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MLD burn vs the SWD 35L pack
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › MLD burn vs the SWD 35L pack
- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 4 months ago by Steven Hall.
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Nov 16, 2017 at 5:21 pm #3502410
Hello fellow backpacking community, I was curious if anyone had experience with Superior Wilderness Designs new line of packs, in particular, the 35Liter frameless pack made out of Xpack material. I am also very interested in the very reliable well known MLD burn that seems to made of a slightly more durable Dymia x fabric. I am mainly curious about the pros and cons of each fabric, some criteria may include; which is lighter, more abrasion resistant, water repellant, comfortable to wear. I am not terribly hard on my gear and I like SWD because I have many more options to customize the pack with personally requested mods vs MLD which I believe does not do any customer mods, correct me if wrong here. I am also like the long-term reviews of the burn and I will be doing many cross-country ventures with these packs and want something that is fairly durable.
Nov 16, 2017 at 7:26 pm #3502432MLD does several modifications on request. A few I have heard of include drawstring closure, removable hipbelt, lower (less secure) pockets, deleting pockets…
Dave Chenault has written a couple of posts concerning pack materials that might be relevant to your questions:
https://bedrockandparadox.com/2014/01/26/pack-materials-rundown/
https://bedrockandparadox.com/2015/07/05/pack-materials-redux/
Nov 17, 2017 at 8:36 pm #3502675Following. I’ve been debating between the same two packs as well and am currently leaning toward the Superior 35. Although the Burn certainly has been around longer, my main two concerns are the narrower shoulder straps and the smaller internal capacity (although I know Ron will put Prophet shoulder straps on a Burn by request). As far as durability goes they both seem pretty bombproof.
Nov 18, 2017 at 6:40 pm #3502779For what it’s worth; I own an SWD Long Haul 50 and it’s a great pack.
I love the shoulder straps and the hipbelt on it but the quality of the whole pack is very good.
They’re also really nice people to work with; I had a bunch of ideas for my pack and they were very cooperative.
I have a frameless/hipbeltless Superiour 35 on order for shorter, lighter & faster trips.
If you have any questions regarding SWD I’d be glad to help out.
Nov 18, 2017 at 10:25 pm #3502809I’m in the process of ordering a Long Haul and was wondering what ideas you had or how did you configure yours?
Nov 19, 2017 at 9:37 am #3502877Hi Mark,
I like an external sit pad holder made out of 3D mesh. I use an old piece of a Ridgerest and I like having it close for easy access; it gets a lot of use.
Adding it was no problem for them, it replaced the standard foam inside the pack.I also wanted a roll-top closure, because that’s just a lot more convenient to me.
They made the hipbelt-pockets slightly larger for me but IMO I got a little bit too carried away there, I replaced them with hipbelt-pockets from Tread Lite Gear.
I also asked to exclude the hydration port and hook since I never carry a Camelbak anyway.
My pack is made out of white VX07 and the shoulder straps, hip belt (& pockets) & side pockets are made out of Dyneema X. The bottom is made out of VX21 but next time I would have picked something non-waterproof like 500D cordura. The materials are waterproof but the seams aren’t sealed. During an extended storm in the Alps I noticed some water pooling on the inside of the pack because it had nowhere to go. Nothing a towel couldn’t fix but still noteworthy.
Some pictures maybe:
Nov 19, 2017 at 1:18 pm #3502884Thank you for the info. That packs a real beauty!
Nov 19, 2017 at 4:21 pm #3502894I havent been able to take it out yet but I just got a SWD 35 frameless with quite a few customizations. Looks awesome and craftsmanship is top notch. Try to take some pics later today and add them
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