MLD pack’s volume reduction system

Just my experience but I had an exodus and it was a super nice pack but was way to big (volume wise) for my needs even with the "volume reduction system". It was hard for me to imagine filling the pack to capacity and still being at a reasonable weight for a frameless pack.

I think that if you're worried you won't be able to fit enough gear and food into the Prophet, then your gear might be too heavy for frameless use (but maybe not).

I have the Burn and Prophet. I use the Burn for weekend summer trips and I use the Prophet (which I bought later) for long trips with lots of food or non-summer trips. I've never used the "volume reduction system," because either one, even when hardly packed, isn't that big and doesn't annoy me. Not even sure the Burn has it.

I have the Prophet. I carried 30+ lbs comfortably in it on my shoulders to the GGG this year which was a six mile hike. I would have been fine to carry this weight much further.

Much of that weight was due to a 12 pack of beer; my normal weight I carry with that pack is just under 20. Again, only on my shoulders.

A gear list would be helpful to figure out how much bulk you need to carry. For example, I can carry a three day food bag, Hexamid Twin, MB sleeping bag, pro lite 3/4 pad, small 550 ml cook kit, and extra clothes with room to spare.

Hi Logan,

I have the Prophet and the Ark, for three season and winter trips respectively. I find the volume reduction works well – it takes the space away from the bottom of the pack, keeping the weight higher up and close to my back. After getting the Prophet I sold my Burn, as the former serves me well for anything from day hikes to 3-4 day trips. The Ark, well it's a freaking monster, swallowing all the bulky but lightweight down needed when it's but cold outside.

So, if you're in doubt whether the Prophet will handle all your trips, get the Exodus and take advantage of the volume reduction straps when you don't need the extra space. However, if you do intend to use the volume of the Exodus on 3 season trips, you might consider the Lightweight Suspension upgrade. It rocks!

I have a Burn (dayhikes and overnights) and an Exodus (everything else) and have also never really used the volume reduction system. I think this is common for MLD users and seem to remember Ron posting a question on Facebook recently, polling users whether he should even continue adding it to MLD packs. I'll bet it disappears in future versions.

A few thoughts: using MLD specs, the 2015 Prophet & Exodus with comparable features only weigh 1 oz difference. The main Exodus pack is only 400ci larger than the Prophet and the main/front pocket is 100ci larger. Those two packs just aren't that drastically different. By the way, there's a comparison photo of the Ark, Exodus and Prophet at the bottom of the "Ark" page. It's not a perfect comparison (the Prophet is turned slightly and the Exodus looks lumpy/packed weird) but you can see they aren't that different, especially compared to the much-larger Ark. I think that extra 400ci is mostly achieved in depth (think of the side panels), rather than height or width and that they won't really carry that different. Also, I've never had a problem filling that extra 400ci volume of the Exodus mostly by letting any down gear (quilt especially) expand a little bit and using the two side compression straps.

Finally, I think that MLD has the Wasabi color back in stock (or soon to be) . . . I'd definitely consider that option!

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks all for the insight. Valid points regarding size vs weight carried for a frameless pack. As someone with a base weight between 7.5-9lbs I think I'm lying to myself a bit and trying to make this pack do more than it should. For most of my solo trips I probably would have a hard time filling the prophet up fully which means that is probably the better pack for me as that is where weight reduction matters most to me.

With that said I do lots of trips with the girlfriend and dogs or me and a dog that requires I carry a bit more volume. It is usually light weight stuff like CCF and insulation so the weight rarely gets above 20lbs unless I'm carrying a ton of water. I'm obviously looking to get one pack to do it all instead of really trying to get the best pack for my more common trips so I appreciate you guys exposing that.

I'm a bit undecided at the moment but fortunately Ron lets you send unused packs back. I'm considering getting the exodus and trying it out with my solo load using the volume reduction method and with my bigger heavier loads. If it does well with my light load I'll keep it and use it as a do all. If it does poorly I'll just exchange it for a prophet. If it does poorly with the solo load but amazing at the heavier ones I may get both ;) but that is pretty unlikely.

Thank you again for all of the insight! And yea it will be Wasabi Green :)

"I am curious what your guys experience with the volume reduction system has been?"

I guess I really never answered your question about my experiences with the Prophet.

I use this pack right now for over-nighters and it was my pack on the Wonderland last year. I have other day packs available to me so I never have used it in that capacity. With any of my backpacks, I will fluff up the sleeping bag to fill any voids in the pack and don't worry too much about cinching them down as they are all relatively small (by REI standards) to begin with.

I assume you're familiar with the Prophet's volume reduction system but so we're on the same sheet of music here, there are cord loops on the pack and some plastic clips which allow me to clip the loops together towards the bottom of the pack. If the Prophet was my one and only pack, I'd want to keep those on the pack as an option for when I want to use it as a day pack. I really never use them but I wouldn't want to get rid of it. A scenario where I could envision using the Prophet as a day pack is while on a longer hike where I've set up a base camp and carrying it on some side trips without my bulky gear.

There is also a grosgrain strap on each side that is run through a fastex buckle. I use this on a fairly regular basis to secure gear, which is everything from packing away my trekking poles in the pockets with the grosgrain over them for security or just clipping my baseball hat there when I don't want to wear it. They're also great for drying gear, socks, etc. I never use this for volume reduction, but again, I do use them enough that I wouldn't want to get rid of it.

I can't seem to find a way to con act mountain Laurel Designs.

I REALLY would like to talk to someone about their pack frames & hip belt options.

What gives with this company?

Did you happen to go to the main page of their website – the one with the phone number and address at the bottom of the page?

I originally bought my Exodus with the same thought in mind. Small weekend load, use the volume reduction and full pack for longer trips.

It just didn't work for me. A weekend load gets lost in the Exodus and cinching it up with the reduction system and bungees made it carry kind of weird. Just not comfortable for me.

I went a different route and ordered the Burn so that I could easily carry a 2-3 day load in the pack and had Ron add on extra side compression straps so that I could strap gear to the side of the pack. This has worked very well for me and allows me to get 7 day trips with the Burn by off-loading some bulky items to the outside of the pack.

The side straps are shown on the original "Burn thread" so search for that if you want to see pictures of the add on straps.