 

[fatlander]

Given my past emails with Mystery Ranch, I’m not surprised to hear they aren’t doing any new bag only options. I was told I‘d have to buy the bag with a frame if I wanted a larger pack option. To which I responded with, if I’m going to spend $500 plus on a new complete pack with a frame that I don’t need, I’ll just use that cash to try out an Exo instead. they just said they’d pass along the feedback...

MR forever lost me when I called about putting a stick it on my pop up. The customer service rep didn’t have a clue and wasn’t overly excited to answer my questions. I called another company and they were more than happy to answer my questions about a compatibility competitors bag and their product. I now own the other company’s stuff.

The new pop up looks like a much better system than the old. The belt looks so much better and the frame looks a lot more rigid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hflier]

I have delt with MR a lot over the last month or two (several different people). Where great with me, maybe you had a Sh....t head on the phone that day.

Ron

 

[Desk Jockey]

_____________________

Just to end all the speculation or guessing, MR is offering the Beartooth as a BAG ONLY mid-year, likely July/August. So that gives you the Mule, Pintler and Beartooth as Bag Only options in Coyote, Foliage and Sub Alpine, providing a good offering of small to large bags.

Great. Would be very happy to be proven wrong on this.

 

[canyonhunter47]

Video says the frame is built like a trekking pole. I put some serious force on my poles so assume they will hold.

On the bag only thing, MR has been promising more bag options for years....

<<beware: begin rant>>> For better or worse, it is their business strategy. Frustrating for me as a fan of their packs and I admit I bought a sawtooth and a beartooth and sold one of the frames to get the pack bags I wanted. Depending on where you peg the value of the pack bag, I probably paid at least $100 more than I should have and had to jump through some hoops. It’s expensive and stupid as a consumer and seems to defeat the purpose of having a modular pack. For a company that is top notch on just about every other dimension of product and service, it continues to be a fail IMO. If they sold pack only options, I know I would own 2-3 at any given time and would probably buy and sell them like the idiot fanboy I am. Not sure if it is their primary focus on the military market or some other thing that makes them ignore this ask so consistently, but it is obviously a considered, conscious business decision and one they are likely to stick with as long as it works for them. <<<end rant>>>

Thinking a bit more constructively about the above, I wonder if they feel like they are selling all the packs they can make so why bother. I wonder aloud if someone put together a “group buy” ad contacted MR to order 25 bag only beartooths if they would take notice.

They took an entire year to put the MT frame on their flagship pack the Metcalf, so they must have serious supply chain issues

 

[NDGuy]

This is so frustrating that they don’t offer more bag only options. I have the sawtooth 45 and need a much larger bag for longer trips. I called and was told if I want the Marshall I have to purchase it with the frame. What is the purpose of having a modular system without offering the option to buy these bags only??? I don’t get it and am beyond frustrated.

Given my past emails with Mystery Ranch, I’m not surprised to hear they aren’t doing any new bag only options. I was told I‘d have to buy the bag with a frame if I wanted a larger pack option. To which I responded with, if I’m going to spend $500 plus on a new complete pack with a frame that I don’t need, I’ll just use that cash to try out an Exo instead. they just said they’d pass along the feedback...

The Beartooth bag only is coming later this year or early 2021. That's what MR told me a few weeks ago.

 

[THBZN]

They took an entire year to put the MT frame on their flagship pack the Metcalf, so they must have serious supply chain issues

Incorrect.

 

[canyonhunter47]

Incorrect.

How so? They first put out the GL MT frame last year but it was only on the selway, sawtooth and beartooth until a couple weeks ago, yet the metcalf is their most well known bag.

So either they were beta testing the MT on those 3 packs (very doubtful), they wanted to get dump the old frames (also doubtful), or they couldn’t get enough MT frames (fairly plausible).

 

[THBZN]

New frame launch on three styles occurred as the new frame/waistbelt was through the design phase and into production phase. Hence the 2019 launch of the Beartooth, Selway and Sawtooth.
A good supply of current (at the time) GL packs was in stock and in retailers' stores. Not a smart business move to discontinue a current style selling through mid-season.
Lead times were on track for new GL MT frames, and here we are in 2020 with all of the known styles on the GL MT frame/waistbelt, many with design improvements and refinements, such as the Marshall, Metcalf, Pintler, etc. -- another piece of the puzzle to consider. Today's Metcalf is not the same as 2019's version, and not just on a new frame. So, lots of moving parts but it is a new year, and a new line. Happy hunting!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Pop up 38 arrived. Belt is a bit of an upgrade. New frame system seems cool. Like the shovel pocket. Going to set it up and play with it now.