July 7, 2001


Is the Mystery Ranch suspension system just a gimmick?

What have you heard about the Mystery Ranch suspension system? I'm researching large-capacity packs (5500 cubic inches and up) and happened on one in a store the other day, but no one could tell me how good of a pack it was. Seems gimmicky, but I like gadgets, as long as they don't break!

— Stephen Oertle Yuma, Arizona

No great mystery behind the Mystery Ranch packs. They're from a small company that was launched 18 months ago or so by Dana Gleason, the founder and long-time owner and chief designer for Dana Designs. At that company, he designed what is still widely regarded as the best big-capacity off-the-shelf pack on the planet: The Terraplane. After Dana Designs was purchased by K2, he hung around for a while then set off on his own. While noodling around on a sewing machine, he had the idea of creating a modular pack line (one frame, many bags), and the company had its start. The pack you'd probably be interested in from Mystery Ranch is the Jazz, a 5,000-cubic-inch pack. Indeed, it does look a lot like a Terraplane—a big bag with two vertical pockets on the back. It's a top or side-loader, has a sleeping bag compartment, and comes in two sizes. It's a lovely pack, but wildly expensive—$365 for the pack bag, another $140 for the frame. How good a pack is it? I haven't worn one of the Mystery Ranch packs, but I have little doubt that it's very good. Whether it's worth the money is hard to say. You might see some small advantages over the Terraplane ($469 —- hardly cheap either) or Gregory's Whitney ($340), but I don't think they would be all that discernible. In fact, there's some evidence based on testing by a third party that either the Terraplane or Whitney would better handle 50-pound-plus loads. I've carried close to 80 in a Terraplane, and while I was miserable, the pack held up fine. But the quality of the Mystery Ranch packs is impeccable, and they're certainly in the upper range from a comfort standpoint. The user's rationale behind the modular design, of course, is that you don't need to buy a suspension system-— the most complex and expensive part of a pack -— for every pack. You buy one frame, then the bags. Of course, once you go that route, you're also locked into a single company and its VERY expensive pack bags, so there's a marketing angle as well. Mountainsmith tried this idea three or four years ago, and it just about bankrupted the company. Maybe Mystery Ranch can pull it off, maybe not.