MLD Prophet volume comparison

Real world, means exactly what??

MLD includes the extension collar in its stated volume.

Here are the dimensions from the MLD web site: EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS: 12″ Wide x 7″ Thick x 30″ High|| 30 cm Wide x 18 cm Thick x 75 cm High.  The main body is perhaps 20 or 22 inches high if you don’t fill up the extension collar. Does that help?

The outside mesh pocket is VERY large. I can usually fit my shelter, water purification kit and other gear I use during the day, fuel canisters, and other odds and ends into it.

I don’t have a Prophet any more but my impression is that my kid’s Ohm is significant larger. I’m just guessing but 20% larger?

Real world meaning whats the volume like in real use. Based on packs I’ve had its not always best to compare volume based on different manufacturer’s estimates. No real standard for how they are measured between the manufacturers.

I’m deciding between a burn and prophet and I’m pretty sure the prophet is closer to the volume I need.

The Burn is pretty small if you carry a bear can ever. Really subjective but I find the bottle pockets to be much harder to reach due to the narrowness of the pack. For my needs, the Prophet is a better choice. YMMV

More unsolicited opinions:

It’s really an apples to oranges comparison looking at the Ohm and Prophet.

I think MLD makes a much more comfortable shoulder strap with no edge binding and thicker padding. I find ULA’s hipbelt to be too constricting and rigid. It makes sense to me on a pack like a Circuit where the load might be heavier but not with a lighter load.

The Ohm has the best side pockets over ever used. They are glorious. Also the minimal hoop frame is an excellent solution for loads just a bit too heavy for a frameless pack (low to mid 20# range).

If I could wave my magic wand I’d get a Prophet with a frame hoop or an Ohm with MLD’s belt and harness.

I appreciate the opinions. I think the burn will be too little volume for when I’m using a hammock with two quilts. I’m thinking the prophet should be just right.

I also own a Burn and it is kind of small and narrow.  With two quilts you’d definitely need at least the Prophet.

I used to have a ULA Ohm 2.0. My experience was that it was tall and narrow while Prophet (which I have) is a little wider and squatter. I think Prophet is bigger than ULA Ohm 2.0 (I find ULA’s volumes to be too generous – that is they are smaller than they indicate as volume). I love my MLD Prophet which is very spacious – though nowadays I find my volume of Prophet a little too much. It was great for using a Bearikade. I have a Burn too which is narrower and slightly taller.  Depends on your kit. My experience with Prophet vs Burn is that my pack tends to sag down as it is too big for my kit without a bearikade. Burn doesn’t feel like it is sagging as it is narrower and fills a little taller compared to Prophet. With two quilts, a Prophet may be better for you.

Thanks Murali – just the type of info I was looking for. I find ULA’s volume claims generous as well which is why I wasn’t willing to compare their claimed volumes against MLD’s. I think the Prophet is probably the better option for me since I will be carrying a hammock set up at least part of the time and occasionally use a bear canister. If I find it too large I can always switch to a Burn.

If I could wave my magic wand I’d get a Prophet with a frame hoop or an Ohm with MLD’s belt and harness.

I wonder how possible it would be to sew in webbing and some light fabric to the inside back panel of a prophet and add an ula carbon hoop. because a prophet with a slightly higher weight carry might be my ideal ul pack

It should be possible to sew some sleeves to add HMG or aftermarket frame rods.

But what I have noticed is that with training, your body can adapt to higher weights. For example, when I trained last year for the SHR with bear can and 1L of water, I was around 21.5 lbs in a Prophet with some weight in a fanny pack.

This year, I am planning on doing the Arizona trail – which requires carrying 3L for some stretches. So, I started training wit 3L of water. Since water weight is dense, I was having issues carrying 3L even though my weight was around the same as SHR weight. The first few hikes were painful and I was wondering if I should go to a framed pack. Now, after a few months of hiking with 3L of water, I do not have any issues. I train with 22.5 lbs nowadays (not including the 1.5 lbs weight in the fanny pack). All of this is without hip-belt as I don’t like hip belts. On the SHR, I probably used the hip belt for maybe 4 hours totally over a period of 17 days (many many 10 to 12 hour days scrambling off trail talus).

So, I feel with lots of training, your body can adapt to higher weights in a frameless pack. I am retired and train almost 100 hiking miles every month….so, I can train a bit to adapt my body before a big hike. But, you got to keep trying different packing strategies etc to find the best fit. Lots of people give up too quickly when trying frameless pack. Especially during the first few weeks when your body has not adapted. One should keep at it for at least 200 miles of training (2 months for me) I feel before your body adapts.

Murali can you get a Bearicade into a Burn?

I have a Bearikade Blazer…which is bigger than the Weekender and smaller than Expedition. Very comfortable in Prophet…but had to still experiment a bit. What I noticed was that put the can and then fill the curved edges of the can with soft stuff like my tarp on one side and bivy on the other side so that the cylindrical shape is not there…but a flater feel to the back. The bivy and tarp should be set such that you feel those things rather than the can. With that setup, I was very comfortable in a Prophet and I did 175 miles of that.

Never carried it with Burn. I tried it at home and walked around and thought I could pull if off. It takes up the whole space though. I don’t think I can put tarp, bivy in the back. The best place was at the top of backpack….still inside the backpack. It is doable is what I feel. I have heard people have done it and I think it is possible.

Burn is 32 inches tall while Prophet is 30 inches tall. So Burn has space to try different placements. Keeping it up top, I didn’t feel the can as it was mostly over my shoulders.

Having the nylon fabric is better than DCF as nylon stretches to accommodate the can better than the DCF. No experience with Ultra…probably better than DCF but not as great as nylon would be my impression

Yes I have the nylon Burn. Couldn’t get my Bearicade; @ the size of a weekender; 9-3/8  I think; to fit inside; but I use a 1/2 foam back/sit pad. Might have squeezed it in without the pad but it would be a hard round pack on the bottom. Guess it might barely work on top.

yeah – it barrels if kept lower..and I didn’t try with a foam pad as it was already tight. I put it way up. I can probably take a picture with the Burn….

“If I could wave my magic wand I’d get a Prophet with a frame hoop..”

Did not MLD have such version of the Exodus for one season 12 plus years ago?

Yeah they had a Super Prophet or something like that.

I’m really surprised to hear the Prophet has more volume than the Ohm. I don’t have both on hand at the moment but I could have sworn my kid’s Ohm was larger. I’m sorry if I lead anyone astray.