Customer Reviews Mystery Ranch Bridger 65

The Bridger 65 is far and away the most comfortable pack I have ever carried. Wasn't totally excited about the running vest look, but once I actually tried it on I got it. The pack becomes part of you as you hike. Super stable, no hot spots, even with 35 lbs of gear you can almost forget you are carrying it. The new foam material is crazy cool. I love being able to flay this pack open and access gear without unpacking everything. The front pockets are perfect for sunglasses, inReach devices, snacks on the go. I know it is a little heavier than other 65L packs out there, but you wouldn't know it once you put it on and start hiking. The material and overall quality of the bag is what you would expect from the Ranch. Really excited to put more miles on this

Very well built with the right lay out and features. Big enough for long trips. Love the access to main compartment, 3L reservoir and the suspension system is amazing! Carries weight well. Very happy. Great pack. Good value.

The Bridger 65 is the Cadillac of long wearing backpacks. The new features and user friendly design gives access to items that would have been buried with typical top load packs. It's hard to believe it's a 65L withbhow much you can stuff into it. The seperate compartment for the sleeping bag sells itself and is one of the reasons I went with the Mystery Ranch Bridger 65.

I just started some serious hiking as training for Philmont (Scouting adventure), and have only had the pack a little while, so hoping I'm able to update in about a month once I've put a hundred miles on it and 12 days on the trail... I looked at MR and the other 2 extensively and rented and borrowed a number of similar packs over the last few months so have a pretty good sense of comparisons. The Bridger 65 hit on all notes for me. MR Quality. Great storage options and ease of access all around (I like compartments). Lighter than prior versions (even with compartments), and I really like the double harness yoke. Feels like a lot to begin with, but then you realize it's disappearing the weight better and not a single choker (understand this is personal preference.) Also like the 2 pockets on yoke in addition to hip belt. There are more comfortable packs, but the Bridger 65 is not uncomfortable in any means. I think they struck a balance on adding the great features and quality, but loosing some "fluff", You can see the frame exposed on sides and hip belt is a little thinner than others. I actually think it fits "closer" to me and moves in coordination with me better than the "floating" packs. likely depend on preference and type of hiking, but found it really nice on more technical treks.

This one is a game changer. It moves with you and molds to you like it just belongs on your back.

I got this pack a month or so ago for winter backpacking where my load out is in the 30 to 40 pound range which doesn't work well with my normal ultralight backpacks. The craftsmanship and feature set is phenomenal, but there are a couple problems that prevent me from really enjoying this pack. The first and primary problem is that the elastic used on the main compartments internal left and right pockets is very tight and very strong. This elastic is also used for the front compartments center pocket. The net effect is that there is constant tension that prevents the bag from being zipped shut once it is even half of full. I have included a photo showing how the elastics fight each other preventing the zipper from closing. It is very difficult to pull this zipper shut. I am sitting here trying to decide where, and how many places to cut this elastic. It is simply unnecessary. I have a similar issue with the elastic on the external left and right pockets for water bottles on the bottom. What should've been done is the elastic with cord lock similar to the shoulder strap water bottle pockets should have been repeated for each of these other pockets. I'm not sure what to do. It's very difficult to close this pack. What I end up doing, is just using the top load function as if it were a regular pack with a single compartment and just shove everything down the throat. It's very disappointing and is not a problem, but seems to show up in any of the online reviews that I've seen. The second and much more minor issue is that the buckles at the top of the pack that are used to attach the brain should be reversed so that you have the option to mount the brain with the zipper facing forward instead of backwards. This would put the opening on the same side of the pack as the rest of the zippers in openings. Without this you have to flip the pack just to get to that one compartment.

Mystery Ranch Bridger 65L report. I went to my local outfitter today on a mission. Upgrade to my everything, end all, beat all pack for the ages. I have been studying this pack, it's reviews, and the youtubes. What all of those neglect to address..individual build of the person carrying the pack. I got there, they had it in stock. The store associate loaded it with weight (incorrectly) and I put it on. Everything felt wrong, it was leaning away from my shoulders putting weight on my lumbar. I measure 20 inches on the torso and this was the Medium so 20 was the top of the adjustment but at 20 there was gap at the top and the pack pulls away at the shoulders. It would appear that it runs a bit large. The water bottle sacks attached to the straps were in my chin and tight. We looked at each other and said "switch to the large" which is 17 inches to 25. I packed the weights myself this time and set the bag up, set it for 19 inches and pulled alllllllllll the compression straps tight, like alllllllll of them (this pack is beautifully complex and well thought out). Now the weight was were it belonged and balanced. The 87 hundred compression straps bring it in tight to your back and snug. The water bottle sacks were further down the shoulder straps and not in your face. The runner style shoulder straps were great until I connected the Two chest traps and they started cutting into my pecs on the outside toward my shoulders, you can't get your finger in there for me. The associate was going "man that is tight". I cinched them in as much as I could till breathing was effected and it was almost right then. I am right now at a loss. I have wanted this pack even drooled over it while it was building inventory but I am 5'10", 230 lbs with a V build of a 50 inch should sport jacket and a 32 inch waist, it is built for more linear build people. I am going to reach out to Mystery Ranch and see what they have for solutions for a more athletic build because I WANT this pack.

I've owned Mystery Ranch packs before and always found them to be incredibly high quality. This pack is no different. It's very well made and, based on feel and initial experience, I expect it to last a long time. It carries loads very comfortably and the features seem to be well thought out, with a couple of exceptions that I'll get into farther down. Specific likes include that the sleeping bag area is big enough to be useful and offers well thought out features to help compress and secure your bag. Your bag is well protected and the zippers on the compartment are easy to use. The zippered pocket on the back is useful, though I think I like the individual, long pockets on their other packs better. Personal taste. The back access to the man pocket is great. It provides great access to gear and, for me at least, makes packing things up much easier. The top pocket is large with easy access. And, lastly, the hip belt is the most comfortable I've worn. The two things I'm not sure of yet are: First, the padding on the shoulder straps stops fairly high up on the strap rather than running down the full length to the adjuster. After hiking for a while I found the unpadded section digging into the front of my shoulder. It got pretty painful. I suspect this may have been an issue with adjustment BUT I was left wondering if they designed this allowing for people with relatively larger shoulders where more of the strap will be in contact with the wearer. Time will tell on that. Second, and the only other issue I noticed, was the hydration reservoir pocket struck me as fairly useless -- to the point that I kept thinking I must not be trying to use it right. It seemed to me like you'd have to unpack the top half of the pack in order to remove, refill and replace your reservoir. And then the only thing separating all of the contents of your pack and several liters of water is a mesh pocket. If something sharp pokes a hole in it and that thing leaks, everything in your pack will get soaked through. I kept thinking the whole feature seemed like an afterthought -- again, assuming I haven't missed something re: its intended use. Overall I love this pack, the way it's built and the way it carries loads. The possible negatives I've noted are an attempt to be thorough and fair. I'm still anxious to get back out of the trail with this thing soon.

Love how this bag carries weight and the full frontal access. Hate that it has been damaged twice already just at the airport. Sternum strap ripped the first time and now the waist strap. That's 2 for 2. Outside of the airport, I used this pack to get groceries so far. I'd just blame the airport but my osprey I bought used for a 3rd of this price lasted a dozen flights and heavy use while hitchhiking across Alaska, Mexico, Belize and Cuba didn't have a single rip or tear. Yes I know I can have the straps replaced and the bag repaired as needed but I'm not looking for a chore. I'm looking for dependability.

Pack and hip belt are well designed and well made. Unfortunately, the yoke is not. As others have mentioned, the padding for the yoke is thicker on top and transitions to thin abruptly and too soon. Anybody with even a medium build will feel uncomfortable almost immediately, and bigger guys for sure especially around clavicle area. MR really needs to redesign this. Strongly recommend sticking to tried and true MR packs and avoiding this one.