Mystery Ranch

Glacier 71L Backpack

Amazing!

I purchased this backpack after a friend of my mine recommended. I went on a 18 mile backpacking trip with 55lbs. It did a great job with weight distribution, no hot spots. It’s built like a tank, will last a long time!

Utilitarian Masterpiece

I bought the Glacier on sale last winter to replace a decade-old pack that had seen a lot of use. This year, I’ve used the Glacier on three backpacking trips in diverse locations—Utah desert, Colorado high-alpine, and a Minnesota canoe trip—covering about 100 miles over 10 days. Based on my experience, the Glacier is the most utilitarian pack I’ve ever owned. Note: I’m not a weight-conscious backpacker. I prefer to carry extra gear rather than risk not having something I might need, and I value ruggedness and durability. If you share these principles, the Glacier might be perfect for you (as it is for me). Overall Construction: This pack is incredibly durable. Despite rough use, there are no loose threads or fabric blemishes. It appears built to last a lifetime. Main Compartment: The Glacier’s main compartment is spacious. It easily fits my sleeping bag, pad, pillow, clothes, and bear vault sideways. It also accommodates a 3L Camelbak, Jetboil, camping chair, and extra gear, like 6L of water and my dog’s camping supplies. Torpedo Pockets: Initially skeptical, I found these pockets very useful. They hold a lot of gear. One typically carries my bathroom kit, utilities/tools, and fire supplies, while the other holds rain gear, a towel, and extra layers. Top Lid: I was unsure about the dual-pocket design of the top lid, but it works well. I keep my water filter and first aid kit in one pocket, and compass, GPS messenger, Kindle/book, headlamp, and electronics organizer in the other. The lid’s ability to convert into a daypack is my favorite feature of the pack. It fits a 3L bladder and carries food/snacks and other essentials for day hikes effectively. I've taken it on several 8-12 mile hikes from basecamp. This feature is a significant improvement over my previous pack’s non-load-bearing daypack. Straps: The side straps with loops are great for securing gear, including our three-person tent. This design allows easy access to the main compartment without re-fastening items. The bottom straps are equally useful for attaching a foam pad and other gear, keeping them secure and protected. Minor Complaints: I have two minor issues: limited color options and a lack of a U-shaped zipper similar to the Terraframe, which would be handy. Overall, the Glacier has proven to be the best pack I’ve ever used, and I’m now a Mystery Ranch fan.

Comfortable and Durable

I used this pack for roughly 500 miles last summer as a backpacking guide in New Mexico and loved it. It's the perfect amount of space for all of my gear including keeping my tent internally. The storage spaces in the brain and the torpedo style storage on the pack itself are excellent for smaller things. I kept my rain jacket in the front half of the cube and all of my maps, compass, headlamp, and some snacks in the back half. I kept toiletries and first aid stuff in the torpedo tubes. I'm a huge fan of how the sleeping bag compartment is laid out. My only gripe is that the water bottle holders are perfectly sized for one Nalgene each. I personally don't go through more than two in a day, but I do wish I didn't have to have water bottles kept internally. Of course, the MR frames are the best in the world. I'm 6'1" varying between 175 and 155 depending on the time of the season, and it fit perfectly no matter what. I would highly recommend this pack to anyone who can afford it.

mostly good

I purchased the pack a few weeks ago and have used it extensively since. First on shorter trips in the White Mountains, where it was far from reaching its limit, then during three weeks of backpacking in Iceland, where it did show some shortcomings. Let's start with the good: It's (mostly) well-made and sturdy. It fits me well, and carries reasonable heavy loads with ease and (relative) comfort. At the onset of my hikes I packed between 40-50 pounds and the pack handled it well. The load was stable, and my back stayed surprisingly dry most days - even on the uphills. The long external pockets in the back and the lid pockets held most of my small stuff, and the side access provided easy access to most of the rest. Even when fully packed, the pack has a nice, clean look. I like that. The top pocket converts into a tiny backpack. It works, but I carried a super lightweight backpack for that job. It's faster and saves me from reorganizing stuff from those pockets while Overall, the Glacier carried all my gear for several weeks and carried it well. Now, where could it be improved: The hipbelt has MOLLE attachments for various gadgets. Two simple hip belt pockets would have been more useful. The water bottle pockets are a joke and my biggest gripe. They are way too small, even for a 1l Nalgene, when the pack is full. My bottles slipped out several times because the pockets are not big/deep enough. They are almost impossible to access while wearing the pack. Worse: the sretchy material is a poor choice: After 4 weeks, one of the pockets already has a hole in it (see image). When the pack was fully loaded, the bottle could not be fully seated, and the stretchy fabric was very tight. While I like the clean look of the pack, on wet days I envied my friends who had nice stretchy pockets at the back of their packs, which took a wet tent fly or rain jacket with ease. I had to lash the fly to the outside. No big deal, but annoying. Lastly, the pack is mostly well-designed, but seems over-engineered at times. The chest strap, for example: The buckles are a multi-part affair, which will probably survive a war, but fail to do their job: slide easily up and down to allow for strap adjustment. Nobody, so far has figured out why they are so complicated. The waterbottle pockets have been discussed before: poor shape, poor choice of materials. The vertical straps that hold the lid down fall right over the access zippers for the two to long exterior pockets. The divider between the sleeping bag compartment and the rest of the pack can be opened by unbuckling two heavy-duty buckles, but the buckles are so big that there is a big gap between the two compartments and stuff slides through. Other packs do a better job here. Despite these negatives I am still happy with the pack. I had my last pack for over 15 years. This one will probably last as long.

I truly wanted to like this pack.

I bought this pack for a larger cold weather pack as I needed the space for my cold wether gear. I own several mystery ranch packs and love each of them. The quality and workmanship is like no other. Unfortunately this pack just does not work for me. I fit it properly and it rides so differently than any other pack I have had in Turn killing my back and hips at the end of the day. It may be great for others just jot me.

Great backpack.

Great backpack, look forward to years of use. Features, quality of construction, and fit are exceptional.

After 2300 miles, I would buy this pack again.

Did the AT last year. I started out with an Osprey 60L pack, but it was full to the point I was afraid of losing items in the exterior mesh compartment. After a few days of hiking, I was in an outfitter buying fuel and saw a store employee putting this pack on display. I ended up buying this pack primarily to gain the 10L of capacity, but man was I in for so much more! Partly because I was doing the trail with my dog, and due to my preference to hike fewer miles and carry more food, I was hitting about 54 pounds of total pack weight on average after a resupply. This pack handles these kinds of loads (and more) more comfortably than any other pack I've worn before. I quickly came to love the "double brain" (having two separated pouches in the top compartment). The "torpedo tube" design for the exterior pouches running up and down the pack on the back are also a great feature. Unlike another reviewer, felt that the design of the bottom compartment was well done, convenient, and worth the extra weight. I personally don't use this compartment for my sleeping bag, I use it for my tent. Being able to transfer the entire contents of my kit into the pack and then pack the tent in the bottom compartment with exterior is a great feature, especially if it's raining. I also was able to easily slip multiple 1L bottles into a single side pocket. Hard to imagine a Nalgene not fitting in there. There was exactly one thing I did not like about this pack. As another reviewer mentioned, the webbing material used for the strapping seems particularly prone to slippage in the regulators. Or perhaps the plastic regulators themselves are the issue (doubtful). Whatever the case, there simply isn't a high enough coefficient of friction where the webbing and regulators interface, particularly when the straps are wet. I was advised by another hiker to replace the regulators with milspec repair regulators, but I never got around to it because I chose to knot the tails of the shoulder straps to eliminate slippage. While a non-ideal solution, it was super effective. I never had any substantial problems with the hip belt, so no knotting required. All in all, this pack did everything I asked of it over 2300+ miles of use and abuse. I would definitely recommend this pack to anyone planning to carry a 30+ pound base weight.

Glacier!

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

Small

Height:

5' 5"

Weight:

140

I have/had a Glacier but it was a little small so my girlfriend has it. I bet it is bear proof. The first thing I did was waterproof it. It carries heavy loads very comfortabley. I am 60 years old and 140 pounds. It seems a bit weird to carry a heavy pack but the feel is how well its made to haul equipment and this is comfortable, a bit hot but then again I live in Alaska, and super sturdy and very ajustable. The hip belt is amply padded and that is where you need to be carrying your load. Its easy to attatch my first aid pack to the left side of my hip belt and the bear spray (in a Mystery Ranch holster) on my right side. Mystery Ranch is worth your attention if you are not a gram weanie.

Love it

Bought this pack for my son so we could do a 50 miler this summer. Wonderful pack similar to my old G-6000 but with improvements. Couldn't be happier

Quality build, Great features.

very comfortable quality built bag. Can’t go wrong with Mystery Ranch.