New 2009 Exodus up at MLD

Great job Ron/MLD, very very nice.

Zang….Ron has his finger on the pulse. I am drooling. Time to sell some gear so I can justify one.

Drool. Too bad I can't justify it. I'll wait till my sil nylon pack breaks. I'm very pleased with the external dimensions, especially the depth. Every other SUL/UL pack that I have considered isn't deep enough.

I am in the market for a new pack. I am having a difficult time deciding between the new MLD Exodus and the ULA Conduit. I had previously decided on the Conduit, but MLD released this beauty and now I am all kinds of indecisive.

The Conduit is cheaper and has a pad sleeve (which I like).

The MLD Exodus is lighter and I like the pocket configuration more.

I will lose sleep over this. I think the only solution is to order both and try them out.

hey Adam,
good luck on that one as it is a tough decision. I myself have a Super Zip (older version of Exodus) and my wife to be has a Conduit so I have seen first hand the differences. Really alot of it comes down to weight and feature set. The SuperZip/Exodus uses lighter webbing and does not come standard with some of the extra's that the Conduit has. For instance the Conduit has a internal pad holster system and built-in hip belt pockets. The Exodus is more basic, but thats what makes it so awesome. Everything you need and nothing you don't. In terms of durability, they appear to be equally matched. The only thing the ULA seems to have that I like more is bigger hip belt fins.

Jonathan,

Thanks for your insights. The simplicity of the Exodus is part of its attractiveness.

I previously used a Jam^2, but had two serious issues with it. First, the sleeping pad would consistently creep north on a long hike. This is most likely some failure of my packing. Second, the hipbelt was not small enough to stay on my hips. It too would creep slowly up.

The Conduit addresses the first point with the pad holster. What has been your luck with keeping the pad in place on your Exodus?

As far as the hipbelt is concerned, I have two somewhat conflicting requirements. I need a hipbelt that can cinch small enough to fit my narrow hips. This is more likely with a smaller hipbelt. However, I routinely hike in the desert with my lightweight pack where my weights regularly exceed 40 pounds the first few days out. This is improved by a larger hipbelt. I am still undecided on this point. Do you think the smaller hipbelt fins on the Exodus result in a potentially tighter fit?

Thanks for all the input.

40lbs is not going to feel great in either of these packs, but I understand where you are coming from. Did the Grand Canyon last year and for the first 2 days my pack was incredibly heavy but super light on the way out. To carry that kind of weight I think I would lean more towards the ULA just because of the bigger hipbelt fins. That being said, you could just wait for the New MLD Ark to come out which looks as though has much larger hip belt fins.

As for the waist size, this was the exact issue why my wife to be purchased this pack. She is a size zero and at the time it was the only pack we could find that would fit her small waist.

As for the pad staying place in the MLD, I have used several different kinds and they have all worked well when pack correctly. Just this past weekend I used a Goss Gear Nightlight torso pad and it was very comfortable. I use this pad along with a BMW Torsolight (I am 6'4" so I need both). If I am carrying more weight I use the Torsolight against my back and blow it up to take up more space and make a stiffer virtual frame. If I were carrying 40lbs though I would use a Ridgerest unrolled in the pack and I would purchase Ron's shoulder strap mounted water bottle holsters to move some of that water weight off my back. I use them with the twist top Gatorade bottles with much success.

anyone with an exodus car to comment on how usable the back pocket actually is?

looking at it it looks like it would suffer from the same problem as my SMD starlite: anytime the main pocket is full the compression straps render the back pocket almost unopenable (fixed by putting in my own longer rope).

really it seems to be a problem with backpacks in general, people keep putting compression straps over pockets.

I've got a Zip, which has the same pocket – it's definitely usable, I put tons of stuff in there for access during the day. The pack just ships with some lengths of bungee, it's not preinstalled. You don't have to put the compression bungees over the pocket, you can put them underneath, or not at all.

I started with them over the pocket, then switched to underneath for exactly the reason you mention.

I have the zip as well and with the pack pretty well loaded I am able to fit my 8X10 tarp and rain jkt in their with some room left over. The mesh stretches so even if the pack is full, it is still useable.

I got mine yesterday, a beautiful gray dyneema grid x Exodus. The workmanship and quality are excellent and Ron as always was great to work with. Now I just need to get out this coming weekend for a test hike.

Great job Ron/MLD, keep up the great work.