Kit Up! prowled the halls of Modern Day Marine this week and had an opportunity to talk with Patrick Odenbeck of Mystery Ranch backpacks.
Besides being exceedingly well made, innovative in their utility and design and tailored to a Mountaineering standard, Mystery Ranch packs have pretty much become the "MultiCam" of rucks. If you ain't got Mystery Ranch on your back, you ain't the coolest of the tacticool.
All joking aside, Mystery Ranch packs are at the top of the heap and Odenbeck took some time to explain to Kit Up! some of the newest innovations that are being incorporated into their load bearing equipment.
The first piece of gear is a simple strap that attaches to your body armor MOLLE webbing and loops through the shoulder straps of your ruck. The premise of the "Mystery Cinch" is to draw in the pack straps so they don't kill your shoulders by riding too far out.
Check out the video of Odenbeck explaining how the Mystery Cinch system works...
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MR has also incorporated what it calls the Bolstered Ventilation and Stability system on many of its tactical packs. Basically, the BVSS are two rolls of lightweight foam that give body armor plates a place to fit while a Joe or Grunt is wearing their ruck. That way, the pack doesn't sit off the wearer's back, keeping the load stable.
There's a lot more to the BVSS in the below video...
