Sorensen Massdrop Pack

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Hello everyone.</p>
Just wanted to let you know where this pack is coming from.

I’ve been making mostly quilts and tarps for the past 20 years, (some clothing, but let’s no ot go there).

There has never been a want or need to make a backpack.  10 years ago, fabric  just wasnt suitable for its needs to spark an interest in making a pack.

Now that fabric has made leaps and bounds, the itch to create a runnable light weight pack needed to happen.

My first and single most importance on a harness style pack would be the fit.  I own 3 other harness packs and the fit on each of them was, at best, just okay.

I had never seen a Simple Pack or a Six Moon Designs Flight 30, but wanted a lot of the features from each, just keeping it as light as possible.

After 10 different mockups,  the fit just wasn’t right.  John Abela was able to send me his Flight 30, and after a few measurements, the pack started coming together.

About this time, Danny from Massdrop picked up on what I was doing and wanted in.  I’ve been a product tester for them for a while.   After a few more months of tinkering with the fit, the 15th version of the pack was sent to them.

Massdrop made 3 of their own mockups to get everything going from their end and after a year in the making, the pack was finally ready.

The photo attached is the pack I sent them.   It was originally going to be called the “Dirt Bag”.  That name was if I made any of them to sell.

The name “The Shadow” just came to mind after seeing the fabric.  So the design is 100% from me and all the fabric choices and add on’s came with my approval.  The only reason I approved on the removable pad was both as a selling feature and its ability to be used as a hydration sleeve when the past is taking out.  There is also a thru-hole for the tube.

It was fun working with Massdrop.  I had a pack for a few weeks and it looks really high end.  Plus there is no way I could make them for that price.

Hope you enjoy the pack.  Of course you get the Massdrop wait with it, but still worth it.  This is a really nice pack!

On the conversation of the pack, how durable are those stretchy pockets going to be?

Congratulations on 250 sold.

Any idea when the Q&A will begin?

Drop has ended with over 250 sold. Making sure that this will head into production. Congratulations Aaron and Massdrop.

Now the wait really begins…

Hey Ken

There is still 15 days left on the drop.

The Q&A is with the drop in the comments.

I don’t think it has ended. It says 14 days left.

I think what’s happened is that it was kind of 2 drops in 1. It was sort of a 30 day drop but they were going to charge peoples cards at the mid point to get the production going, so it’s more like back to back 15 day drops. I think it did say they would charge cards on Sept 1, and now anyone else that signs on will get charged at the end of the second 15 day period.

First two week run ended successfully, going forward with production I meant.

Very interesting fabric, especially being Korean developed and woven. My wife owns a Hyundai Elantra Limited and it has excellent quality so I’m on board with Korean made products.

For my own uses I think I’d prefer a 24 liter Osprey STRATOS pack with its mesh trampoline back. Likely not as durable as the Sorenson Shadow so I  wouldn’t use a STRATOS for canyoneering. I have 550 D Cordura packs for that.

My EXOS 58 has been extremely comfortable for UL backpacking and the STRATOS seems to be made the same way. Hey, I’m a geezer and into comfort.

I got my pack from Massdrop a couple weeks back and tried it out on two 10+ mile hikes.

I’m not at all impressed – the front pockets are useless, the materials used are sub par especially the stretch pocket material, the workmanship is pretty sloppy. Worst of all my order was switched by Massdrop from a M/L to a S/M and they wouldn’t entertain any requests to change it once I noticed it about a month or so after placing my order.

Unfortunately this does not bode well for Massdrop made items. I also have the Dan Durston tent on order – we’ll see how well that goes – I’m not very hopeful given the mess they made with this pack.

Thus far I’ve only bought brand name items on Massdrop and have been a satisfied customer. I’ll probably never order another Massdrop made item again.

Any other folks have thoughts on the pack?

I’ve had mine for a few weeks as well. A few daily carries and one run/hike. I feel like it’s a great buy at $50. It’s smaller than expected, thebchest pockets are tiny, and the roll top is a few inches shorter than it should be (it only allows about 1.5 rolls before you hit the shoulder harness). But overall I’m happy with it. If I had paid a full, typical pack price I’d have a different opinion for sure. I was hoping it would be a good 1-2 night pack. But it’ll be a daily carry and day hike pack and that’s fine. Knowing what I know now, I’d still buy it.

I’ve been a little surprised at the middling and negative reviews for this pack, both here and at Massdrop. I’ve used it on a couple of hikes and Nordic ski outings and am quite pleased with it. True, the front pockets are not particularly useful, and some of the materials choices seem strange. But it carries better than any other daypack I currently own, and it’s much less expensive than comparable alternatives. I’d buy it again as well.

@pedestrian

“Unfortunately this does not bode well for Massdrop made items. I also have the Dan Durston tent on order – we’ll see how well that goes – I’m not very hopeful given the mess they made with this pack.”
I’ll try to shed a bit of light here, but obviously you’ll find out soon for yourself about how the X-Mid turned out since they ship next week.

As background, the ultralight community at Massdrop was pretty understaffed for a while after Danny Milks (of former BPL fame) moved on in early 2018. They were trying to hire more, but some new hires didn’t work out, so the project management there was good to work with but stretched pretty thin for a while. It’s only been the last 2-3 months that they’ve actually gotten some good new staff in place and have made progress in managing these projects better and improving communication between the designer and the factory.

As you can see in the comments on Massdrop from Aaron, he had some challenges working with the factory in the sense that they were sewing things differently then he wanted and it ended up with different materials for the pockets than he wanted. I’m not sure which factory made the Shadow pack, but if it is who I suspect it is, then they are really hard to communicate with and sometimes make changes they think are better without the approval of the designer. So I expect Aaron did everything he could do, but some elements did not come out entirely as intended.

As it pertains to the X-Mid, the factory making these is different. It’s CampTec who do nothing but make high end tents for companies like MSR. They have been a delight to work with because there isn’t a language barrier and they know what they’re doing (they also design tents). If something isn’t specified, they reach out and ask, while also offering suggestions that are usually good ones. So while there was not a lot of oversight from Massdrop on the X-Mid 1P project, I was able to work effectively with this factory. The tents just arrived at Massdrop this week from the factory so I have yet to see the main batch yet, but the quality and accuracy to the intended design has been very good throughout the prototyping and pre-production phases, so I think there is a high chance these tents turn out well. Of course as with anything you never know for sure, so I’ll be a bit nervous until the reviews come in.

Dan,

Thanks much for taking the time to write a detailed post about Massdrop issues.

Please understand that my comments about the Sorenson pack reflect mostly on the poor material choices, the very poor stitching and Massdrop’s lack of responsiveness to fixing an order issue caused by them. In my view Massdrop clearly dropped the ball on the pack.

For yours and all of the buyers of your (very well thought out) tent I hope things go better and I look forward to getting my tent soon and trying it out!

Also I’ve always had a good experience buying branded items on Massdrop.

My experience is very similar to Pedestrians as well.  Nice overall design and carries very well but smaller capacity than expected, odd materials choices, virtually useless pockets on the shoulder straps and poor stitching that also appears to be inadequate at stress points.  Live and learn I guess.  It just seems built to a price point that would seem less than even the $50 it sold for.  I’ll use it here and there but I am not too confident in it.

For nearly the same price my Gossamer Gear Minimalist 24 (210d dyneema version) is head and shoulders a better pack and nearly the same volume capacity.   I don’t hesitate to grossly overload it and haul it anywhere I dare to go.

First of all Massdrop was great to work with. But you hit the nail on the head

My original pack submitted could hold just about anything in the front pockets. It was mentioned to me if I wanted sliders for the adjustment on the should harness.

Of course. Thinking the pockets would still easily fit a 650ml running bottle in them or the small 16.9 ounce plastic bottles.

Upon receiving the first prototype, the sliders were not located on the far edge but rather in a good 1/4”. There goes the ability to carry water up front. The them stretchable spandex pockets would at least hold almost any phone, but the original height of the pockets were now to narrow in the opening. So now the height need to be lowered to widen the open and be able to fit anything in it.

Next prototype comes and it’s great. Fits all the requirements and looks good. Then I take it out to put it through the works.

Loaded up with 16 pounds and all exterior pockets had something in them. Within a few minutes, all the exterior pockets had ripped at the bottom. I mention this and they say the company is aware of the issue.

So I take a look and found the issue.  The outer pockets had been sewn together first and then placed in the folds of the pack itself where the inner backing pieces were seen inside.   To this day, I cannot comprehend why or how they would do such a thing. The stitching for the pockets was on the outside of the stitching of the inner sewn line. This meant that weight in the pack laid directly on a single set of its own stitches.

When I replied back about the issue, instead of fixing the issue, they insisted decided to go with the pocket material that was on it. It was either that or “nothing”.

Then when I got hold of the final prototype, (the ones you got), all the parts on that and only that prototype were super cheap.

The cord lock on the side synch was useless and webbing they used around the edging of the  harness were an extra 1/4” wider, meaning not only were the pockets no longer flexible, the 1/4” narrow pockets were now completely useless. Along with pretty much all the exterior pockets. The issue with the stitching is still an issue. Just the fabric is different being stronger and more robust.

Yes, not happy. If the stitching issue had at least been fixed and the original fabric used, it would be a much more usable pack.

I remarks and reviews are spot on. I really wish they hadn’t come out the way they did and really hope the ones who bought them are able to get some type of usage out of them. Sadly, they are not backpacking/ fastpacking worthy which was the number #1 goal I had set out to bring you.

I hope this explains everything and makes a little sense in why you ended up with a sub-par pack.

Aaron Sorensen

Wow. That’s really disappointing to hear.

Thanks much for your post Aaron and I understand your frustration.

You say:

“When I replied back about the issue, instead of fixing the issue, they insisted decided to go with the pocket material that was on it. It was either that or “nothing”.”

Given the product delivered to me I’d have preferred to get “nothing” and have my money refunded.

Oh well…….you tried.

I have a M/L size one that will never see the Sun. Will PIF if anyone is interested.

Shoot me a PM