Mountain Laurel Designs Core ready for ordering

That thing looks great, and a great price to boot!

Reminds me a bit of the Golite Ion, except better in every possible way.

Picked up a 1700ci. Looks pretty sweet and should be about prefect for my short weekenders.

Nice pack. I could go for one of those. I wish they'd use waterproof fabric but there's something nostalgic about 210D

Hard to get waterproof fabric for $85

Maybe I'm the odd man out, but it looks a bit heavy to me considering what it is.

1700 cubes and 9 oz is heavy?

Yes, it is heavy to me for such a simple bag. My RayWay pack that I built is 10oz and 2700CU + an extension collar.

Since none of us have probably ever had the privilege of seeing your magic uberlight "Rayway" creation, maybe you should post some pics of your pack to show us all what we would be missing by buying a CORE?

But, in the meantime, let me point out a few possible differences between your pack and the CORE.

Does your pack have as well padded of a suspension? The shoulder straps on.the CORE look a bit more sophisticated than the rather agrarian stuff I have seen on most Rayway packs.

Is your pack made of material as heavy as the 210D Dyneema-X MLD uses? I bet not..

I think 8 freakin' ounces IS light enough for most of us in a well made , 28l pack that you don't have to sew yourself..:)

Who's Rick?

–K.T.–

"Who's Rick?"

The Rich guy.

–R.K.–

Ha! No way it is! He'd NEVER use Rayway.

"Hard to get waterproof fabric for $85

You'd only need $15 worth of VX21 to build this. DyneemaX is maybe $5, so +$10 plus some profit margin. Maybe $99 retail price.

Love the look of this, been hanging out for it for ages.

Now I'm torn between the 1300 and the 1700. I don't want to own too many packs. My SUL kit will fit the small no worries at all, except for the pad, I prefer CCF (sold my neoairs!). The 1700 I could fit my pad inside, but not sure. 1300 would definitely have to go outside, but there goes the clean lines.

I really like the Dyneema, if its the same as what zpacks currently uses its lovely stuff. Its waterproof enough for me here in Australia. SUL, I'm using a Cape anyway, so complete watertightness isn't necessary.

There's something about these clean lines.

Heck at the price maybe I should order both and then gearswap one…

Dan, you might like some of these options available from Japan…a plethora of options!

http://www.ks-ultralightgear.com/p/tao-pack.html

"You'd only need $15 worth of VX21 to build this. DyneemaX is maybe $5, so +$10 plus some profit margin. Maybe $99 retail price"

Then you have to seam tape. Add in the labour and you have a $150 pack.

I think it's an amazing deal, given the price.

If I had need of one, I could easily see myself picking one up.

"Then you have to seam tape…."
It would be fine without seam tape. Just waterproof fabric would be a big advantage and then anyone who really cares could seal it on their own.

"Dan, you might like some of these options available from Japan"
That is a nice pack. Interesting that the Xpac fabrics are actually cheaper than the DyneemaX they're also offering. I'm currently quite happy with a pack I sewed up recently with VX07. It's more fully featured (rear pocket, hipbelt pockets) for 11oz.
http://intocascadia.com/2015/07/06/cascadia-pack/

What's the hydrostatic head of 210 d dyneema gridstop? Xpac? DG doesn't absorb water; you could just add a 1 oz trash compactor bag. What is the weight difference between the fabrics?

X21 -210 denier + .5 mil laminate 4.4oz/yd2 (by far the easiest to seam tape) –
VX07 – 70 denier + .25mil laminate and 50denier srim – 4.8oz/yd2
vx21 – 210 denier + .25 mil laminate and 50 denier scrim – 6oz

Dyneema x 210 denier +dyneema – 4.8oz/yd2

I'll still stick with X21 personally. I think its the best of all worlds. You may not have the dyneema reinforcement, but at 210 denier the fabric itself is still quite robust. The .5mil laminate strengthens it more, and provides a durable lasting waterproofing that is easier to seam tape than the xpac with a 50 denier scrim.

VX21 is rated to 200psi of waterproofness which comes out to a huge HH number. +100k. Not sure of DG, but it will be much less of course. However, the DG has better abrasion and tear resistance. I think it just comes down to the intended use (as usual).

Either way, $85 is a great deal for this pack. Thanks for posting Dave.

Ryan

Nice looking pack :). Two stretchy mesh pockets on the side for bottles it would be perfect, I'll have to shoot Ron an email and see if that's doable.

Of course I just bought a Exped Summit Lite 25 a week ago just for short SUL trips- a guy can't have too many packs can he?

Yeah X21 would be great. More waterproof and a smidge lighter than DyneemaX. A lot simpler than using an internal trash bag.

I had a belt-less Wasabi Burn in my shopping cart and nearly pulled the trigger when my truck decided it needed a $800 bearing repair. I'm now wondering if that was divine intervention…

This really looks like a perfect combination of durability, simplicity, and low-weightity.