Should I keep or return the Mystery Ranch Bridger 55

Here’s my lighter pack for reference:

https://lighterpack.com

Mystery Ranch has its roots with Dana Gleason when he left Dana designs.  His packs always had functional suspensions and this heritage carries forward through to today.

However he/they never quite caught the advances in fabrics and minimalist designs kinda like stuck in the 90’s.

That said an extra pound of pack if it really fits and carries well when you are huffing a 40lbs load at the start of a week+ trek is nothing and in my experience worth it.

If I had a UL kit and did nothing but 2-3 day hikes a pound or two extra  in he pack is a lot anfmd I’d look for something else. But if I only get out once or twice a year and those for a week or more then Mystery Ranch hits a better spot on the cost vs weight vs carrying ability curve.

This is a pretty interesting product. ‘Weight conscious’ panel loader with ul pack inspired exterior pockets from a brand thats riden out 2 UL gear fads now.

I dont get why the bottom zipper folds over itself and clips shut.

If you genuinely like the organization you should use it!

I see a Ray Jardine style single compartment pack with expandable side and back pockets, and running vest style shoulder straps, but this is a panel loader with top lid and internal organization.

If the rest of your kit is UL you should still be able to have a <15# base weight.

The suspension looks like what I call a butterfly shaped perimeter frame. Osprey, black diamond, gregory, etc  alot of the ‘non ul’ brands use those. Considering you’ve used an HMG with a minimalist double stay suspension I’d be interested in hearing your comparison. Sorry to hear the padding on HMG failed you, I think each ul brand has its own padding implementations. SMD makes 2# packs with the running vest style shoulder straps if you’re looking to cross shop the bridger 55.

Being able to lose 2-3 pounds of weight off your back in one go would be fantastic. You can do that by finding a different pack. I also like/require a pack that puts all the weight on my hips and off my shoulders and spine. You should be able to find one that does that in the sub 3 pound range. 5.2 pounds is just too heavy. It would be like carrying two tents, or a second half full bear canister.

I have a seek outside flight series 1, I am really happy with it, the suspension design is pretty conventional along the lines of major pack designs, but only weighs around 2 pounds.  It has capacity for a large load if you need like a heavy initial food load.  I would prefer their new flight 2 but I ordered my pack a couple years ago.

I have looked at the SMD Minimalist and Swift X. I have a rainbow li and I wonder if I were to get one of the two if the Minimalist would be better since I might be able to fit the rainbow in the side pocket.

https://www.sixmoondesigns.com/collections/50l-backpacks/products/minimalist-v2-utralight-backpack?variant=39362102951978

I’ve been very interested in this backpack. It’ll be a while until it is available here in the UK and I can try it, but I will definitely be having a look when I can.

Yes it’s heavy, but if it really does feel that supportive to you and transfers the weight as well as it does, then it may still be worth those few pounds and may carry lighter and be kinder on your body anyway, and you can look to save some weight in other ways.

Kev

Have you tried talking with them about whether they make a lighter pack with virtually the same suspension.

If you like the fit of the pack – then you should keep it. Don’t worry about the weight. You will get used to it. The body adapts to the weights over time. I used a frameless pack on the CO trail – 500 miles, 90K feet and I did my hike in 30 days. There was a woman who carried a HMG 3400 who did an FKT of the CO in half the time – her pack was heavier than mine by 2x. What I am trying to say is – 3 extra pounds does not matter when it comes to suspension that helps you carry load better. Fit is lot more important which will help you enjoy the hike. People get too obsessed with weight. If you think about it, over a period of 5 days, you probably lose 8 pounds of food weight – are you that much faster on the 5th day? Probably not. I am never.  My average speed between day 1 and day 5 is the same – I keep a log of my speeds for all of my trips.

If you use a frameless pack, then obsessing over weight is okay as all the weight is on the shoulders if you do not use hip belt.

I have a Mystery Ranch Ravine 50L, fits me GREAT, they make really good-fitting gear. I also have a HMG 3400 Southwest that fits great too.

I find the few extra pounds of the Mystery Ranch are very noticeable on harder hikes and at 59 y/o those few extra pounds matter at the end of the day for me.

So, I use the Mystery Ranch for training hikes (shorter than an entire day) and the HMG on my trips where I hike all day. This way, I have an excuse to have to keep the Mystery Ranch.

I think that some are underestimating the damage that excessive weight can do, not to mention losing the comfort of an ultra light pack, which can detract greatly from an otherwise enjoyable trek.

2-3 extra pounds of pack can be greater than the weight of a solo shelter, not a DCF one, but one of woven fabric and designed to be very light.  Throwing a second one of those tents into the pack would be the equivalent of using a pack that alone is heavier  by the same amount of weight, or 2-3 pounds.

When you look at it that way, it does not make a lot of sense.  And it should be noted that getting the loaded weight of a pack reduced is a discipline involving many small reductions that add up to one big one.  Sort of like trimming here and there to get the first USA satellite down to a weight that could lift it into orbit with the rocket engines available at the time.  Then there are the tales of kind souls near the head of the AT in Georgia who have worked with hikers to reduce their pack weight by eliminating items that were not essential.  Wonder how many might not have completed the AT without the benefit of this kindness.

It is especially puzzling why folks who spend what is a fortune for some on DCF shelters because they are a fad, then go out and offset the weight loss with a pack that is heavier.  Of course there is a lot of puzzling behavior these days; but rather than accept it, we would benefit by overcoming it.  So it goes with backpacking.

And also please note that as our bodies get older, and not so much older than we might think, we become more vulnerable to all kinds of health issues.  And the dangers of being unaware of this can be damaging.  Fortunately, we have BPL to keep us on the light side.  Thank you, BPL.

Joey has another post about getting a 5.5 lb tent. So, for him, I think a 5.2 lb backpack is the right one. He has already said that a HMG 3400 which gave him some issues. The next step could have been to get a Seek Outside Divide at 3+ lbs. But, a 5.2 lbs is 2 lbs heavier.

Sam – by your logic, everyone should be carrying a Gossamer Gear Murmur (7.9 oz) and Zpacks Pocket tarp (6 oz) – else they are damaging their bodies. Especially the ones carrying a Duplex, or Tarptent’s HMG 3400, GG Mariposa, Osprey Exos etc – because they are much much heavier than Murmur and Pocket tarp. Yes – I am oversimplifying it. But if weight is what matters, then that’s what everyone should do.  Many PCT hikers carry a Big Agnes tent which is 2.5 lbs or more – as they don’t want to deal with a DCF tent falling apart and it is much more expensive. There is a hiker called Becca “Little Skittle” on the CDT this year carrying a frameless pack who switched from her Zpacks Duplex to a Big Agnes or something – one of those free standing tents when her zippers on her Duplex stopped working (I think she had used the Duplex on PCT and other hikes prior to the zippers not working). So she went from 1.2 lb tent to a 2.5 lbs (or more) tent on a 3500 mile long distance hike.

If the pack fits him like a glove, then that means he will enjoy it more. That is more important than carrying the lightest stuff around because that is the “in thing”. The body always adapts to the weights and you will not notice the increased weights. 2 to 3 lbs is nothing in the big scheme of things. As I said, you lose 8 or more lbs of food weight between day 1 and day 5 of your hike. I bet you didn’t do bigger miles or finished faster.

“The body always adapts to the weights and you will not notice the increased weights. 2 to 3 lbs is nothing in the big scheme of things.”

wow, that’s not my experience at all. And I definitely enjoy carrying less weight, even on my feet in terms of shoes. By the morning of the third day out I can tell that my pack is lighter simply because I’ve eaten a pound of food and don’t have to carry it.

There are some military studies that claim 1 lb increase in foot wear weight translates to 5 lbs in your backpack.

If you are able to discern 2 to 3 lbs in a framed backpack, that means either the frame is no good or you are at the limits of the frame. In a frameless pack without hip belt, you can definitely notice. But did it make me enjoy the hike more as my food weight went down every day – I don’t think so. Sure I notice that the weight is lower. Did it make me faster. No. Was I less tired on day 2,3,4 etc? No. I don’t think in any of my multi-week hikes, I noticed that I was less tired or had more energy or somehow the enjoyment level went up on days 2,3,4,5 of a typical 5 day resupply as food weight went down.

In 2021, I used MLD Prophet with a bear can and carried mostly 1L on the SHR – mostly off trail. In 2022, I was training for AZT – no bear can, but with 3L’s of water. Initially it was tough to the point that I thought I may have to go to a framed pack because of 3L’s of water. But, within a month or two, I was comfortable carrying 3L’s of water. That is what I mean by – your body will adapt. I used a MLD Burn on the AZT – no hip belt. On the CT, I used HMG 3400 – mostly did 20 mile days – didn’t feel any difference between day 1 to day 5. Didn’t increase my mileage on day 2-5 as food weight decreased. Didn’t feel less tired as days went by before resupply.

Lots of people when they switch between a heavier to a lighter backpack will immediately notice the difference and that is when they will go and write reviews as to how the great the new lighter backpack is. After a month or two, your body will adapt and you will back to your base metabolic level….your average speed or tiredness etc will not be any different to the heavier backpack.

My average speed or level of enjoyment has not changed between when I used framed backpacks to frameless.

You should experiment increasing your weight by 2 to 3 lbs slowly over a period of 1 month and tell me if your average speed has decreased or level of tiredness etc has incrreased.

Murali,

A while ago, you advised me to get a light tarp,  and I protested because I don’t find that is enough to keep me safe and comfortable when out for 1-3 weeks in the backcountry.  Now you seem to be open to heavier gear.  So am a little mystified.

Before BPL, and without even realizing it, I was carrying a 50+ pound pack when fully loaded.  The pack was small compared to what you see in the field, so there was little concern.

After BPL, I carried a 25 pound pack, fully loaded with food for a week, and it was a total transformation.  So much more enjoyment, and feeling so much better during AND after the trek.

As mentioned above, this was accomplished by trimming a little here and a little there, just so long as nothing critical to health and safety was left out.  And lighter versions of the critical items were either found or home-made.  It took around a decade after joining BPL and picking up much good advice on the site. And persistence.

But I still see folks loaded to the gills all the time, and it is a shame.  So am not agreeable to backslide.  A five pound pack and a five pound solo tent – they seem ridiculous to me now.

I carry a 14 to 17 ounce frameless pack with a Pocket tarp/DCF bathtub or a Altaplex tarp (7.5 oz) and a bivy (5.5oz). The reason I carry a frameless is because I don’t like hip belts. With a frameless pack, you need to be extremely careful with weight when not using the hipbelt as all weight is on shoulders.

I think the recommendation to use a lighter tarp was regarding how safe these tarps are and I was trying to say that DCF tarps are very safe.

Now back to Joey and his ask – whether he should return his 5.2 lb backpack. This is a backpack that fits him like a glove and he likes it a lot compared to his HMG 3400 which gave him some shoulder issues. I was answering from that perspective. A 2 to 3 lb weight increase especially when it is because of the superior suspension will not cause him to enjoy his trips any less. Fit is lot more important than weight.

This has been debated ad nauseum in various threads.

And you are comparing 50 lbs and 25 lbs – of course it is going to be night and day. Compare 25 lbs to 27 or 28 lbs – you will not find any difference especially when using a framed pack. Getting lighter tents, tarps, lighter backpacks etc is a hobby that makes you think it is going to contribute to your enjoyment. It is just a hobby we all like to indulge in – me included. There are people who buy McHale backpacks  (800 to 1500 to 1700 bucks) as it is the holy grail according to them and then they will still buy more backpacks for other uses like weekend trips etc – even though the McHale backpack can be used for weekend trips. It’s a hobby and the never ending desire to find that perfect backpack or gear.

Murali,

The pound differences were mentioned just to show how much total weights can vary, when a concerted effort is made to get to a light carry weight.  Promise this is the last mention here that numerous small weight reductions, while seemingly not so important individually, add up to big numbers.  Will try not to “debate ad nauseam.”

This is the first time I’d heard backpacking referred to as a “hobby,” though one time Roger Caffin did mention the term in relation to the slow pace at which some of my projects get completed.  A fair comment, but other matters of more import often take precedence.

Bottom line:  Just because a heavier product fits and/or performs well at a heavier weight does not mean that a lighter product cannot function just as well.  But we have to root out the better gear, which is not easy because a lot of popular gear is not the best.  Right now am in the slow process of downsizing and weight reducing an hourglass frame pack to under two pounds; but won’t know exactly until completion.  It helps that my packs are well cared for in the field, so lighter materials can be used.  And conversely, the lighter weight makes the packs less subject to abrasion or other damage, and easier to take off and set down during breaks.  Guess my point is that ‘the whole is the sum of its parts;’  so a couple pound difference for one item will multiply to a much higher total if weight is not given overall priority in selection or construction of other parts.  Loss of one battle can lose the war if that loss reflects how most or all of the battles are fought.