Mystery Ranch???

“Does anyone have any experience with Dan Gleason's lightweight line of backpacks, such as the "Trance" and the "Deep Trance"?”

“I had a powerful experience when I saw his prices!! Cool concept though.”

“LOL! I did see one place that had a few Trances for cheap.”

“This is the first I've heard of his new ?system?

But I wanna see some pics!”

“I have a friend that saw the pack at the Utah trade show. He was impressed with it and said that it was the best idea to come around in a long time.”

“I bought one but I could never find the damn thing. It was a real mystery to me.

Alright, alright! I tried on one of the Keltys that has the design. I must say that it was a great system. Very ridged yet free moving. Very expencive too. What's money though? Spend spend spend!”

“PedXing, I haven't seen one except in catalogs or online but the reviews sound pretty promising. Outside Magazine's Gear Guy wrote about them not long ago.

As far as pictures, check out the Mystery Ranch site.

As far as price, Kelty's stuff using the Mystery Ranch system is going to be much more reasonably priced than Dana Gleason's stuff, but maybe there's a reason? Backcountry Store has it on sale.”

“The Outsider Mag's link and a review in Backpacker refer to Dana Gleason's modular system. The modular system is getting all the press, but the stuff is too heavy for my taste. The kelty stuff (thanks for that link) isn't quite as heavy, but its certainly not light.

Gleason's "Outamatic" packs are on the light side and include the "Trance" and the "Deep Trance." It looks like there may be some bargains available on these... maybe Gleason is ready to drop them while he pushes the modular system?”

“I checked out the Trance at Campmor Friday night. (Yeah I know, Friday nights aren't what they used to be, but I had fun).

I was really impressed. It was very comfortable in the store (but then again so was my 'claws of death' pack).

The hipbelt is designed so it doesn't need stabilizer straps. It is a very lightweight material but has large grid pattern in it like oversized ripstop. The bottom looks pretty tough. I like the large stretchy front pocket.

The top lid is odd in that it is split into two sections, side-to- side. The salesperson said that was one of the things Gleason was so excited about when he demoed the pack to them, but he couldn't remember why. Looks like a good place to secure rope or wet items on the outside.

It seemed larger than 3,200 cu in. I don't think I could get everything for all but a summer trip into that volume but the Deep Trance is 4,000 cu in for only 5 more ounces (they didn't have that one).

Looks like a winner to me.”

“Thanks for the report Violin.”