Mountain Laurel Designs Revelation

[John Haley]

I had the chance to begin using my very lightest gear recently. Loaded up this pack with all my gear and food for a slightly rainy weekend. With two 20oz bottles of water the total packweight was 9.5 pounds and it was a dream to carry. I started out using the waist and sternum straps but took them off after the first day since the pack remained stable without them. So far I've found nothing on the downside with this pack, not even the shoulder straps which I thought at first might be too narrow. I'm going to use this next for four day section hiking. Quality gear as usual from Ron.

Photo during a stream crossing on AT in Massachusetts.

(I got emails asking if I could feel the increased weight from the attached object)

[Barnett Childress]

Review is for Ron's 2009 Revelation Pack.
Excellent build quality, lots of storage, large outside main pkt and side pkts large enough for a 1L bottle/Platy. Load compressable with bungee system. SUL with great shoulder straps make this pack carry like a dream.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I really like my 2009 MLD Revelation pack. The 1.5oz cuben is great. I think it will last a very long time provided I don't take any good falls on rocky slopes.

With some bungie cordage, MLD shoulder strap pockets (2), MLD sternum strap and a MYOG internal silnylon pad sleeve mine weighs 9.75oz. I really like using an internal CCF pad to give the pack structure and it can be used as a sit pad around camp and a pad under my feet at night in combination with my short NeoAir.

Overall I love this pack but I do have a few dislikes. For one, it's pretty much impossible to use the side water bottle pockets while wearing the pack. Also the elastic at the top of these pockets could use some improvement to make it a bit more stretchy and easier to insert bottles/bladders. The elastic along the top of the large mesh pocket on the back of the pack is also a bit weak. I lost the shovel part of my avalanche shovel while skiing with this pack because the elastic top is pretty loose and it flew right out.

I'm tempted to say that I would like to see a more durable material on the bottom of the pack in case of falls, but doing so would wreck the waterproof nature of this pack which is pretty cool. I seam sealed my Revelation and now I don't need to carry a pack cover.

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