New Mystery Ranch Packs?

I think the big issue is that Dana’s son is more focused on supplying lifestyle designs for a larger market, and is now borrowing features from that line instead of the military line.

They do not “interface with” and support the hunters market the way they did 7-8 years ago- and really 8-9 years ago they were just marketing military packs to hunters- because of the similar build quality and load capability requirements the markets shared.

Now you still have a couple few guys on staff who are passionate hunters, sure- but what we are starting to see is the ingredients their designs are being executed with now, are the same as those used in the Portland hipster line. Not the military line.

They’ve basically always had 2 lines of packs and the “hunting” packs were just spun off- used to be the military ones. Now it’s the civilian ones- but the civilian ones now are designed around PNW (Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Port Townsend, twighlight/forks) lifestyle market- instead the Everest, Denali, Takur Gar lifestyle market.

I’m more likely to go back to my NICE than I am to go forward to the new guidelight.

Addendum: the buckles are the same as the popup- and those are solid so far. All I haven’t done is slam one in a truck tailgate or get to use them when they are truly cold. They’ve been fine in low 20s so far.
 
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juan trueno said:
I think the big issue is that Dana’s son is more focused on supplying lifestyle designs for a larger market, and is now borrowing features from that line instead of the military line.

They do not “interface with” and support the hunters market the way they did 7-8 years ago- and really 8-9 years ago they were just marketing military packs to hunters- because of the similar build quality and load capability requirements the markets shared.

Now you still have a couple few guys on staff who are passionate hunters, sure- but what we are starting to see is the ingredients their designs are being executed with now, are the same as those used in the Portland hipster line. Not the military line.

They’ve basically always had 2 lines of packs and the “hunting” packs were just spun off- used to be the military ones. Now it’s the civilian ones- but the civilian ones now are designed around PNW (Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Port Townsend, twighlight/forks) lifestyle market- instead the Everest, Denali, Takur Gar lifestyle market.

I’m more likely to go back to my NICE than I am to go forward to the new guidelight.

Addendum: the buckles are the same as the popup- and those are solid so far. All I haven’t done is slam one in a truck tailgate or get to use them when they are truly cold. They’ve been fine in low 20s so far.
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate as to which features are spin offs of the “hipster” line? This is an honest question as I have not yet owned one of their packs. For me personally, if they had not moved away from the military NICE frame to something lighter, they wouldn’t even be in the running for me in terms of a new high end pack. There are too many quality manufactures out there putting out high weight capacity frames with a lower frame weight for the NICE frame to be competitive. A lot of times not getting stuck in the mindset of how it was done 5-10 years ago is a good thing and drives a better, more innovative product.
 
Going from a nice frame to guide light and pretty much everything in between from MR over the years I couldnt disagree more.
If anything the MR hunting pack have become more streamline and task oriented then ever for hunting. You couldn't pay me to go back to the nice frame for a hunting platform.
 
I ageee to a point. I have a guidelight and a popup. And have posted plenty of pictures and reviews etc comparing those platforms to the nice platform. Building a frame that worked without lifters- and building one more compact that did were both great concepts, well executed. My very first pack purchase was annarclight glacier and two years later at 16 my first prodeal working for an outdoor retail shop was a terrplane overkill the second year they were out- I bought my first MR bag in 2004. I’ve got a bit of familiarity with the history.


As to what features were borrowed from the “hipster line” it’s not what features.- it’s essentially the parts catalog from which they are assembled. They are No longer being assembled with milspec hardware etc- the reasons for which are.... to save weight? I can weigh some buckles if we want find out the actual weight savings across a few different bags. Moving from 500d cordura from invicta to 330d Coated packcloth- certainly results in better snag resistance while most likely restraining adequate durability in other catagories- but why the move away from cordura... $$. Same with the move overseas- that was IOT make more
Bags?- or make more bags cheaper? or a little of both.


The decisions being made at this point clearly are placingmore of a premium on “cost” than what was historically the case. That can, for the consumer sometimes be a good thing- but we are seeing bags being manufactured/ specd to a price point- rather than a premium being placed on the highest quality construction available using the highest quality materials available. If the shift in ethos isn’t evident thanks for setting me straight.
I can’t orgainze my thoughts very well, and know they don’t really matter anyway so I’ll spare y’all
I’ll b reading from here
 
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I haven’t shopped for a pack from REI in a while but I remember last time I looked I can’t recall a lot of packs that use “standard” fastex buckles. Seemed like all of them use fancy proprietary hardware. I will have to look but I bet the hydration bladder holder I bought last week does.

Not saying it’s right, or that, as an owner of some older MR packs that I like the change, but I do Think it is more common to find “nonstandard hardware on high end packs these days.
 
Desk Jockey said:
I haven’t shopped for a pack from REI in a while but I remember last time I looked I can’t recall a lot of packs that use “standard” fastex buckles. Seemed like all of them use fancy proprietary hardware. I will have to look but I bet the hydration bladder holder I bought last week does.

Not saying it’s right, or that, as an owner of some older MR packs that I like the change, but I do Think it is more common to find “nonstandard hardware on high end packs these days.
Click to expand...

Recreational stand alone packs absolutely have a mix of hardware. They aren't detachable frame packs mean to change the bags/accessories though which makes a big difference. As I noted above EXO uses a different type of buckle as well BUT they didn't change mid stream on their customers.
 
Exo camo out with a new frame that made certain things obsolete . Kifaru has changed TONS of things over the years that made other things difficult. Stone glacier changed belts from the original krux and doesn't sell components for the old one anymore. Trust me I'm not trying to argue or be a dick just saying companies change and change designs and product. If mystery ranch ends up selling buckle kits then I feel like theyve done alright by their customers and even if they don't I can just buy 8 or 10 buckles and change it myself.
 
Usually the changes have a decent reason though, not a couple grams wouldn't you agree? Unless they discount these buckles the kit would cost $20-30 based on the historic pricing to buy autolock buckles from them, granted you don't need autolocks but if you're swapping to be "just like" then that's what you're looking at unless they depart from the price they previously charged on buckles. I guess as a user of their frames and someone that has recommended their products to folks this change doesn't sit well with me, I don't think there is a meaningful weight savings and suspect it was to save a couple bucks in manufacturing. Granted I can modify things to a greater extent than most but that still doesn't change the fact as a user of their stuff I don't care for the change and don't think it serves their customer's interests well. They'll be a mismatch of gear floating around for years, hope they budgeted customer service hours in the decision to deal with unaware folks calling confused.
 
Yes I do agree with your frustration I'm just trying to look at it from different angles. I really wanted to rock a mystery ranch but the original guidelight belt didn't work for me im hoping this new one does. Adding to that, I also find it annoying that not all packs in the hunting line will be offered with the upgraded frame until next year. Im guessing it's so they can get rid of old product. And it doesn't seem you can buy just the frame anywhere

- - - Updated - - -

I just spoke to aaron in mystery ranch customer service and he told me he's not sure if they will offer a buckle kit but the warranty departement will "get your squared away" and ship you buckles for older bags to become compatible to the new frame so that's great news in my opinion.
 
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Its not like the guild lite frame if an old platform, pretty sure its only been out maybe 4 or 5 years. In any event I am happy that belt on the guild lite work for me as I have no need to up grade to the new frame unless I just cant help myself. If they manage to put something out in 4500-6000 size that comes in at about 5 pounds....well then I need to make a move.
 
No the guidelight isn't old but the foot print of it is based off/compatible with the NICE. The "tower" on the guidlelight projects up from where the NICE stopped, its basically their load lifter extension built in (obviously they changed some of the frame routing when blending but the foot print is the same). I can't see any change to the frame with the new version off hand other than the buckles, they just changed the belt design (THAT is something useful).
 
pods8 said:
No the guidelight isn't old but the foot print of it is based off/compatible with the NICE. The "tower" on the guidlelight projects up from where the NICE stopped, its basically their load lifter extension built in (obviously they changed some of the frame routing when blending but the foot print is the same). I can't see any change to the frame with the new version off hand other than the buckles, they just changed the belt design (THAT is something useful).
Click to expand...

Pods, this might be a good thing for you. More business your way for people who can’t convert their pack on their own or want a new pack the fit the old GL frame. But I do agree, it’s kind of a shady move on MR’s part.
 
Did anyone see my post about the warranty department providing previous owners with new buckles? Just trying to inform everyone before more bashing begins
 
Pezboat said:
Pods, this might be a good thing for you. More business your way for people who can’t convert their pack on their own or want a new pack the fit the old GL frame. But I do agree, it’s kind of a shady move on MR’s part.
Click to expand...

I don't look at it like that, not the way I like the world to work. Its fun helping folks create new custom things the way they want them for their needs. Patching up a situation that seemingly is unneeded isn't something I'd get giddy about. Sounds like they're going to offer some buckles out (are they free or at a $2ish a buckle? and to what degree, IE if you have a pack over X years or a used one or only with prior proof of purchase?). But my stance as one of their customers is that I think this was a poor decision for the user. I am assuming the weight savings for the buckles is pretty negligible with that stance, if it turns out to be something like 8oz of weight shaved then I'd concede it being worth while after all, I just don't think that is the case so it doesn't seem like its worth it to the heritage users to have done this. Even with extra buckles on hand its a lot of shuffling to go between frames (folks do have more than one, esp. between friends/families) and as noted I think the used market for their product is going to have some headaches over the next years which will sour some of their customer base indirectly (folks that get annoyed won't look to upgrade or buy more of their product vs go to another brand).
 
It also looks like the new frame doesn't have these straps that the GL and NICE have.

Screenshot_20190110-214059.jpg

New frame

Screenshot_20190110-214513.jpg
 
I talked to MR today, they confirmed that they will not currently work on the guidelite frames but they will be coming out with a retrofit kit to make them compatible in the near future.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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